Advice on my 99 Viggen

Advice on my 99 Viggen

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F406

Original Poster:

2 posts

192 months

Wednesday 5th November 2008
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Hello,

Thanks for reading my first post on here having signed up looking for like minded saab drivers.

I recently bought my dream saab a 99 viggen and the car is fantastic. It has 96000 miles and is in very good condition with just a few niggles being fixed by the garage at the moment.

I wondered if there were any other viggen owners out there that could give me any advice or tips to look after the car, improve its performance, maintain the value and perhaps give me the idea of the real value of the car. It is in very good condition, new tires, new discs and pads, nearly FSH, massively fast, though I would tune it if I knew where to start, any ideas?

Thank you for reading my post and I look forward to any replies.

Regards,

Simon

RedLeicester

6,869 posts

252 months

Thursday 6th November 2008
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Lovely car, always wnated one but never quite found the right one at the right time! I twice ended up with 9-5 Aeros instead, so same engine, different car.

These seem to be the chaps for Viggen bits - http://www.abbottracing.com/ - they came out with the original "Rescue Kit" to sort the handling, which if it isn't already fitted to your car is a damned good place to start. They'll also be able to advise on tuning.

As for maintaining the value, well in simple terms look after it! For my part, I would have thought the best consideration would be to keeping it standard ias far as possible - granted there were problems with crumpling alloy wheels, but then I have seen plenty of Viggens on the most heinous of aftermarket wheels / exhausts which just look terrible.

Apart from that, enjoy, and have fun overtaking everything in your path!

Edited by RedLeicester on Thursday 6th November 08:48

aeropilot

36,528 posts

234 months

Thursday 6th November 2008
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F406 said:
I wondered if there were any other viggen owners out there that could give me any advice or tips to look after the car, improve its performance, maintain the value and perhaps give me the idea of the real value of the car. It is in very good condition, new tires, new discs and pads, nearly FSH, massively fast, though I would tune it if I knew where to start, any ideas?
For tuning, I'd say Maptun are the best.

[url]http://www.maptun.com[url]

But the best place to go for connecting with fellow Viggen owners is the UKSaabs forum here for UK owners....

http://www.uksaabs.eu/UKS/

And SaabCentral here for worldwide owners....

http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php...

Prof Beard

6,669 posts

234 months

Thursday 6th November 2008
quotequote all
aeropilot said:
F406 said:
I wondered if there were any other viggen owners out there that could give me any advice or tips to look after the car, improve its performance, maintain the value and perhaps give me the idea of the real value of the car. It is in very good condition, new tires, new discs and pads, nearly FSH, massively fast, though I would tune it if I knew where to start, any ideas?
For tuning, I'd say Maptun are the best.

[url]http://www.maptun.com[url]

But the best place to go for connecting with fellow Viggen owners is the UKSaabs forum here for UK owners....

http://www.uksaabs.eu/UKS/


And SaabCentral here for worldwide owners....

http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php...
I can recommend Maptun - I have a Stage 3 on my 9-3 Aero (270bhp/370Nm) - I am very pleased with it.

Edited by Prof Beard on Thursday 6th November 19:47

superviggen

178 posts

206 months

Thursday 6th November 2008
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I have full hirsch suspension on mine as the only modification. The kit isnt cheap see elk parts or parts for saabs, mine was fitted when new by dealer. It doesnt have any braces like abbots kit and i find the ride pretty good, just runs out of travel on some sharp bumps but i dont have any trouble with torque steer.
The best money is spent on tyres, i have had goodyear eagles gsd3 for a year or so and like them. If you have a bit of common sense in lower gears you should get decent mileage out of them too, ive done about 15k on the last set of fronts and still have decent tread left. Make sure your alignment is set up right as they are quite sensitive to that and tyre pressure.
As for brakes i have kept with factory discs each time and get about 40k out of the fronts and more for the back.
see carparts connexion for good deals on parts as well from saab dealers, i got some discs for a lot less through there.
i would just keep it as standard as possible as if you look after it it is a well reliable car, just change the oil & saab filter at least every 6k (i like mobil 1). I get 30mpg mixed type of roads, whilst still using the turbo when the road is clear to do so.
The only downside is that the parts can be pricey, and some specialists are full of BS. Make sure you use the correct NGK spark plugs as even though they are pricey at £10 each at least the car will run properly on them and you dont need to worry too much about the di cassette blowing.
The finish on the wheels can be a problem area with lacquer/paint peeling/bubbling but i had mine refurbished a year ago with the wheel specialist @ manchester and they came up great and still look so now.
The air con climate control can be a pain now and then but it usually just needs a re gas every 2 yrs or so, i just had a new compressor in the summer for £300 fitted as the last one finally packed in at about 100k or so.
overall though i think its a great car which to my eyes looks the business without getting unwanted attention.
p.s i reckon on a good day you could value it at anything from £3-4k if you are lucky - but what else is as comfortable, quick, good on juice(optimax is best) for the same sort of money? its a keeper.

Edited by superviggen on Thursday 6th November 19:45

F406

Original Poster:

2 posts

192 months

Monday 17th November 2008
quotequote all
Thank you for all your replies and the great information and apologies for taking so long to reply.

I really appreciate you takign the time to answer my queries.

My job takes me away from home a lot but I finally got the car back with all but one of th eniggles sorted by the garage.

The car is fantastic, it looks great, subtle and understated but wild in the first three gears, its great to really drive.

I have an issue with the ABS teeth on the CV joints though and they will need replacing in the future. I undestand that you need a whole new cv joint? I just wondered if there was any way of changing them but with out incurring a massive cost.

I cant imagine its cheap, but occasionally the ABS interupts braking as you pull to a stop, it only does it at very slow speed.

Thanks again for your time and writing.

Regards,

Simon