Hi, advice on MPG gains and Stereo Mod

[Neilman]

Hi,
I am a newbie to the forum. Hello, any help and advice is greatly received.

I have a SAAB 93 Sportwagon (Black) 2006 1.9 Tid 150 Vector Sport with 60,000 miles. It has been loved and looked after since I got it at 38,000 miles.

Having a few dramas with it and it is costing me quite a bit at the moment and I don't mean in wear items. I have replaced Air conditioning condensor and the Alternator already. The water pump has just seized on my wife on the motorway shredding the cam belt whilst she was in the outside lane of the motoway in rush hour! Could have been quite serious.Has anyone else had this?
This has caused damage to the engine so whilst it is apart and being rebuilt I am considering a few upgrades. I have ordered a K and N air filter when it gets reloaded with Oil etc in the post Operation service!

As Fuel is getting ridiculously expensive what mods do you recommend for improving MPG without sacrificing reliability (the irony!)? Interestingly the cars MPG improved after a new alternator was fitted, apperantly this also runs the aircon which may be the reason, does anyone have a better explanation?

I have the 2006 pre facelift and dash upgrade, is there a way of fitting the Stereo from the 56 plates onwards into mine and does anyone know where I can get one if so and how much? If not, where can I get a 6 disc changer for mine?

I still love my Saab:love:, but my bank manager hates me.

Take it easy.

Neilman

 

[pgarner]

Hello and welcome to the site mate

you complaining about diesels being expensive, good job your not running the petrol areo lol

have you looked at remaps ? although they increase the performance on diesels the increase in torque normally means better feul economy when cruising.

this is on top of the usual dump any unnessessary weight such as spare wheel etc, check tyre pressures and run them slightly over standard.
ohh and of course slow down a bit

 

[T9 man]

Hi,
I am a newbie to the forum. Hello, any help and advice is greatly received.

I have a SAAB 93 Sportwagon (Black) 2006 1.9 Tid 150 Vector Sport with 60,000 miles. It has been loved and looked after since I got it at 38,000 miles.

Having a few dramas with it and it is costing me quite a bit at the moment and I don't mean in wear items. I have replaced Air conditioning condensor and the Alternator already. The water pump has just seized on my wife on the motorway shredding the cam belt whilst she was in the outside lane of the motoway in rush hour! Could have been quite serious.Has anyone else had this?
This has caused damage to the engine so whilst it is apart and being rebuilt I am considering a few upgrades. I have ordered a K and N air filter when it gets reloaded with Oil etc in the post Operation service!

As Fuel is getting ridiculously expensive what mods do you recommend for improving MPG without sacrificing reliability (the irony!)? Interestingly the cars MPG improved after a new alternator was fitted, apperantly this also runs the aircon which may be the reason, does anyone have a better explanation?

I have the 2006 pre facelift and dash upgrade, is there a way of fitting the Stereo from the 56 plates onwards into mine and does anyone know where I can get one if so and how much? If not, where can I get a 6 disc changer for mine?

I still love my Saab:love:, but my bank manager hates me.

Take it easy.

Neilman

Well, where to begin? 1st, K&N filter, is this a panel filter to replace the factory standard or an induction kit? if it's the latter, then you will only get additional noise and nothing else unless you have the car remapped.
Also look to having a 3" downpipe fitted along with a more freeflowing exhaust system to help the car breath better. The remap will not only take care of your performance issues but it will actually improve your MPG as well without any reliability issues (if done by the right people!)
I think the stereo can be replaced with a pioneer unit which for about £1500, has bluetooth for the handsfree and certain MP3 players, as well as a decent Sat Nav and a few more toys. Contact Saabcity 020 7480 7540 for further clarification on this!

Spare parts for your Saab either new or used & tested and with a guarantee at sensible prices who deliver world wide then contact Neo Brothers here in the UK on Tel: 01992 719280 and tell them Dr Reid has recommended you to them! they will look after you! I use them an awful lot myself and are great for free helpful advice.
These guys can also deal with your performance upgrades as well.

Good luck with your Saab, they can be little rascals at times, but I would'nt change mine for the world

 

[T9 man]

Oops! forgot my manners! Greetings and Welcome Neilman!

 

[Neilman]

Cheers Guys,
I love my car but as you say it is being a bit of a Rascal! I wish I did have the Aero but then I probably couldn't afford the fuel to run it! So the Vector Sport it was. I do love the torque of the diesels having had diesel cars for the last 10 years, an a V twin motorbike, all great for lazy overtakes. I think I was just a bit unlucky, I think I got the engine the FIAT engineer built after a few nice red wines on a friday lunchtime! I figure as long as i replace the bits it needs it will almost be like new. It is now all fixed by an awesome guy near Poole who is an independent and Specialises only in Saab. He used all genuine Saab parts bought from the dealer and as teh damage wasn't as terminal as I thought the price was lower than I expected. I hate to think how mucha main dealer would charge for the work. The car is running sweet as a nut again.

I am only going to fit a panel K and N for the moment but I was thinking a bout an exhaust too,any recommendations. I spoke to my insurance company about remapping the ECU but the ywould push the premiums up more than I would save on fuel and the unit cost. I was hoping if I sold as a tool to improve MPG they may see the sense in it, but no. Is there an insurance company that is more sympathetic to this or do they all assume we are boy racers, even if you are a thirtysomething boy in a sportwagon! What mapping would you guys recommend? I don't want to go lunatic, after all it is a sportwagon but I wouldn't mind making a bit more of a wolf in sheeps clothing, maybe 180 bhp to 200. Would any of this cause undue starin on the engine given that it seems to be a highly strung Italian? What exhaust would you recommend, I am not bothered about sound just a few BHP gains.

I would love to change the stereo but I have been told the new stereo as standard is all fibre optic and can be a nightmare to work with so what would you all recommend for a stereo upgrade that would still allow all the SID to work or should I just get the 6 cd in and be happy with that? Any thoughts on speakers?

Any advice is greatly received as you gutys sound like you have some awesome Saabs here and mine currently sounds quite plain.

Thanks

Neil

 

[T9 man]

Cheers Guys,
I love my car but as you say it is being a bit of a Rascal! I wish I did have the Aero but then I probably couldn't afford the fuel to run it! So the Vector Sport it was. I do love the torque of the diesels having had diesel cars for the last 10 years, an a V twin motorbike, all great for lazy overtakes. I think I was just a bit unlucky, I think I got the engine the FIAT engineer built after a few nice red wines on a friday lunchtime! I figure as long as i replace the bits it needs it will almost be like new. It is now all fixed by an awesome guy near Poole who is an independent and Specialises only in Saab. He used all genuine Saab parts bought from the dealer and as teh damage wasn't as terminal as I thought the price was lower than I expected. I hate to think how mucha main dealer would charge for the work. The car is running sweet as a nut again.

I am only going to fit a panel K and N for the moment but I was thinking a bout an exhaust too,any recommendations. I spoke to my insurance company about remapping the ECU but the ywould push the premiums up more than I would save on fuel and the unit cost. I was hoping if I sold as a tool to improve MPG they may see the sense in it, but no. Is there an insurance company that is more sympathetic to this or do they all assume we are boy racers, even if you are a thirtysomething boy in a sportwagon! What mapping would you guys recommend? I don't want to go lunatic, after all it is a sportwagon but I wouldn't mind making a bit more of a wolf in sheeps clothing, maybe 180 bhp to 200. Would any of this cause undue starin on the engine given that it seems to be a highly strung Italian? What exhaust would you recommend, I am not bothered about sound just a few BHP gains.

I would love to change the stereo but I have been told the new stereo as standard is all fibre optic and can be a nightmare to work with so what would you all recommend for a stereo upgrade that would still allow all the SID to work or should I just get the 6 cd in and be happy with that? Any thoughts on speakers?

Any advice is greatly received as you gutys sound like you have some awesome Saabs here and mine currently sounds quite plain.

Thanks

Neil

Ok, remaps! to my knowledge, Feel free to correct me on this chaps! don't usually incur extra costs from the insurance companies unless it is absolutely outrageous! I am insured through Adrian Flux with everything to the tune off many thousands of pounds of additional modifications, all of which have been fully declared and it worked out about £250 on top of my original everyday premodified insurance premium.

Stereo change should not be a real issue if you contact Saabcity and enquire about that Pioneer unit I mentioned.
Also other fibre optic after system kits such as the Dension Gateway 500, can overcome the usual problems associated with fibre driven communications ie from, Saab, Porsche to name just a couple.

Speaker choice, I use a mixture of Alpine, Pioneer and Boston Acoustic's in my car as I currently have the Saab Premier 300 audio system with 13 speakers and additional amps and active crossovers.

Hope this helps

 

[obi_waynne]

Most insurers will charge for a remap, especially if this is the only mod or one of few mods. Specialist modified car insurers don't tend to bat an eyelid as there are usually lots of other modifications to worry about as well.

 

[xpbobbiboy]

Hi Mate and welcome.
You asked about the Remap,, I got my Range Rover Remapped by a company based in bournemouth,, got more power and also worked aout at about 20% fuel saving when i got used to the extra power and started driving sensibly again.!!!!!!
So quite a saving if you work out what you spend on fuel over a year...

 

[picassoonwheels]

Welcome and sorry to have reached you late, since you mentioned the work has been done already. Else I would have suggested an electrical pump instead of the mechanical, because it has adjustable presets when to kick in, thus providing a longer period of time of operation, and keeping you engine cooler, since it runs Dependant on the temperature and not on the speed of the engine, thus providing the engine an intake of cool air, when you car is standing still, and needs it most, instead of when you are clipping down the road, and cool air is already rushing into the engine compartment.

Along with this it would take off the strain on your cam belt and prevent any mechanical power from th engine to be diverted to run it, thus providing you with some marginal extra power and also increasing fuel economy.

Thus you would not have to worry about pistons and valves cracking due to a haywire rotation of the cam, when you water-pump seizes again.