1/8th mile time input please.

[PearlVR-4]

Hello, I am the owner of a 1988 saab SPG.It has 175k miles and is on 6psi.I recentlly took it to a local 1/8th mile track.It ran a best of 12.5@59 mph.The fact that its not fast isnt a problem lol.I just want to know if this is normal.Ive read the 0-60 time should be around 8 seconds.Also the trans wont let me simply bang it in a gear I almost have to slow shift it in order to get it in.Im unsure of whether thats a saab thing or just this particular cars deal.



Thanks

[RallySaab=68=]

Your car is on base boost. The stock car should boost about 12.5 psi which is past the yellow and just into the red on the boost gauge. I would do a tune up and then run some checks to see why the APC system is limiting you to base boost. My old non turbo could reach 60 in 12 seconds or less. The non turbos have higher compression so on the turbo you need about 6 lbs of boost to make up the difference in compression. When you figure in the granny shifting, and the reaction time off the line 12.5 seconds 0-60 on 6lbs of boost sounds about right.

I would highly recommend that you stop doing 1/8 mile drags unless you want to blow up your transmission. The shifters can be sloppy. A shifter adjustment might help yield a small improvement, but granny shifting is the way to go on a c900.

[PearlVR-4]

Im not too concerned about blowing the transmission this was a car I bought for 900$ and I intend to put it through worse than that :cool:.I do appreciate the input though.

I will check on the APC system and see if anything is amiss.The car had a manual boost controller, which removed before going to the track.My old vr4 and talon had a factory valve on the wategate vac. line that controlled the boost.I have yet to really research the apc system and how it controls boost but we always disabled the factory valve when we installed MBC's on them maybe thats why its at 6lbs on this car after i took off the MBC.

[Saab named Jag]

I would place a bet that either the instillation or uninstillation of the mbc had something to do with the APC not working. However after research you will probably find that the APC system is far better at controlling boost than a mbc ever will be. ;)


Im not too concerned about blowing the transmission this was a car I bought for 900$ and I intend to put it through worse than that :cool:.


I know if I had an spg I would be concerned about blowing it up, and it would be treated nicely. :nono;

[ludichris001]

I know if I had an spg I would be concerned about blowing it up, and it would be treated nicely. :nono;

agreed.
SPG's are hard to come by here, an SPG for $900 here would be a steal, and at that price it probably wouldnt be running and be rusted out.

:nono;

[Jezzadee]

Go easy with the gear changes. You've got to do it slow, otherwise it'll go bang before you get to the finish line.

It's hard to imagine a more unsuitable car for 1/4 or 1/8th of a mile. If you were to do a 1 mile in 4th gear starting from 40mph, you'd be onto a winner.

[Clovii]

Im not too concerned about blowing the transmission this was a car I bought for 900$ and I intend to put it through worse than that :cool:.I do appreciate the input though.

These cars are becoming so rare now, that I would definately take care of it. They are considered classics already, and having one in good to excellent condition is certainly a badge of honor, not to mention the heads that turn whenever and SPG comes rolling down the street, making it's signature SAAB engine sound!:cool:

[nutcase]

Poor car :(

[PearlVR-4]

Dont worrry guys im not gonna throw it in the can when something breaks.I do intend to continue racing and modify the car quite a bit.
Thanks again for the productive posts up top.

[1oldsaabman]

Like others stated something is definantly wrong & more then likely it's due to vac lines not being connected properly. Check it out & get it hooked up properly & you can drop several seconds off that time. After it's running properly it's also easy to get quite a bit more boost out of the car but like others stated these trannies totally suck for drag racing & it will explode on you sooner rather then later, especially if you hurry the shifts. I just rescently decided to stop taking my SPG to the track (roadcoarse) due to not wanting to spend another $6,000 on a new trans.

Get it running properly where boost is around 14 into the red. Then modift the APC box or buy one from a saab performance shop to allow 15-20PSI of boost. You need to add a 3.0bar FPR & if you can swing it throw a larger/better turbo on the car along with a ecu from Jak. O yea, don't forget at least a 3in dp. It's definantly easy to tweek.....

[Green9kAERO]

gary is that you:)

[Max Blast]

Like others have said, a 900 5-speed is not a good drag car unless you do street starts. 1st and second gear are pretty much worthless for forward traction. The fun starts in 3rd, and gets funner in 4th and 5th. If you regularly do 1st and 2nd gear clutch dumps you'll never get to 4th and 5th, unless you get out of the car and pick them up from where they land after your transmission shatters into a million tiny little pieces.

If you want to check for base boost or find out what it is set at, first check EVERY single vacuum line under the hood for leaks, and correct location.
Disconnect the APC valve on the radiator and hook up a boost meter. Your boost should be 5.5 psi.