Hi all,

Well, the PPC arrived, but I'm having problems! I suppose someone had to have problems. Here's a summary.

* Sabb 93SS Aero 2.0T, model year 2004
* ITG filter
* SatNav unit fitted. Model ES3-7 (13 speakers):
http://www.saab.co.uk/main/GB/en/model_features_comparison_93s.xml?specgroupid=5
(click on the link for the 7 speaker model, that's basically the same)
* Applied PPC, test drove car. Loud whistle from the turbo (fixed frequency) at high levels of boost.
* Unapplied PPC. Removed ITG filter. Had stock Saab filter refitted.
* Reapplied PPC (location X)
* SatNav stops working! Car position is fixed at the last point the car was tuned: location X
* Turbo still whistles at a fixed frequency.
* Unapplied PPC.
* SatNav still not working.

So, at the moment, I'm back to the stock settings, but SatNav is "down". If I go to the tuned settings, I get amazing performance but the turbo sounds like it's having a fit.

I guess the PPC is not perfect after all! :-(

Paul at Parts for Saabs is contacting BSR to see what can be done.

Glum,
Michael

Hi all,

Well, the PPC arrived, but I'm having problems! I suppose someone had to have problems. Here's a summary.

* Sabb 93SS Aero 2.0T, model year 2004
* ITG filter
* SatNav unit fitted. Model ES3-7 (13 speakers):
http://www.saab.co.uk/main/GB/en/model_features_comparison_93s.xml?specgroupid=5
(click on the link for the 7 speaker model, that's basically the same)
* Applied PPC, test drove car. Loud whistle from the turbo (fixed frequency) at high levels of boost.
* Unapplied PPC. Removed ITG filter. Had stock Saab filter refitted.
* Reapplied PPC (location X)
* SatNav stops working! Car position is fixed at the last point the car was tuned: location X
* Turbo still whistles at a fixed frequency.
* Unapplied PPC.
* SatNav still not working.

So, at the moment, I'm back to the stock settings, but SatNav is "down". If I go to the tuned settings, I get amazing performance but the turbo sounds like it's having a fit.

I guess the PPC is not perfect after all! :-(

Paul at Parts for Saabs is contacting BSR to see what can be done.

Glum,
Michael That sucks! I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted on how this turns out.

that sound is normal, it's just working harder.

Hi again,

Well, with great relief I can report the Satnav problem is fixed. For some reason, the PPC upgrade causes the Satnav to freeze up. You need to give it approx 1 hour (car switched off) and then, when you start up, it hunts for its location and resets.

Quite an odd problem, but thankfully self-healing.

As for the whine, yeah, I guess it's normal. I feel mine might be a little more instrusive than expected, but perhaps it will mellow. It'd be nice to hear from anyone else with the PPC and an Aero (or Vector as they were outside Europe). What sort of sounds are you getting?

PPC wins the day! Aero + PPC = MORE TORQUE THAN A PORSCHE 911 CARERRA OR A FERRARI 360 SPIDER! :-)

Michael

how's the power delivery compared to stock
on an Aero? Is it like a BIG surge or it's pretty linear as you rev through the rpm's?

thanks.

the soundīs is normal..

The PPC controller turns off a lot of stuff when it is downloading your Saab software and uploading the BSR software. You can actually hear all the reays turn off and the on again 6 minutes later. It sounds like those relays turn off something to the Satnav and then it doesn't reset elegantly.

BTW, for those who worry about having the DRLs on during the programming process, just pull fuses 16 and 26 in the engine compartment fusebox (the longish fusebox on the LHS of the vehicle by the ABS distributor). You'll get a LHS and RHS headlight failure message, but just clear those and program away. Note ! This is not a way to disable DRLs. The same fuses control the turn signals so don't forget to put them back.

My turbo is definitely working harder, and i can clearly hear that. If you hear the car from the outside flooring it, it sounds like a beast ;). At first i was worried myself, but everything seems to be running perfectly fine. The power and torque the PPC delivers is beyond expectations.

how's the power delivery compared to stock
on an Aero? Is it like a BIG surge or it's pretty linear as you rev through the rpm's?

thanks.

The surge in power in 2nd gear is almost beyond belief. It is certainly like a step change - one minute you're doing a swift pull away, and the next you're being catapulted at an unbelievable speed. You have to be careful here. Put it on a motorway and you're really in business. 30mph to 70mph seems to take place in the blink of an eye!

Re turbo lag and non-linear responses, I think it is true that the car behaves very much like stock up to normal boost levels. As soon as the needle goes into the red, the changes start. You could argue that there is more turbo lag, but I think that is only half right.

One other thing. Fuel economy seems to be better than stock, if you're not using the extra power. Obviously it uses more fuel if you floor it and go for the top band.

I am going to do a video tomorrow (Thurs). More then. :-)

Cheers
Michael

Re turbo lag and non-linear responses, I think it is true that the car behaves very much like stock up to normal boost levels. As soon as the needle goes into the red, the changes start. You could argue that there is more turbo lag, but I think that is only half right.

One other thing. Fuel economy seems to be better than stock, if you're not using the extra power. Obviously it uses more fuel if you floor it and go for the top band.

Cheers
MichaelYou are probably right about the turbo lag. I experience the same thing on my 2.0t PPC. Once the turbo gauge is in the red, you get such a boost that you can be forgiven for thinking that the turbo is lagging up till that point. But the turbo is probably performing like stock up to that point. Its all relative. I love the way you are just pushed back into the seat when the extra boost is delivered. :D :D :D

I just did 1000km of country driving with the PPC and returned 8.0L/100km. My last trip returned 7.9L/100km. Not much difference in it. I tended to be a bit heavy on the foot this time around :cheesy:

Mjwells... thanks for the update and review.
The price at the Engstrom webpages is very tempting. :) thanks.

Looks like the PFS price is now at a similar level :)

Looks like the PFS price is now at a similar level :)That'll be right, less than a week after I get mine. Oh well, its worth it! :D