I have a 98 900s and desperately want to make in handle better, however the roads in my area are so rough and torn up that lowering the car more than a 1/4 inch would be death to my undercarriage (i already broke a foglight hitting a pothole and my car isn't even lowered) So the question is, how do i increase the performance of my suspension without tearing up my underbody

I had two ideas, either finding stiffer springs that are stock height (if thats possible) or getting lowering springs while switching to larger wheels, this in hopes of the two adjustments negating one another.

I'd love it if someone could either confirm my ideas or offer other ones

If you dont want body roll ->SAS rear bar
Or try eibach springs ( will lower 30 mm)-> many dont recommend these with standard shocks-mine work well with Saab roadholding kit Sachs.
Many posts on this topic
jonathan

Well since u don't want springs and i can understand your problem because where i'm from the roads can be pretty bad too as well as my fear of clearing snow which my car doesn't do a very good job of already. I have the SAS rear anti-sway bar and its a great upgrade and worth the money!!! the best thing about it is it doesn't decrease your ride comfort at all and in my opinion it keeps the rear end under better control when going over a lot of bumps. I don't have any other suspension mods other than 17" wheels and low profile tires which can be difficult due to a fear of bending a rim with such thin rubber. I guess you could also try Koni (i think its Koni if its not someone give me the right name) adjustable dampers.

How bout springs with spacers?

i thought about lowering springs with spacers but i can't find anyone that sells spacers for the front and rear

Yeah it's Koni, top adjustable front leg inserts and "get under the car adjustable" rear dampers, frankly they are bloody brilliant products but heaven knows where to suggest where you can get them in US.
Also UK made Spax dampers if you can find them [they were good enough for the supersonic thrust SSC car they should be good enough for a Saab, just!] these are also adjustable.
If I'm not mistaken Abbott Racing recommend concentrating on the rear beam to improve handling on NG900's so perhaps the rear sway [anti roll?] bar upgrade is the first step.

Almost forgot polyeurethane bushes, these things really are the mutts nuts.

Also UK made Spax dampers if you can find them
Are you sure that they do them for the NG900 Ragtop...? All I have found so far are the Konis.

Honestly not sure about Spax yet, Munki, I will have to do some research. I bet the spax rears off my old Vuaxhall Cavalier that are languishing in the back of my garage will bolt straight on though :cheesy:

I bet the spax rears off my old Vuaxhall Cavalier that are languishing in the back of my garage will bolt straight on though :cheesy:
Hmmmm, I need to replace my rear shocks as one is leaking. Not going to the Kodak meet by any chance are you?

Munki you were bang on about Spax, even though they do some stuff even for the Sonnet, there is nothing for either the NG900 or the 9000 listed, good on yer for pulling me up! :oops:

I only know this 'cos I have looked. I am going to fit Eibach springs to my car soon...trouble is I can't justify the cost of the Konis so I am going to use the stock shocks and see how I go...Trent reckon they are OK.

I've ordered my koni's today :lol:

After a bit of research I've found out that there are big differences in price. Abbott lists them over 1000€ :nono; while I paid mine 480€ :cheesy:

And yes, it's 480 for the yellow adjustable koni, not the red one 8) :cheesy: :cheesy: :cheesy:


Marc

Or try the sport kit which was available for the 900NG. You can buy used ones easily.
Yellow KONIs are also recommended
:D

I don't think the sport kit was ever available in the US, unless that's what the SE came with. My 1997 brochure mentions a "lowered sport chassis" on the SE model. You can get Koni shocks in the US from http://www.tirerack.com or http://www.shox.com. They'll run you about $580.00 for the set. I just installed a set of Abbott springs and an SAS swaybar on my car. I still have the stock shocks, but the car handles great. There's not as much body roll, and it feels a lot more stable when cornering hard. The Abbott springs lowered the car a little less than an inch, from what I can tell, and they didn't make the ride any stiffer, except over large speedbumps. I'm very happy with it, except the springs and installation were not cheap.

I've just been given a good price for shocks and springs...

Thank you for the recent enquiry, we can supply the parts for your Saab, the details are:

KYB Excel-G Gas Charged Shock Absorber, slightly stiffer than o.e supply.

Front : 366010 : £56.45 each + vat
Rear : 343270 : £27.12 each + vat

Lesjofors Lowering Spring Kit

4577803 : £86.36 + vat
(lowers by 30mm)

The question is has anyone got any experience of these manufacturers... :-??

I've used KYB shockers on my other car (a mini - big difference from Saab), I was inpressed even compared to a mate spax. Although they were alot stiffer than O.E. could sometimes be a bit harsh.

Munki-
Where did you find the KYB Excel-G Gas shocks? The only things I could find for my saab from KYB was GR2 in front and GAS-a-Just in rear.

Munki-
Where did you find the KYB Excel-G Gas shocks? The only things I could find for my saab from KYB was GR2 in front and GAS-a-Just in rear.
The application guide for KYB Europe can be found here (http://www.kayabaeurope.com/cgi-bin/kyb/kybdata.pl?next=catalogtop) and I got the price for the shocks from Autospares (http://www.autospares-group.com/)

Please note that I have never used them before so I cannot advise as to their level of service.