1998 9000 Aero tuning options
Discussion
I'm getting to grips with the flying armchair and have been told it has been mapped, it does have an aftermarket airfilter but is there any other way of telling? the boost does go off scle now and then but it seems erratic, maybe I need to fit a manual boost adjuster, is this easy, do I need a vacuum gauge?
finally, what other, relatively unexpensive mods can I do
finally, what other, relatively unexpensive mods can I do
Personally I wouldn't fit an mbc but a few of the guys have, I just trusted my mapper and he did a fantastic job everytime. Wouldn't hurt to fit a decent boost gauge though to see what it's up to....just avoid 'pro' gauges as mine was out by 0.2 bar!!!
Next engine upgrade you'll be looking at is a 3" downpipe which is the main thing you need to go any higher in the stages game, that' with a fresh remap will take you to stage 3 and roughly 280-300bhp.Stage 2 is a remap plus cat back system with standard downpipe....waste of money IMO and just extra noise As you'll be remapping get a spare t5 ecu and t7 APC off ebay then get the ecu remapped to stage 3 plus the t7 APC mod (the t5 suite remapper should be able to do this for you) makes a nice difference in power delivery, gives much better boost control, was probably one of my favourite mods on my last 9k after the 4.45 box and bigger turbos.
You don't necessarily need a full 3" exhaust system unless your after the noise or planning on a stage 5+ build further on. I had a standard cat back system even at stage 4 and noticed a very very slight increase in performance after fitting the Abbott 3" catback....god was it loud though! If you get the DP built try to get it fully 3" from the turbo back instead of 2.5>3" just to give you a few extra ponies
You could also decat it or race cat....tbh I didn't notice much of an increase here so just kept mine with the race cat fitted instead of farting about day before & after the mot.
Stage 3's a nice level and can be had for around £300 - £400 but my favourite was stage 5...but its not cheap to get there, wont break the bank but theres a lot of hardware changes here. Stage 4 I wasn't that impressed with vs the cost plus I killed 2 gearboxes here. Stage 5 feels a hell of a jump in oomph.
Stage 6 is just insanely fast but more for 80/90+mph fun.....scary quick above 100, tries to go back in time above 100
Before doing any of the above I'd definitely sort the handling fist though, new dampers, springs, piggy back rear arb, polly butterfly bushes and decent rubber will make a world of difference over the old/tired standard kit. Also upgrade the brakes with new pads at the minimum, EBC yellow stuff 'R' are great (I found normal yellow stuff crap though) avoid EBC turbo grooved discs.....s
te. Brembo plain discs get god reviews and are great vfm.
Pointless whacking 300bhp through it if wont stop in time for a roundabout and then you end up straight going over it as you can't corner
Next engine upgrade you'll be looking at is a 3" downpipe which is the main thing you need to go any higher in the stages game, that' with a fresh remap will take you to stage 3 and roughly 280-300bhp.Stage 2 is a remap plus cat back system with standard downpipe....waste of money IMO and just extra noise As you'll be remapping get a spare t5 ecu and t7 APC off ebay then get the ecu remapped to stage 3 plus the t7 APC mod (the t5 suite remapper should be able to do this for you) makes a nice difference in power delivery, gives much better boost control, was probably one of my favourite mods on my last 9k after the 4.45 box and bigger turbos.
You don't necessarily need a full 3" exhaust system unless your after the noise or planning on a stage 5+ build further on. I had a standard cat back system even at stage 4 and noticed a very very slight increase in performance after fitting the Abbott 3" catback....god was it loud though! If you get the DP built try to get it fully 3" from the turbo back instead of 2.5>3" just to give you a few extra ponies
You could also decat it or race cat....tbh I didn't notice much of an increase here so just kept mine with the race cat fitted instead of farting about day before & after the mot.Stage 3's a nice level and can be had for around £300 - £400 but my favourite was stage 5...but its not cheap to get there, wont break the bank but theres a lot of hardware changes here. Stage 4 I wasn't that impressed with vs the cost plus I killed 2 gearboxes here. Stage 5 feels a hell of a jump in oomph.
Stage 6 is just insanely fast but more for 80/90+mph fun.....scary quick above 100, tries to go back in time above 100
Before doing any of the above I'd definitely sort the handling fist though, new dampers, springs, piggy back rear arb, polly butterfly bushes and decent rubber will make a world of difference over the old/tired standard kit. Also upgrade the brakes with new pads at the minimum, EBC yellow stuff 'R' are great (I found normal yellow stuff crap though) avoid EBC turbo grooved discs.....s
te. Brembo plain discs get god reviews and are great vfm.Pointless whacking 300bhp through it if wont stop in time for a roundabout and then you end up straight going over it as you can't corner
Yeah there's been a few who've had success with the mbc, I know what I'm like though and I'll just keep turning the wick up to over 2bar until the engine pops...so safer for me to leave alone 
There's a few guys on www.uksaabs.co.uk that can tune it with t5 Suite for a good price (don't get a pro tune as its mega bucks vs t5 suite....that's the beauty of tuning these cars plus our strong b2x4 engines....very cheap to tune to 500bhp if needed) I always use 'Faero' (he's really..........really good)
I know he's been busy though so you might not get it done asap, just join uksaabs then stick a post up in the performance forum asking and someone will be along to help.
You can do it yourself if your good with a pc and get your head into t5 suite (I've been trying for ages but have given up for now until I get back to stage 6, almost went bald trying to sort it last year!) if your looking at going further & further into the stages (4+) and fancy messing with the various maps and especially with live mapping the car then its worth it but for the price of a generic stage 1-3 map I'd just get a spare ecu and pop it in the post.
There's a few guys on www.uksaabs.co.uk that can tune it with t5 Suite for a good price (don't get a pro tune as its mega bucks vs t5 suite....that's the beauty of tuning these cars plus our strong b2x4 engines....very cheap to tune to 500bhp if needed) I always use 'Faero' (he's really..........really good)
I know he's been busy though so you might not get it done asap, just join uksaabs then stick a post up in the performance forum asking and someone will be along to help.You can do it yourself if your good with a pc and get your head into t5 suite (I've been trying for ages but have given up for now until I get back to stage 6, almost went bald trying to sort it last year!) if your looking at going further & further into the stages (4+) and fancy messing with the various maps and especially with live mapping the car then its worth it but for the price of a generic stage 1-3 map I'd just get a spare ecu and pop it in the post.
Edited by griffin dai on Thursday 25th October 21:12
Apache said:
Cheers, already a member but it's pretty quiet in there. So I'll get an ecu off ebay and send it to your man for a fettle and get a 3" downpipe and a manual mbc. That should do for now............
There's honestly no need for an MBC, Apache. You'll bypass all the inherent safety features of T5 
If your boost is a bit erratic you could have a duff APC valve or the spring in the wastegate could be a bit weak. As Dave says, get a T7 APC valve and get your spare ecu modified for it, much better boost control and the T7 APC's are cheap(£30 new)compared to the T5 ones (£125 new).
stevoknevo said:
Apache said:
Cheers, already a member but it's pretty quiet in there. So I'll get an ecu off ebay and send it to your man for a fettle and get a 3" downpipe and a manual mbc. That should do for now............
There's honestly no need for an MBC, Apache. You'll bypass all the inherent safety features of T5 If your boost is a bit erratic you could have a duff APC valve or the spring in the wastegate could be a bit weak. As Dave says, get a T7 APC valve and get your spare ecu modified for it, much better boost control and the T7 APC's are cheap(£30 new)compared to the T5 ones (£125 new).
and is this the item?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAAB-9-3-9-5-T7-APC-SOLE...
Apache said:
stevoknevo said:
Apache said:
Cheers, already a member but it's pretty quiet in there. So I'll get an ecu off ebay and send it to your man for a fettle and get a 3" downpipe and a manual mbc. That should do for now............
There's honestly no need for an MBC, Apache. You'll bypass all the inherent safety features of T5 If your boost is a bit erratic you could have a duff APC valve or the spring in the wastegate could be a bit weak. As Dave says, get a T7 APC valve and get your spare ecu modified for it, much better boost control and the T7 APC's are cheap(£30 new)compared to the T5 ones (£125 new).
and is this the item?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SAAB-9-3-9-5-T7-APC-SOLE...
Boosted LS1 said:
Guy's, how do you identify the ecu's? I have several here from my previous CS cars and one from my aero. All my engines have been 2.3T.
Theres a number (serial?) on the sticker...if its got 55 its a T5 ecu if its got 52 its a earlier 1993 model ecu...not as tuneable.All T5 ecu's are the same just mapped differently but all can be configured to do the same job.
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