Discussion
Hello everyone. It was almost exactly a year that I could resist without a Saab, so I bought myself a little project. Car in question is a OG convertible 9-3 from 2001. At the moment it has no MOT, but it doesn’t look too bad.
My engine has a black DI cover, but I want a red one before I start modding it more (I swore I won’t do it but hey). If I get a red DI cassette it needs programming with tec2, right? What else can I do to get more power? Do I need to change the injectors? As far as I know this is the 185 bhp version.
I will go to see Karl after it’s back on the road, but until then I hope you guys can give me advice.
My engine has a black DI cover, but I want a red one before I start modding it more (I swore I won’t do it but hey). If I get a red DI cassette it needs programming with tec2, right? What else can I do to get more power? Do I need to change the injectors? As far as I know this is the 185 bhp version.
I will go to see Karl after it’s back on the road, but until then I hope you guys can give me advice.
No no no no
Red top is Trionic5 and fitted to B2*4s, black top T7 fitted to B2*5s. many differences but T7 adds knock detection and management amongst other things. to remove this by trying to retrofit a the red DI seems like a generally bad idea on any engine, not least a tuned one.
i suspect you're looking for a red top as the engines that its fitted to are generally considered to be stronger than the black top engines but its the engine thats different, not just the DI pack.
you can get away with a black DI on a 2*4 but not vice versa. However, DI packs do not require Tech2 other than for diagnostics.
just get your B205 up to scratch and go with that. A St1 (map only, no hardware) from karl will see you at around 225bhp and 360nm. 3 inch downpipe, sports cat, 3.5 bar FPR and a second visit to Karl gets you to around 240bhp and 360nm. If yours is the 185 then the injectors are good for about 280bhp, if not then a set of "aero" injectors would suffice. Further gains would require a TD04 swap (again, from the "aero" for simplicity) and for maximum Karlness a bigger intercooler would complete the set - 270bhp/380nm is attainable with these mods, perhaps a tad more torque still available but other stuff will probably have broken by then.
need to mention "sump drop" before you do any tinkering though.
Red top is Trionic5 and fitted to B2*4s, black top T7 fitted to B2*5s. many differences but T7 adds knock detection and management amongst other things. to remove this by trying to retrofit a the red DI seems like a generally bad idea on any engine, not least a tuned one.
i suspect you're looking for a red top as the engines that its fitted to are generally considered to be stronger than the black top engines but its the engine thats different, not just the DI pack.
you can get away with a black DI on a 2*4 but not vice versa. However, DI packs do not require Tech2 other than for diagnostics.
just get your B205 up to scratch and go with that. A St1 (map only, no hardware) from karl will see you at around 225bhp and 360nm. 3 inch downpipe, sports cat, 3.5 bar FPR and a second visit to Karl gets you to around 240bhp and 360nm. If yours is the 185 then the injectors are good for about 280bhp, if not then a set of "aero" injectors would suffice. Further gains would require a TD04 swap (again, from the "aero" for simplicity) and for maximum Karlness a bigger intercooler would complete the set - 270bhp/380nm is attainable with these mods, perhaps a tad more torque still available but other stuff will probably have broken by then.
need to mention "sump drop" before you do any tinkering though.
Edited by paulmakin on Tuesday 6th September 22:39
Edited by paulmakin on Tuesday 6th September 22:41
Edited by paulmakin on Tuesday 6th September 22:48
Thank you. In the meantime I contacted Karl and got up to speed with the engine and the car in general. I’m gonna go see him in October after I put the car back on the road. I don’t really need anything hardware wise, because I don’t want to go above stage 1. I might add a BSR kit for the stututu but that’s it 
Thanks for your long and detailed answer
Thanks for your long and detailed answer
paulmakin said:
i'm sure karl will have reassured you but at St1 you're absolutely fine with the black top B205 - remember that Saab created the Viggen using that engine in its B235 form and that came with 225bhp from the factory. it was also fitted to the 9-5 Aero's which were rated at 250bhp
In the meantime I realised people actually paint the top of the engine red for extra bhp 
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