Has anyone here had any Abbott suspension/handling mods?

I had a fast, cross-country run home last night and realised (not for the first time) that my GM isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to fast A and B roads. I think it needs a little expert help and was considering a trip to Abbott Racing. Any views/previous experiences?

Mark P

Mark,
I too have been considering upgrading the suspension but I am waiting to decide if I want to keep the car for any period of time befire I make any mods.
I had intended on going for the Eibach springs that Trent sell although they can be bought cheaper from http://www.motorsportworld.co.uk/default.htm?eibach/default.htm.

At the turboteam europe site http://www.turboteameurope.com , the guy (Mark) who has the 9-3Tid, has done some Abbot mod's to his suspension. There's a movie on the site as well about him engaging much more powerful GM900 (Hirsch tuned turbo), and the movie displays pretty well the benefits of a "evolved" chassis!

-Ville

hi,

thats me!!!

Glad you enjoy the site!..

My 9-3TiD has been Abbott'd.. basically the ECU, the Viggen Rescue Kit, the Koni shocks and the Eibach dampers, exhaust, 17'' wheels etc..

Abbott really know their stuff in the chassis department. The propriator used to work for Jaguar as chief chassis tester/engineer before having their own family racing team that VERY sucessfully compeated in the British Saloon Car championships with various Ford Cosworths and then Saabs.

My 2001 model 9-3 coupe is fitted with the following by Abbott:

Abbott uprated steering rack clamp
Abbott suspension bushings
Koni Sport 'Yellow' fully adjustable dampers
and Eibach springs.

They also did the following engine work :

Abbott ECU 2001 model on TiD upgrade and Saab performance backbox.

Once everything was fitted they did the suspension geometry etc..

I'll be at the Abbott trackday at goodwood in October, if you fancy seeing what the Abbott suspension set-up is like.

And I'm the other one in the movie!!

If you want to make your 900 handling better, buy the Abbott VRK, SAS sway bar, and an Eibach/Koni combo.

After a 3" downpipe and racecat, I'm gonna concentrate on handling (and driving skills :oops: ), the video shows why.

I too find that the suspension is way too rolly and bouncy for my liking. Whats the cheapest and easiest way to improve the suspension.

The Abbott tuned car sounds like a really nice one. If only I had that in my garage too.

Cheers

:P :D 8) :lol: :evil: :P

The cheapest and easiest way will be the SAS swaybar: $125.- and 30 minutes work.
It will reduce body roll by a significant amount.

I have a GM900 convertible that has had a complete Abbott work over. These guys really know there stuff, my car now handles really well and has virtually elimated all that nasty body roll.

They also know their stuff when it comes to tuning as well, my car is running 250bhp courtesy of Abbott, and has never had so much as a hiccup in the entire time I've owned the car.

My next purchase from them will be the steering rack clamp, which will tighten the steering up and make the car more positive.

It is definately worth a trip to Abbott Racing just to listen to their wisdom about what you really can get out of your Saab, you won't be disappointed.

Ok I see everyone is all happy-go-lucky about these Abbot raceing and suspension mods, but I also noticed that this is an entirely Brit thing (one reason being that Americans only car about how fast their ricer imports, and some domestic stuff, go straight but not how sexy your car acts in 3rd gear on a windy road— What a pitty). My friend's boyfriend made the comment that they should stop makeing Saabs 'cause no one buys them and I soooo wanted to punch his teeth out :evil:, but I digress.

I checked out the "U.S. branch" of Abbot Motorsports which is ScanWest Auotsports (www.scanwestauto.com ), but they have almost no Abbot parts. I would like to know how much the Abbot Viggen Rescue kit costs and any good ECM's for a '99 9-3 all stock T5. At the moment I want to upgrade handeling first and power later so any help would be great.

On a side note does anyone know if the gear ratios for the European models are better than their US counterparts? I heard from a friend that the US has regulations on the gear ratios for cars sold in the US. If you know what your ratios are, or you know where to fidn them that woudl be a great help. I would really like to know if this rumor is true or not (and if it is true where can I get my hands on a European transmission 8) )

thanks a lot,
-Zeke Kaz-

can somebody tell me what a swaybar is and where it goes ?

It's just the American term for an Anti-roll bar.

Have a look HERE (http://www.grmotorsports.com/swaybars.html)for more info on them and what they do.

cheers !! just as bad as fender !!! so what is the difference between the factory one and the abbott one !!!

It is consideably stiffer than the stock one..AFAIK

Zeke, I hope you don't lump yourself in that "fast in a straight line Ricer" category! I'm American, and I spent the money on the Abbott springs (but not the Koni shocks), and an SAS sway bar. They both make a very noticable improvement in handling, but the sway bar is definately the better deal. Installation for the springs was very expensive. A VRK will run you around $800, and then figure in another $500 for installation. As far as I know, the American and European transmissions are exactly the same. I can't think of any good reason why the US government would care about gear ratios. This country has Hondas that rev at 4000 at 70mph, and Corvettes that loaf along at 2000rpm at 70mph.

The only car that I would ever have that woudl lump me in with that fast in a straight line crowd woudl be my Hennessy 880 Viper Venom that I don't own :roll: . My perment residence is in Maine and I got to college in Vermont (there be NO straight enough roads in EITHER state) 3rd gear and twisted roads for me. Do you have a site where I could find the sway bar or is it on the Abbot site?

Do you know anytihgn about the Viggen Rescue Kit?

The story I heard was the the US gov't imposed restrictions on the gear ratios of cars 9I would imangine) to reduce the acceleration and available torque/power ("can't have those rowdy teenagers and irrisposible people making a fuss now can we?").

-Zeke Kaz-

I have no idea what the ratios are in my gearbox, but I can tell you that my 900se Turbo is going about 83mph at 3000rpm in 5th gear.

Don't know if that gives you something to compare to or not.

That doesn't really help other than my '99 185-hp 9-3 does about 31-3200 RPM doing 90ish MPH... I think the gear ratios are in the owner's manual, but I don't have my car right now to go get it...

thanks,
-Zeke Kaz-

so would u recommend installing a rear anti sway bar and a front one as well? or would that just hurt the cause more? because i dont have lowering springs due to the fact that i dotn want to have a bouncy ride and no metter what i dont know if i can trust abbott that they actually make the ride mroe comfortable.. any suggestions, first hand experiences?