3.0T V6 question.

[spaceship]

Hi, now this isn't a scathing comment, I genuinely am curious about this as I was looking at one of these today but was slightly miffed that the power output was 'only' 200bhp. I thought it may have been more or are the figures i've looked at totally wrong?

Some of the 2.3T's are 220bhp and obviously the HOT Aero is 250bhp so I figured it may have been somewhere in between. If the figures i've seen are correct it even produces the same level of torque as the 2.3T so i don't think that it has been tuned more for torque than power.

Is it a Saab engine or a reworked GM 3.0 V6, as I was looking at MV6 Omega's and they produce 207bhp - without a blower?

Cheers

[aeropilot]

Yes, the 3.0t V6 is 200hp.

The previous n/a 3.0 V6 as fitted to the Saab 9000 was 210hp

The Saab V6 in it's turbo form was a development of the Omega V6, and was setup for torque more than hp, and was really only done because of the demand from the USA market for a bigger engine...given the percieved general dislike of 4 cyl engines.

A few Saab tuners do an ECU upgrade that gives about 240hp, but that's as far as the V6 can be tuned.
The 2.3T is a much better engine to have.

[fastcars_hardy]

If you are going to get one then i would go for the 2.3 any day. I wouldn't get a 3.0 v6. There is nothing to gain over a 2.3.

[spaceship]

Thanks for clearing that up. Yeah, i've been looking at 2.3T's and the HOT Aero too. I just saw this one and it had low miles and was a not bad price.

[aeropilot]

spaceship said:

Thanks for clearing that up. Yeah, i've been looking at 2.3T's and the HOT Aero too. I just saw this one and it had low miles and was a not bad price.

Wise move

Depends on what years you look, but technically, there's the choice of the 2.3t, 2.3T and the 2.3HOT.

[spaceship]

Yeah i'd narrowed it down to either the 2.3T or the HOT. Quite fancy an estate.

[aeropilot]

spaceship said:

Yeah i'd narrowed it down to either the 2.3T or the HOT.

Identical engines, only the ECU software is different. The less common 220hp 2.3T is a detuned version of the 250hp 2.3HOT found in the Aero.

[spaceship]

Did some of the lower engine spec'd models not have a boost gauge on the instrument panel? I went to look at one today and it was a 51-plate SE estate and it didn't have one. Not sure what engine it was though as It was a bit too tatty for my liking.

[aeropilot]

Yes.

All the light pressure turbo models had no boost guage.

lpt's came in 150hp 2.0 guise and 170hp 2.3 guise for early cars, with the 2.3lpt being upped to 185hp from 2000 or 2001. These engines have the smaller GT17 turbo, and are very susceptable to the sludging up of the oil pick up resulting in a siezed engine from being run on semi-synth oil and poorly serviced pcv systems. Unless there's documentation to proove the latest pcv kit has been fitted and a sump drop and clean has been done, I'd avoid an early lpt.

The Aero's have the TD04 turbo and were specced from new to use full synth oil, so suffer much less from the sludging problem, albeit they are not immune.

[spaceship]

Thanks for that info. I think i'd like to hold out for a decent Aero if i can find one.

Think i'm gonna wait until later in the year for one, i'm not desperate to get a car just now and possibly i'll be able to get a decent one in my price range in about 9-10 months time. I'm just trying to find out as much info about a range of cars just now to help me decent what I really want.