andrewdelvard

Hi, does anyone here currently own or has owned one in the past? What impressions do you have of the car? Going to look at one next week. March '99. FSSH. 115000miles, Boddywork apparently great. Includes Abott racing upgrades, Viggen rescue kit, Koni springs & dampers, ECU power upgrade.
Think he 'wants' about £2500.
Thanks,
Andy.

skinters

Good underrated cars. Viggen rescue kit sorts out the handling very well. Abbott springs are nice for the road and Konis are adjustable. Just don't pay a premium for any mods... as is normal.

Now - I am 99% sure the HOT is the 200bhp and the last of the T5 engines. (B204R on the V5 for the hot) As Saab pushed it quite hard, a remap will give it about 230bhp. If he's got a 3" downpipe, 265bhp can be had. T5 Remaps are now open source pretty much so not worth much.

You can tell it's T5 if it has a Red DI cassette (panel on top of engine). Black DI casstte is the later T7 (B205) which is a touch more economical and smoother, but a weaker engine with sludge issues.

T5 engine has steel crank, rods and Mahle pistons as standard and good for 450bhp and more on stock internals. 250k miles is not a concern on that engine - Just get evidence of regular oil changes. Cam chain probably need done at 130k miles though.

Gearboxes are ok, clutch might be tired at 115k too. Bulkheads are known to crack around the steering column area - watch for that.

I just paid 820 quid for a really tidy 1999 9-3 S LPT for my wife with 90k miles. (remaps straight to 220bhp). The HOT is much more desirable but is mechanically almost the same. Hard to value but 2500 sounds pretty high??

andrewdelvard

Thanks for the detailed reply.
Yeah I do get the impression that the owner feels the mods increase the value of the car as opposed to something that just encourages a sale.
The engine is a red top and by the look of the photos is enclosed within a very tidy and clean engine bay. Doesn't necessarily mean anything of course but nice nonetheless.
Bit concerned about the bulkhead issue. How would I check for that?
Yes your feelings about the price match my own. Still he obviously thinks its worth a try and why not?
I just hope he gets realistic.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I had the LPT, solid car, faily crap handling but the engine was a peach, felt as quick as the 210 Aero I replaced it with until I got that mapped, I kind of preffered the old one in a lot of ways. I would imagine a sorted one with remap would fly, traction with mine was horrendous in the wet though, my Aero puts 250 bhp down way better than the LPT did with 150 (though I reckon that was more like 170/180 in reality, seeing as CTR's couldnt pull away), had it spinning all through second into third in the wet, speedo readind 80 mph

£2500 sounds a bit much, I sol mine for 1200 18 months ago to a dealer needing some suspension work but otherwise mint, that said, say at 2 grand it would be a cheap, robust rapid car, plus I think they are really good looking.

andrewdelvard

Well Jacko thats what I've got in mind as a max. Thats an if in some ways as if the clutch hasn't been replaced within 115000mls you can guarantee it'll go within 1000mls of me buying it!
Lets see what happens.

RobEvo5

iTrader: (9)

Have had 2 aero hot's in the past - Great cars great build quality, the silver one sold with 150K miles and never missed a beat, and the black one I had had been remapped by saab flight to circa 240bhp and was really quick but struggled badly to get the power down.

Hadling isn't great, but plenty of option as above about to help sort that out.

Gearbox is the weak point on these cars and once remapped the extra torque is commonly known to kill the box as it did with mine. Saab flight sorted me out by putting a saab 9000 gearbox on mine in the end.

2.5K for a v.good one with sensible miles is probably not far of the mark. Both mine sold for around £1500 at the time.

andrewdelvard

Thanks for that. Had a look at Saab flight Saabflight - Independent SAAB Specialist 'Made in Trollhatten Tuned in Hellingly' Bit far for me alas, living in Plymouth.