so I hear, I can put on a manual boost controller to my car without any other mods, and as long as I keep the PSI below 15, I don't need any other mods. Is this safe for my engine? is it easy to install? Is it something I want to do?

so I hear, I can put on a manual boost controller to my car without any other mods, and as long as I keep the PSI below 15, I don't need any other mods. Is this safe for my engine? is it easy to install? Is it something I want to do?

You have T7 so you want a series manual boost controller, not just the manual boost controller. Yes, you can put it on without other mods- and no, you cannot put it at 15 psi. T7 will not be happy at all with that. It can be used to simply raise base boost in first and second gear.

If you want 15psi+ in you car, you'll have to buy a new ECU.

You have T7 so you want a series manual boost controller, not just the manual boost controller. Yes, you can put it on without other mods- and no, you cannot put it at 15 psi. T7 will not be happy at all with that. It can be used to simply raise base boost in first and second gear.

If you want 15psi+ in you car, you'll have to buy a new ECU.

Its the 9-3 non SE...my understanding is that this is the t5 engine.

What I was saying is that I could keep it lower then 15, right? but I could go to 14???

sorry, Im sure this subject is all over but for some reason I cant search right now..

Its the 9-3 non SE...

What I was saying is that I could keep it lower then 15, right? but I could go to 14???

sorry, Im sure this subject is all over but for some reason I cant search right now..

I know, it's the base 9-3. It's the same Saab I've got, but you still have the Trionic 7 engine management system.;)

No, you cannot put it to 14. At best the car will reach max boost at 12 psi on a good day. You can only buy a series manual boost controller which, when used properly, raises boost in first and second gear. Anything further than 12 psi and you are looking at a new ECU. Those of us with T7 don't have the luxury of upping the overall boost (with an MBC).:x

Actually you can get it to up to about 15.5 psi (as told by Jeff). However you can't floor it. You need to gradually apply the gas pedal, however you can still increase 0-60 time. You can put up to 12 psi if you want straight boost with foot to the floor.
IMO it's the best thing you can buy for 25 bucks.

']Actually you can get it to up to about 15.5 psi (as told by Jeff). However you can't floor it. You need to gradually apply the gas pedal, however you can still increase 0-60 time. You can put up to 12 psi if you want straight boost with foot to the floor.
IMO it's the best thing you can buy for 25 bucks.

Why chance 15.5 on a T7? And who is buying a manual boost controller that wouldn't want to floor it from time to time? It is pretty common knowledge that you will throw a CEL if boost is above 12.

And just for the record, T7 cars reach 12 psi at stock levels. Boost is only being raised to twelve in the first two gears, so in essence you are "upping the boost" but it is limited to first and second. That is why you can increase the 0-60 time. 60-100, persay, would be unaffected.

okay, so, series boost controller. can I get a chepo from ebay, or can you guys link a good one. also, control in cabin would be nice but im not willing to pay much more for it...

smartperformance.net

Smartperformance.net (http://smartperformance.net/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=33) is your best bet, the guy knows his Saabs. $25 plus shipping.

do I want that anticipator thing?

I don't know much about turbos..will the anticipator boost my engine for a longer more level time? (thats what I got out of the blerb on the website).

Would you guys recomend spending the extra cash and getting one with the anticipator?

Im used to an NA straight 6..I would rather have more level powerband..

No, the anticipator would be -in my humblest opinion- money thrown away in a SMBC install. You'll want to get the ECU tuned at one point in the near future anyway, if you stay on this forum. Trust me on that. ;)

As far as I understand it T7Suite is a cheap alternative to getting a BSR or Maptun tune, akin to the old freeware TurboEdit, Chrome or Uberdata developments on Honda ECU's. You'll need (someone with) some soldering skills and a spare ECU though, and a ROM burner.

Then, on a t5, the smbc makes no difference over a "ebay" mbc?

Depends on what kind of ebay MBC and on t5 you can turn the psi up to around cut-off (15.5psi). So yes on t5 it doesn't matter but fyi I bought the crap one when I first got my saab and it is less than sufficent. I bought the NXS MBC on ebay after that it's $20 shipped and is good up to 50 psi. Still working great and I hardly ever spike.

Depends on what kind of ebay MBC and on t5 you can turn the psi up to around cut-off (15.5psi). So yes on t5 it doesn't matter but fyi I bought the crap one when I first got my saab and it is less than sufficent. I bought the NXS MBC on ebay after that it's $20 shipped and is good up to 50 psi. Still working great and I hardly ever spike.

Some people say that smbc will not damage the engine, but the "ebay" mbc could do it. I can't understand such statement cos both things do the same thing...

ive just installed one... and when the boost is turned down fully, i still get fuel cut.

ive left the vac pipe which comes off the induction pipe (before turbo) on the OEM bit .. (even though the OEM part is unplugged)

what am i doing wrong :(

umm your sure you dont have it turned all the way up and not down :lol:
i installed a MBC+A from smartperformance.net and I LOVE IT!
it was by far a hugeeee pain in the *** to install but i love it. Idk how useful the +A part really is exspecially since i have mine set to about 13 and not near fuel cut off. but whatever im happy.

no its all the way down, so i cannot blow through it... and it spikes.. :S:S:S really confused..

also, the free flowing side on the T piece ive got, is on the wastegate side.. which is the way the "ebay knock off" bits should be... cheers

no its turned down!! :( Even when the valve is closed, it jerks..... would this have something to do with the electronic boost controller thing? It still chugs when i leave it plugged in to.. :(

i want to get an mbc but idk if i should get a series or manual. if i do need an ecu i have one my friend on his saab. we hooked it up and drove it and with the ecu my boost guaee read 22psi. i dont think thats right and i took it out right away because i didnt want to blow my turbo. whats my best bet if i want to up my boost in my car?

umm your sure you dont have it turned all the way up and not down :lol:
i installed a MBC+A from smartperformance.net and I LOVE IT!
it was by far a hugeeee pain in the *** to install but i love it. Idk how useful the +A part really is exspecially since i have mine set to about 13 and not near fuel cut off. but whatever im happy.

It shouldn't have been too hard. The +A part does wonders if you have it all set correctly. I had one for a long time before I went through the stages of an ECU. The +A eliminates overboost so with a proper boost gauge you can have it set to boost right to 15psi and hold there. Plain MBC's will have overboost (boost spike) that you need to account for, ie set it to 12 psi so it will spike to 15 and then settle at 12. (I say 15psi because fuel cut on a stock T5 motor is 15.5)

Also as an FYI all '99 and older 9-3's/ng900's are T5 (except the viggen) anything '00 and up is T7

well my reason being that in was a pain in the *** was because i did not mount it where they do, there for i had to run alott more Vacuum hose and ran out of red vacuum hose and had to go to auto zone to get more to finish.

ok i was thinking about it today, and would a mbc mess with the cars knock sensors and what it does to compensate for lower octane? because i might be wrong but doesnt the cars computer sense knock and then cut boost accordingly? and also im assuming that when you raise the boost to 15psi through all gears youd want to only run high octane
im going to install a mbc+a setup but decided it would be smart to wait until i get a boost gauge and air/fuel meter first

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n97/livesleephalo/Saab/DSC04254Medium.jpg

I have my MBC+A over on the left side attached to my intakes heat shield

is it worth getting a MBC+a, or even just a normal MBC. I am curious how safe it is for my car, doing it myself if i set it semi aggressive, but not all out. I dont want to cut it close to cutting out, etc. Is it worth it? Worth 70$ for the nice setup that is posted on here. They send you everything including the instructions. I have done everything else to my car, on the simple side of things except this. More pictures to come, i just ended up painting everything read to match my color scheme.

Please let me know what you guys think of the MBC and its overall reliability and performance. I daily drive my car 70 miles a day.