SaabCentral Forums banner

New - help / performance

1K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  v8power 
#1 ·
Hey guys, new here (obviously) and new to the Saab 'game'. I recently picked up a 2000 9-5 5 speed turbo and just like my Volvo it's lacking on the horsepower.

As stated my other car is a 850R with a 5 speed (converted) to which I can scoot down the track with mid 13 second times, easily.

I'm wanting somewhat the same performance from my Saab so.. that's why I'm here. I'm looking at the Speedparts ECU which I know I'd undoubtedly need, exhaust, a new downpipe etc. but what can I do on my quest to tip some high 13 second times in this beast? any help is greatly appreciated, thanks guys!
 
#2 ·
Do you have a 9-5 Aero? If you're looking for top performance and you have the LPT, you may want to sell your car and go buy an Aero. That would allow you to skip upgrading the turbo, clutch, suspension, and brakes, and more. The Aero has about a 15 second 1/4 mile time, so you would need to do a few upgrades if you still wanted to hit the upper 13's. Intake, intercooler, exhaust, and ECU tune would do it for sure. Honestly though, the 9-5 isn't an off-the-line type of car. It's best performance is at mid-range speeds. The Aero's 40-60 time can take on some pretty powerful cars.
 
#3 ·
unfortunately not an aero :/ i'm more or less wanting to "surprise" people and actually run some auto x events so i guess just a tad more power would be ok. what's the stock boost level at ? any thing safe i can bump it up to? i might just do an intake/filter , full exhaust and boost if i can.. then worry about suspension.
 
#6 ·
I hit high 14´s in my modded Aero Wagon.

To reach low 13´s you got chande the Turbo and internals, and then you still need slicks or so....

The 9-5 will suprise a lot of people......believe me.

And with an good Tune much more........

But from standing even don´t try.....:nono;
 
#9 ·
Sadly brakes are not on the OP's wish list..............
 
#10 ·
out of town for a bit so lack of posting was on my fault lol.

Chris, it already has some slotted rotors with hawk pads, that's about the only upgrades it has :/

Anyway - what are my limits looking like as with no ecu tuning (not in my budget til at least february) - personally i want to do an exhaust, probably have one made at our shop, 3" at least to a magnaflow muffler i'm guessing. maybe make a 3" downpipe. i could make my own turbo inlet pipe (cobra pipe) but i'll probably just end up buying one since it comes with a new compressor housing. (does it really even make that much difference?)

maybe 13s are a little optimistic but anything to carry this past the stock 170 hp. personally i'd like to be comfortable in the 220 or so range before i go nuts and get a stage 3 later on.

manual boost controllers work with these cars right? or are they totally off limits because of the ecu?
 
#12 ·
#11 · (Edited)
Il tell you the best mods to do,

Stage 3 ecu, includes 3.5bar FPR, might as well swap the fuel filter also. I will recommend Jzw tuning he does a great job

Since you have a LPT you should swap a td04-15t from an Aero onto your LPT.

Full exhaust try to make it free flow, im getting my cat gutted and then my ecu retuned to run catless.

Intake filter.

New inter cooler ether an ebay one or the more expensive saab one.

Good rubbers fat tiers, 235/45/17

If you want to be smart get some lowering springs/ dampers stuffer suspension.


thats what you would need to about 300 hp, anything more id swap some JE pistons and then APR head studs then your set to 400 hp from the engine easy just worry about your trans then.
 
#15 ·
Install a DP and an Exhaust System, specially the DP is noticable.

But if you wnat to hit the 13´s buy another car, you will never see it with an 9-5 without spending thousands of Dollars.....

I think with an 9-5 you need 400+HP to hit the 13´s.

And fo that you need pistons etc......and a bigger Turbo...bigger than the TD04-15..;)

And then you still have 2 Problems: Weight and Traction.

A friend of mine had a 9000Aero with 400+ HP.

Fully modded, run like hell out of driving, but from standing......;oops:

And he messed more Gearboxes then Tires.......:evil:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top