9-3 1.9 alfa diesel HIRSCH UPGRADE TO 175BHP

[briSk]

Hello chaps.

I was wondering if any of you have the hirsch upgrade on the alfa engined (150 bhp 9-3) diesel?

if so:
do you know if it's fully saab warranteed?
what sort of mpg are you getting etc etc

currently got an r53 MINI cooperS and wondering about something more practical and economical for the wife's commute.

[aeropilot]

briSk said:

I was wondering if any of you have the hirsch upgrade on the alfa engined (150 bhp 9-3) diesel?

if so:
do you know if it's fully saab warranteed?

If the car the upgrade is fitted to is still under Saab warranty, then, yes, the Hirsch upgrade doesn't affect this warranty, as it is Saab-Approved.

[adam85]

As a matter of interest, how much of a performance increase does this upgrade offer. The reason I ask is I intend to buy a 9-3 sportwagon in the not too distant future!

[Torauk]

The hirsch upgrade takes a 150-bhp 1.9TiD to 175-bhp for a RRP of £850, most UK dealers can provide this service and it takes about half an hour to complete, well worth the money in my opinion, but then i work at a Saab dealer and have never actually had to pay for it.

It is fully approved by Saab and has no effect on you warranty, and to top it off most people report an increase in fuel economy following an upgrade.

Edited by Torauk on Sunday 25th January 17:07

[dave_s13]

Torauk said:

The hirsch upgade takes a 150bhp 1.9TiD to 175bhp for a RRP of £850, most UK dealers can provide this service and it takes about half an hour to complete, well worth the money in my opinion, but then i work at a Saab dealer and have never actually had to pay for it.

30mins......£850......."well worth the money"

They don't sit well with each other in the same sentence

What does this 30min "upgrade" involve??

[Torauk]

You are paying for the software not the time spent working on the vehicle, the tech working on the car simply plugs the Hirsch computer into the car and reads the current software, then connects to the Hirsch dealer download site and gets the software, which is then uploaded to the car.

As with many things in life you are paying for the research and development that goes into such a product, not necessarily the actual single unit cost of the software.

Its also worth bearing in mind that us dealers have to pay Hirsch for each and every software download we make, and i assure you the profit for the dealer is less than generous.

[dave_s13]

Torauk said:

You are paying for the software not the time spent working on the vehicle, the tech working on the car simply plugs the Hirsch computer into the car and reads the current software, then connects to the Hirsch dealer download site and gets the software, which is then uploaded to the car.

As with many things in life you are paying for the research and development that goes into such a product, not necessarily the actual single unit cost of the software.

Its also worth bearing in mind that us dealers have to pay Hirsch for each and every software download we make, and i assure you the profit for the dealer is less than generous.

Furry muff. It just seems like a hell of a lot of cash. I suppose you're also paying for not voiding your warranty too.

How much more torque does it give you?

Edited by dave_s13 on Sunday 25th January 17:41

[dave_s13]

Torauk, out of interest, do you know how much a Saab dealer would charge for changing a sidelight bulb on a 9-5....just if you know of the top of your head?

Edited by dave_s13 on Sunday 25th January 17:44

[Torauk]

dave_s13 said:

Torauk, out of interest, do you know how much a Saab dealer would charge for changing a sidelight bulb on a 9-5....just if you know of the top of your head?

Edited by dave_s13 on Sunday 25th January 17:44

Depends om the dealer, we generally fit bulbs for free if you buy the bulb from our parts department, but i know some will charge.

On a 1.9TiD (150bhp) torque should go from 320Nm to 370Nm, makes a very noticable difference to the drive of the car.

All details are available from the Hirsch website at www.hirsch-performance.ch

[Prof Beard]

dave_s13 said:

Torauk, out of interest, do you know how much a Saab dealer would charge for changing a sidelight bulb on a 9-5....just if you know of the top of your head?

Edited by dave_s13 on Sunday 25th January 17:44

Why not do it yourself, it takes less than 5mins? Unscrew the black plastic cover at the back of the headlight, pull the sidelight holder and bulb out, change bulb, reverse process. Bulb is a 5w wedge shape bulb if I recall

[dave_s13]

Prof Beard said:

dave_s13 said:

Torauk, out of interest, do you know how much a Saab dealer would charge for changing a sidelight bulb on a 9-5....just if you know of the top of your head?

Edited by dave_s13 on Sunday 25th January 17:44

Why not do it yourself, it takes less than 5mins? Unscrew the black plastic cover at the back of the headlight, pull the sidelight holder and bulb out, change bulb, reverse process. Bulb is a 5w wedge shape bulb if I recall

Yeah I know, and I did. Cost me 65p.

I was just wondering if Saab dealers were audacious enough to charge an hours labour for it

[aeropilot]

Torauk said:

Its also worth bearing in mind that us dealers have to pay Hirsch for each and every software download we make, and i assure you the profit for the dealer is less than generous.

That's interesting, and perhaps explains now why dealers don't seem that bothered about pushing the sale of Hirsch upgrades

[John D9395]

Torauk, wondering if you could answer me a question.

I bough an 05 rag top Aero from a main dealer 2 yesrs ago which had the Superchips re-map. After about 3 months the car went into limp home mode. On investigation it was an ECU problem.

In honesty the dealer was very good. They downloaded the standard software and the problem went away. I argued the point that I had bought a car with more BHP than it now had, and after a bit of huffing & puffing they agreed to give it the Hirsch treatment FOC. On collecting the car, it drove noticibly different so I know something was done to it, but they never produced a Hirsch certificate, which they said I would receive shortly. Chased many times, but have now given up.

Question - As you can't physically see what you are buying, how do you know you have received what you have bought? I assume that without a dedicated computer, it is all a matter of trust? I am guessing that the car may have had an un-official copy downloaded which means apart from the technicians time, cost the dealer nothing?

[Torauk]

John D9395 said:

Torauk, wondering if you could answer me a question.

I bough an 05 rag top Aero from a main dealer 2 yesrs ago which had the Superchips re-map. After about 3 months the car went into limp home mode. On investigation it was an ECU problem.

In honesty the dealer was very good. They downloaded the standard software and the problem went away. I argued the point that I had bought a car with more BHP than it now had, and after a bit of huffing & puffing they agreed to give it the Hirsch treatment FOC. On collecting the car, it drove noticibly different so I know something was done to it, but they never produced a Hirsch certificate, which they said I would receive shortly. Chased many times, but have now given up.

Question - As you can't physically see what you are buying, how do you know you have received what you have bought? I assume that without a dedicated computer, it is all a matter of trust? I am guessing that the car may have had an un-official copy downloaded which means apart from the technicians time, cost the dealer nothing?

Hi John

With every software download we have ever done a PDF containing the certificate has been e-mailed to me before the car has even been on test drive (we test drive after upgrade to confirm everything is as it shoud be), this is handed to the customer as he or she pays his bill.

If you want to send me your chassis number i can e-mail Hirsch on monday and see if i can confirm yours has been done and see if they can produce a certificate for you as this would be handy should you try to sell your car.

As far as an "unofficial copy" goes i cannot imagine this is possible, as the computer that is used for the download and upload is a dedicated unit, supplied (at a cost to the dealer) direct from Hirsch, the dealer may have been able to get a price reduction or perhaps a contribution from Saab GB toward the cost as a gesture of goodwill

Edited by Torauk on Saturday 31st January 17:24

[John D9395]

Torauk

Thanks for your help.

Chasis number is

YS3FH75Y756017238

Regards

John

[Torauk]

Hi John

According to Hirsch your car was upgraded to 230hp on 24-05-07, i have the certificate in PDF form if you want it, just need your e-mail address.

Torauk

[dave_s13]

Torauk said:

Hi John

According to Hirsch your car was upgraded to 230hp on 24-05-07, i have the certificate in PDF form if you want it, just need your e-mail address.

Torauk

That's what I call service!

John you owe Torauk a pint or 2

[John D9395]

Toruak

Dave is right, I owe you a few pints, great service! (you obviously don't work for my local Saab dealer or else I would have had the certificate ages ago!)

e-mail [e-mail]

Thanks again

John