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Yep pretty big update :( I think it's thrown a rod. Best case scenario is the turbos just blown, could feel/hear it shooting down the exhaust! But the amount of oil it's lost I think it's terminal. Might break it over summer and keep all the mods for a newer 9-3 or Vec VXR. Gutted :(

Yeah it's not bad, throws a fair bit shorter and looks nicer than the standard stick, just a shame with all the instal problems. Just couldn't get it to work/fit unless the shifter cover was cut. Took ages!!

Sort of! All gears are engaging but shifting fast from 2nd to 3rd is a right pain and doesn't always go in. Need to adjust the cable again when I get home.

Short shifters finally sorted!! What a pain this was!!!!!!! Long story short was the shifter itself is too thick to get the plastic shifter cover back over it, so had to file/shave/trim the inside of the cover to slide it back over rotate it 90degs until it cleared then rotate back to get it to...

Billet Pro Shop Shortshifter fitted Bit of a faff to fit this (looks like it's my fault!) whatever I did I couldn't select 1st & 2nd without slacking the shifter cover right off but then couldn't get 5th & 6th. So ended up shaving off a load of the plastic cover to get 1st but meant I had to...

So..back to the dyno and it didn't go well :( I did ask them to do a pull from 3k in 3rd or 3.5k in 4th where the cars happy but they didn't and did a run from around 2k in 4th and the car ran like *#*#*#*#, hit throttle cut, then had traction problems when it sorted itself out and made low power...

Yep that's what I'm thinking. I'll see how it runs tomorrow then I'd like to go back next month with the new actuator and try a couple runs with the different springs fitted. Max boost pressure I'm not sure on until tomorrow, I think it's peaking over 30psi here (seems pretty high that for such...

Thanks Os :) Will have to give the credit to he local Polish guys though!! Car cleaning does my head in! It's 50 quid well spent! Bodywork needs attention though, now it's nice & clean the rusty arches & stone chips on the bonnet really show up. Needs a respray, I've found a couple local guys...

Dyno day tomorrow :) Had a look at some logs from last year to get a rough idea how much power to expect. John's said not to get too disappointed if I come in lower than expected as his cars are dyno'd on dynojet dynos and I think the one tomorrow is more like a mustang dyno so will read...

Has anyone used Halfords track day oil? http://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine-oils-fluids/engine-oil/halfords-5w50-fully-synthetic-track-day-oil-5l

Takes me back!!! A mate had a white one that had a few quid spent on it with Power Engineering, wasn't running any mental power (I think it was 180bhp?) but was a very very quick car....and scary!!! Used to just pin you into the seat :) Awesome!!!

Maptun 4 pots & sticky tyres :) And £5 flowers to smooth things over with 'er indoors....

No update as such here (we're going to NYC next month so no more spending on the SAAB for a while!!) But it's booked in for a dyno run on a rolling road day I'm organising over on Pistonheads in March. Any South Wales guys (or anybody else who fancies it!) more than welcome to come :) After...

Quite a lot when I was young & stupid .V( I think the funniest (but not at the time as we had a major telling off!!) was pulling up at the lights opposite a dark grey escort, I had my seat belt on, my mate didn't in the passenger seat and the driver of the escort started pointing at us rapidly...

Plugs & coils swapped, definitely did the right thing here and take it to the garage!! Looked a right faff! Running slightly smoother now, misfire seems to have gone but still has a slight boost issue like before, just dumps it early again, the 3.5bar map sensor helped (a lot) but it's still...

Turbo baby ;)

I was going to attempt it mate but had another look yesterday, you have to disconnect a load of electrical parts and access is pretty tight/awkward. Guarantee I'll break something expensive! At least with the Saab garage they've done loads now and it's only an hours labour. I can do the fronts...

Just needs a little less drone & a bit more of a bang Os ;) I think he rumble box gives it a slight crackle

Also looking at a simple exhaust mod to alter the sound a bit, basically the 9-3 Turbo X (or TX) has a slightly different system to the Aero (same 2.8t v6 engine but has the Hadlex 4wd and a few other changes) Mine comes with a middle resonator then branches off into the 2 back boxes, the TX...

Cars booked in for the 2nd with South Wales Saab Specialists to fit the new plugs and swap the rear bank of coils over. I was going to DIY here but the rears look a pig to change and definitely scope here to damage something!! Some pics of the coils, first time I've seen these in the flesh, had...

Definitely going to try and make this one mate, looking forward to seeing the beast again too!! I think you've done a fair bit since I saw it back in 2011!! I'll take you out for a quick spin in this if we get a chance, should be done by August (he says!!)

.V( I didn't realise that Os! Yeah probably a good idea to be there :) I should really renew my SOC membership and start going to some meets. Dragon Saab usually meet a few miles away but I'm always away in London with work :(

mmmmm.....chocolates!! Are you going to the National in Pembre next year? For the first time in years I'm off work so I can make it :)

Thanks Os, slowly getting there!! How's the beast?

New plugs (NGK LFR7AIX) and genuine Bosch coils ordered. I'm just swapping the rear bank coils over (look a right pain to swap!!) that gives me 3 working spare coils then to keep in the car in case any of the fronts pop! They're the weak spot on the tuned v6 so a good idea to keep them handy...

Here's a screen shot of the info for the uprated water rad: The guys who sell the 5"DP also sell an uprated rad in the link above for around £450(ish) but then have to factor in shipping costs plus tax and any issues that may arise with fitting or if it gets damaged in transit from the states...

Here's the info on the 5" DP: The second option is our special 5 inch expansion chamber downpipe. This downpipe has a large 5 inch exhaust section behinsd the turbine outlet. Turbine wheel efficency is rated in work extracted from exhaust, and efficecny can be increased by changing the...

Thabks mate, I'm on the fence with the 5" DP. Still trying to get better info on that one and if anyone's tested it on the TD04. I think it was tried out with a HX35. I'll have to log the coolant & oil temps when I'm home to see exactly what happening. Performance side I'm 99% happy with now...

Water temp mainly mate, I'll dig out the info later but the new water rad re-routes the pipework and sounds much more efficient. When I'm home next I'll get HP Tuners on there and log the oil & water temps. The oil cooler sounds a must on bigger turbo'd 2.8 v6t's (gt30/holset etc) and...

With some knowledgable petrol heads on here...probably the best place to ask ;) Next year's project is tackle the cooling side on the SAAB as it gets a bit warm in there now on the new tune. I'll be pushing the IC right up front for better airflow as its sandwiched between the rad & AC at the...

Found it :) Will let you know how I run these cars. These motors do not like to be lugged. Lugging the motor is high manifold pressure and low rpm, like what you get in the higher gears like 5th or 6th at lower rpm like 2700rpm or something. With the extra boost and power, you want to run the...

Yes fine to go WOT in all gears mate ;) goes like a stabbed rat but need to roll into 5th from 4th, instead of just flooring it in 5th or 6th. I'll dig out the info he's sent.

Thanks mate, yeah happy with that!! Not far off my old GT30's times!! Next big job is tackle the cooling side, bigger water rad, swap IC's (for a slightly thinner but wider/taller one) and a bigger oil cooler.

New maps going well, couple more logs sent so maybe even more to come here!! New times: 60-90 3.09 secs 60-100 4.76 secs Happy with that :) Just changing the driving style here has made a nice difference.

New map loaded for tomorrow!! More fuel & even more mid range clout :) Dying to try this one out!! I'm putting the actuator off another month, next purchase is a new set of plugs and coils (rear bank are a right pain to do so its a garage job)

Finally managed to get a few logs off to John so he can see what's causing the throttle cut & dumping boost early. Still trying to get my head around HP Tuners, I'll try and post a screen shot of the graph display when I figure it out!! Basically it's boosting too high and knocking a fair bit...

Thanks Os :) Just taking her back out now with HP Tuners plugged in to see how it all works, I'll send John a quick log of the throttle cut issue, maybe he can sort something to calm it down a bit more. How's the beast going?

3 bar map sensor now fitted and reflashed the ecu. Took around 50/60 miles to adapt to the new tune, still getting some throttle cut (which the sensor should have eliminated straight away) so had another map to load with more base boost, that's running a little better but it's still here...

Getting there slowly!! I think if I'd had my old turbo rebuilt to 19 or 20T it would be all done now as its a proven set up here. I don't think anyone's gone for the insignia turbo plus 550's so the stage 5 map needs a bit of tweaking to suit. Sounds like they all run pretty similar so he just...

Aye!! Cost almost as much as I paid for the car!! Labour charge was pretty heavy but had to be done before the clutch died & pointless not going for the diff, was right on the edge of traction with just the stage 1 map :)