I just got off the phone with one guy at engstrom in chicago and one engineer from nordic in sweden.
The nordic guy says the 9-3ss new engine is too weak and the cams of the car blow up and you run into many problems when you boost the car and tune it. So they are very concerned about tuning the car.
On the other hand the guy in chicago said the car is fine and the engine can take a beating. He dynoed the car already and gave me these numbers on a 210 hp 9-3 aero:
From 210hp to 247hp with 286lbs of torque.

So these are 2 opinions by 2 tuners....who is right???

I bet Nordic got lost in the translation. Their test sleigh was a 2.0t (175hp). Maybe they got that up to 245-260hp and blew it and not the 210. After all Saab itself has modified the internals in going from 175 to 210.

If that was the case then, the 175 had a 60-75 hp increase. The 210 should be able to take at least the same increase.

I don't know about translation..but I specifically told him that i wanted to know about the 9-3aero. His english wasnt bad, unless I inttepretted it wrong. He says that nordic will decide sometimes in spring with further testing to see if the engine will hold.
He was explaining that the cams are loose on the stock car and come out of place under all that power. which leads to things like the head gasket busting,.etc...
The engstrom motorsport guy, i think bo was his name said every thing is fine...
but there has been no long term testing done to prove that after you boost it,..the car will still hold after 50,60,70,000 miles on it....

While I'm not an automotive engineer, something about "the cams are loose" and they "come out of place under all that power" doesn't sound right. More rpm's are tough on cams but more power is tough on the lower end (pistons, rods, crank, main bearings, etc.).

The engine cant take all the power? What kind of sh*t is that? Even the 175hp should easily go up to 245hp, or else the engine is crap and the car is crap. You see honda's and subaru's with 400-500hps and they are still running fine. I am starting to think that Nordic dont have a clue about tuning.

Hey guys we already discussed the Nordic Tuning in the title Nordic Tuning. According to the posting they said the problem was in the bottom end, at about 245 to 260hp. If you want to know more look at the post. Sounds like in order to get power the lower end needs to be rebuilt.

sounds like nordic might be testing on a lemon

i think someone said they tested 3 cars.

well I think I would wait and see the BSR tuning, and see how well it works for other saab peoples... Since there are still contradictions between nordic and other groups about the upgrade.