Performance Upgrades

[caspy]

Straw poll on the prefered upgraders for current model cars....

Who and why ??

Hirsch ? Abbot ? A N Other ?

[Mark in Ireland]

Maptun are the main players who know what they are doing, from my experience do not use Abbott.

[Aero_saab]

I have personally used:

Speedparts
Maptun
Nordic

All 3 did/do exactly as they say on the tin.

Used abbotts once, couldn;t even get a simple job right had to get it corrected later, thus wouldn't let them near my door hinges with a oil can.

[ylee coyote]

maptun is my choice
I have used the local boy and was not impressed
also there is a whiff of "something not quite right" there

Maptun was difficult but at the time i used them it was a one man band
they have extended their operation quite considerably now and have a great range of goodies and are much more responsive

the other guys get good write ups too ,but if you want the ultimate go for Maptun....

[caspy]

Do they have a web site ??

[Boosted LS1]

caspy said:

Do they have a web site ??

Yes, it will be Maptun.se or something like that because they are swedish.

I'm quite tempted to get an ecu for my 9000 sometime in the future


Look here.

www.maptun.com/webshop/products.php?rubrik=131&kategori=320&produkt=205&komponent=647

Boosted.

Edited by Boosted LS1 on Tuesday 26th September 21:03

[wadeski]

I love the *idea* of the chip upgrades...but just bunging a chip on, what does that do to long term reliability?

My heart says 40 more ponies! My head says "surely running higher boost needs at least "hardware" mods to help the engine breath better and maybe better cooling?

If this car is your work hack and daily driver AND weekend toy, is it a good idea?

[ylee coyote]

if it is a 9000 you can run a stage 7 (500 hp ) as a daily driver
On a 9-5 they are a bit weaker in the piston dept, but once you have upgraded these, its good for the same kind of horsepower
Maptun prides themselves on making their upgrades really drivable and I can attest to this
however when you chart the higher states of tune little things can make a big difference and it is really important to get a "personal Tune " to get everything working properly

Maptun did it for me and squeezed anther 75 horses out of mine

Lower states of tune ...up to 3 ....they do not bother the engine at all and you will probably get better milage out of it ....

reliability ?
250 k on the clock and 150 k of that over 300 hp.....

Edited by ylee coyote on Thursday 28th September 01:25

[wadeski]

so if you went with Stage 1 Chip, you dont need to do ANYTHING else at all to the car?

the stock piping, airbox, exhaust intercooler, oil cooler are all happy with that?

[aeropilot]

wadeski said:

so if you went with Stage 1 Chip, you dont need to do ANYTHING else at all to the car?

the stock piping, airbox, exhaust intercooler, oil cooler are all happy with that?

Depends what Saab...??

For example on a 9-5 Aero up to MY06 the stock hardware is already at it's max, and in reality none of the Stage 1 to 3 packs from a lot of the tuners are really worth the money.

Only options are off the shelf Maptun Stage 4 or above or a Nordic custom tune of their Stage 3 with additional hardware. Abbott Racing do include additional hardware in their kits but as others have said, the jury is out on Abbott for ECU stuff.

Then of course there is Hirsch which is the best choice if your car is still under warrenty or you want that 'production car' feel.

Now, for lpt cars either 9-3's or 9-5's on T7 or older 9000's on T5, and ECU only upgrade is very worth it and does do what it says on the tin, as it's only bringing the engine back up to full pressure turbo levels that it was originally designed to cope with before getting a factory de-tune.

I like the Hirsch stuff as it's so 'production car like' which is why it costs more.
However, if I was inclinded to go the aftermarket route for a more 'tuned' style of car, my choice would definately only be between Maptun or Nordic...both are very good with little to choose between them.

[wadeski]

sorry, good point: 51 plate 9-3 SE (185bhp)

[900T-R]

wadeski said:

sorry, good point: 51 plate 9-3 SE (185bhp)

In that case, definitely start with upgrading the suspension .

[School boy]

Abbott as they are cheaper (than Hirsch), do parts for older cars which Hirsch don't. If I had a brand new Saab though, obviously you would be forced into Hirsch because of the warranty. I havn't ever heard of the others. The dealer we use has a good relationship with Abbott's so I stick with them.

Edited by School boy on Sunday 1st October 12:25

[ledger]

having written of my 2001 95 Aero estate, I was thinking of getting an lpt car, around 2002. If I undertand correctly I can get the power back up to the level of the Aero (230 bhp) from the standard 185 with just a chip upgrade ?, is this correct ?, any ideas of cost ?.

Edited by ledger on Monday 2nd October 09:26

[aeropilot]

ledger said:

having written of my 2001 95 Aero estate, I was thinking of getting an lpt car, around 2002. If I undertand correctly I can get the power back up to the level of the Aero (230 bhp) from the standard 185 with just a chip upgrade ?, is this correct ?, any ideas of cost ?.

Pretty much, and it'll 'feel' quicker on intial acceleration because of the quicker spooling small GT17 turbo, which runs out of puff when the Aero TD04 is waking up

Nordic Tuning offer 220hp and 330Nm of torque for about £900.
www.nordictuning.com/

Maptun offer 235hp and 380Nm of torque for about £550.
www.maptun.com/

Of course you could go with the pucker Saab factory approved upgrade and go the Hirsch route which will give 220hp and 360Nm and costs £850.

I personally wouldn't consider any of the other options.

[ledger]

aeropilot said:

ledger said:

having written of my 2001 95 Aero estate, I was thinking of getting an lpt car, around 2002. If I undertand correctly I can get the power back up to the level of the Aero (230 bhp) from the standard 185 with just a chip upgrade ?, is this correct ?, any ideas of cost ?.

Pretty much, and it'll 'feel' quicker on intial acceleration because of the quicker spooling small GT17 turbo, which runs out of puff when the Aero TD04 is waking up

Nordic Tuning offer 220hp and 330Nm of torque for about £900.
www.nordictuning.com/

Maptun offer 235hp and 380Nm of torque for about £550.
www.maptun.com/

Of course you could go with the pucker Saab factory approved upgrade and go the Hirsch route which will give 220hp and 360Nm and costs £850.

I personally wouldn't consider any of the other options.

thanks, just for clarity, are you saying you wouldn't consider any other option than the Hirsch route, or than the 3 you have kindly listed ?.

[aeropilot]

ledger said:

thanks, just for clarity, are you saying you wouldn't consider any other option than the Hirsch route, or than the 3 you have kindly listed ?.

Aah....yes....hmmm....didn't phrase that very well, sorry

I'd choose one of those 3 only.

Personally I'd take the Hirsch route if you are going to be satisfied with only going that far.

However, as this tuning lark is addictive, and you feel that you may want to go a bit further at some stage in the future, then either the Nordic or Maptun route would be a better choice, as both will be able to accomodate that option with discounted software re-maps and additional hardware etc.

[A57 HSV]

Well I've been using Abbott for c.10 years & 5 different Saabs. Never had any problems other than a cracked spring that they replaced anyway.
They spent a massive amount of time (at no extra cost) setting up the suspension and brakes on a couple of cars. Excellent service.
Wouldn't trust anybody else to tune/modify my Saabs, they have so much experience.

[Aero_saab]

I have personally used Speedparts, maptun and nordic.
All three delivered what the box said, but in slightly different ways.

Abbott set my suspension up to.. had to get it corrected elsewhere 2 weeks later wouldn't let them check my lights after that and other things.

[aeropilot]

I've used Abbott for stuff in the past when I had my 9000 Aero, including a LSD fitting. They incorrectly adjusted, or didn't bother to, the gear linkage when putting the 'box back in. My dealer had to sort that out later.
I have seen a nice rolling road graph from an Abbott tuned 9000 Aero, but that's older T5 ECU, and I've got a few doubts still about their T7 ECU stuff (as per a 9-5).

And you should here what my dealer's service manager has to say about the number of Abbott tuned 9-3SS cars they have had to repair because of ECU faults.

I think what they can do for older generation cars is very good....and their hardware is very good quality, but I'm just not totally convinced about what they do with newer stuff in terms of ECU tuning.
However, I'd certainley rather go to Abbott than BSR.

Edited by aeropilot on Tuesday 3rd October 22:39