new best 1/4 times stg 3 auto

[droppedf100]

My girlfriend ran her car today. Made 3 passes with a best of 14.38 97mph on Cobalt SS 18s. It spun bad first pass so the next 2 she left with the traction control on. We have BfGoodrich 225/50-15 drag radials for it for the next track outing to mount on the stock rims. Hoping to get low 14s.

[lowbudgethero]

with brake torquing ?

[Pontius DIO]

14.30's seem slow to me for 280 HP in a light car. I'm guessing slicks and aggressive launch should put it around 14 flat.

Just to put her times in perspective, my 4000 pound (had about 200 pounds of amps and heavy subs+box, tools and jack) 96' Lincoln Mark VIII with 290~ish HP with automatic is only like 1-2 tenths slower. I raced a guy (couple years ago) in a 3.5L Altima, and even though I had better reaction times, he was 1 car length behind me all the way up to about 100 MPH where he finally gave up. Those Alitmas weigh about 3500 pounds and are around 14.4 in the 1/4. Our 9-3's are in the 3000 pound range (should have a .5 tenth advantage in weight alone). Late 80's Mustangs with 5-speeds, 225 HP, 3200-3300 weight, and disgusting 2.73 rear gearing were 14 sec flat cars off the showroom floor with nothing more than advancing base timing several degrees on the distributor. Put better upper and lower control arms in the back, remove the front sway bar, and it was a high 13 sec car with a stock engine. Put slicks on and it would be even faster.

I'm guessing her car isn't seeing the full 280 HP in the STG III tune or some other things need sorted out. Or maybe a better driver could push it faster?

I'm guessing the extra torque from the stage III should be making the torque converter act differently. If there's anything in the T5 suite to manage the lock up or shift points, it might be wise to tinker with those to get the most of the car if higher 1/4 mile times are the goal.

[Pontius DIO]

Also, leave the TCS off. It will hurt times.

[droppedf100]

Well its a T7 for one and she tried it with the tcs off and it went a 15.0 with a 2.4 60ft spinning bad and shifting into 2nd way early. With the tcs on it got a 2.25 and a 2.21 60ft still spinning and ran a 14.38 and a 14.48 both at 97. Im sure with the drag radials it will leave much harder. And as far as all those cars go your comparing apples to oranges as stick rear wheel drives with slicks don't really compare much to a fwd auto on regular street radials. And I know what i'm talking about as the truck in my avatar is mine and ran 10.65 that same day on drag radials and pump gas and it weighs 4100lbs with me in it. And her car doesn't make 280hp its not an SE it makes maybe 260 with the small stock turbo. Being a 4 door hatchback I doubt it weighs 3000lbs either. If you think its slow by all means build one and show me how its done. I'm no Saab mechanic its my gfs car and I helped her fix it up.

[lowbudgethero]

stiffer trans mount will help with traction

[2.3LiterCivicBeater]

Originally Posted by droppedf100

Well its a T7 for one and she tried it with the tcs off and it went a 15.0 with a 2.4 60ft spinning bad and shifting into 2nd way early. With the tcs on it got a 2.25 and a 2.21 60ft still spinning and ran a 14.38 and a 14.48 both at 97. Im sure with the drag radials it will leave much harder. And as far as all those cars go your comparing apples to oranges as stick rear wheel drives with slicks don't really compare much to a fwd auto on regular street radials. And I know what i'm talking about as the truck in my avatar is mine and ran 10.65 that same day on drag radials and pump gas and it weighs 4100lbs with me in it. And her car doesn't make 280hp its not an SE it makes maybe 260 with the small stock turbo. Being a 4 door hatchback I doubt it weighs 3000lbs either. If you think its slow by all means build one and show me how its done. I'm no Saab mechanic its my gfs car and I helped her fix it up.

is that a 79 f150 in your avatar

[John Z Williams]

Originally Posted by Pontius DIO

14.30's seem slow to me for 280 HP in a light car. I'm guessing slicks and aggressive launch should put it around 14 flat.

Just to put her times in perspective, my 4000 pound (had about 200 pounds of amps and heavy subs+box, tools and jack) 96' Lincoln Mark VIII with 290~ish HP with automatic is only like 1-2 tenths slower. I raced a guy (couple years ago) in a 3.5L Altima, and even though I had better reaction times, he was 1 car length behind me all the way up to about 100 MPH where he finally gave up. Those Alitmas weigh about 3500 pounds and are around 14.4 in the 1/4. Our 9-3's are in the 3000 pound range (should have a .5 tenth advantage in weight alone). Late 80's Mustangs with 5-speeds, 225 HP, 3200-3300 weight, and disgusting 2.73 rear gearing were 14 sec flat cars off the showroom floor with nothing more than advancing base timing several degrees on the distributor. Put better upper and lower control arms in the back, remove the front sway bar, and it was a high 13 sec car with a stock engine. Put slicks on and it would be even faster.

I'm guessing her car isn't seeing the full 280 HP in the STG III tune or some other things need sorted out. Or maybe a better driver could push it faster?

I'm guessing the extra torque from the stage III should be making the torque converter act differently. If there's anything in the T5 suite to manage the lock up or shift points, it might be wise to tinker with those to get the most of the car if higher 1/4 mile times are the goal.

Not really, Saabs are not easy to get good 1/4 mile times in and most stg 3 tunes are in the 14.7 range, gt30 and 400bhp is 13.1-13.5 range and have seen 550bhp cars only run 13.00 flat, running a Saab on the 1/4 mile is not easy and not what they are good at, put them on the highway and they crush many cars, but from a dig, not so much. Here is a list of all the stages and power and times for fwd Saabs. You can see his times are not bad at all....

http://www.dragtimes.com/Saab--all-Drag-Racing.html

Here is a manual with stg 3 tune, 14.5

http://www.dragtimes.com/Saab-900-Timeslip-15984.html

John

[droppedf100]

Originally Posted by 2.3LiterCivicBeater

is that a 79 f150 in your avatar

Yup 79 but its an f100.

Originally Posted by John Z Williams

Not really, Saabs are not easy to get good 1/4 mile times in and most stg 3 tunes are in the 14.7 range, gt30 and 400bhp is 13.1-13.5 range and have seen 550bhp cars only run 13.00 flat, running a Saab on the 1/4 mile is not easy and not what they are good at, put them on the highway and they crush many cars, but from a dig, not so much. Here is a list of all the stages and power and times for fwd Saabs. You can see his times are not bad at all....

http://www.dragtimes.com/Saab--all-Drag-Racing.html

Here is a manual with stg 3 tune, 14.5

http://www.dragtimes.com/Saab-900-Timeslip-15984.html

John

I realize its not the best drag car but adding power makes it a lot more fun overall and running the car at the track is fun and WAY cheaper than dyno time. I have the complete TD04 set-up out of an SE that will go on next and possibly t5 cams than a retune with hopes of cracking the 13s.

[patterson2537]

not that i go drag racing but my best 0-60 times are always done when i spin the wheels all the way through first gear and then change into second ??

[tkjr5000]

Nice truck!
I require more info. Love Ford pickups, I have 2.

These cars generally suck balls to drag race, they are all highway for a few reasons.
Long gears
Crappy chassis, the subframe flex is the worst I have ever seen
The steering rack is mounted on the firewall and moves side to side on launch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qge_h...eature=related

That is on a HEAVILY modded car, imagine how bad a stock car is.

[John Z Williams]

Originally Posted by patterson2537

not that i go drag racing but my best 0-60 times are always done when i spin the wheels all the way through first gear and then change into second ??

It depends on the driver and tires as much or more than anything. I have seen a car with just a mbc and tdo4 turbo run in the 13's, but it is rare, there are lots of little tricks, weight, fuel, conditions at the track, tire pressure, driver skill... The 13 second I speak of was run at 51F at Sea-level.

I have seen people with more power run slower many times, they just spin out of the hole and kill the ET, the mph is good though,

John

[2.3LiterCivicBeater]

Originally Posted by droppedf100

Yup 79 but its an f100.

79 is the best looking ford truck ever made. im building a 79 f250 right now

what do you have in that motor

[Pontius DIO]

Originally Posted by droppedf100

Well its a T7 for one and she tried it with the tcs off and it went a 15.0 with a 2.4 60ft spinning bad and shifting into 2nd way early.
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And as far as all those cars go your comparing apples to oranges as stick rear wheel drives with slicks don't really compare much to a fwd auto on regular street radials.
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And her car doesn't make 280hp its not an SE it makes maybe 260 with the small stock turbo. Being a 4 door hatchback I doubt it weighs 3000lbs either. If you think its slow by all means build one and show me how its done. I'm no Saab mechanic its my gfs car and I helped her fix it up.

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With the TCS off, she spun 1st and went into 2nd too early: That explains the slower time.
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My Mark VIII is heavy and runs on street tires. The old FOX body was an example of how fast light cars should be.
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Do more research on curb weight before calling me out on it:
http://consumerguideauto.howstuffwor...saab-9-3-6.htm

Pulled from link: "Curb Weight, lbs. 3140 2990 3040"

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If people have 550 HP and can only run a 13 flat, something is either seriously lacking with the suspension or the car is set up wrong, or they have no idea how to get the car to hook or drive it.

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If you can get a leaf spring F150 into the 10's (probably a 460 engine I'm guessing), then getting 260 HP Saab into the high 13's should be a cakewalk.

[Pontius DIO]

I've got some running around to do, I'll stop at a truck stop 20 miles from here and spend $7 to get a base curb weight on my 99' 9-3 SE with 10 pounds of tools in the trunk to confirm.

[Pontius DIO]

OK, the car had about a 1/4 tank of gas and I was NOT in the car when it got weighed, so this is the curb weight of a 4 door hatch with manual trans and about 20 pounds of loose stuff in the car (spare tire, jack, small amp). I removed my tool box to give only vehicle weight. The Steer Axle (front half of car) weighed 1920 pounds. The Drive axle (back half) weighed 1140. I parked on 2 separate plates to give the weight separately. The car's total weight was 3060 pounds. They are light cars. Pull the back seat out and you've got a sub 3000 pound car.

[droppedf100]

Originally Posted by tkjr5000

Nice truck!
I require more info. Love Ford pickups, I have 2.

These cars generally suck balls to drag race, they are all highway for a few reasons.
Long gears
Crappy chassis, the subframe flex is the worst I have ever seen
The steering rack is mounted on the firewall and moves side to side on launch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qge_h...eature=related

That is on a HEAVILY modded car, imagine how bad a stock car is.

Its a 79 F100 shortbed lowered with drop i beams and a flip kit. It has stock leafs with Caltrac bars and shocks. The motor is 9.8:1 466ci bbf, TFS heads, custom solid flat tappet cam, Edelbrock Victor, 850 Holley, NOS cheater jetted to 200.

Here is a quick video from sunday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62D8e...b9AHT01scAACAA

I believe the automatic is geared pretty well for the track but Im told they are limited to around 300hp with no aftermarket parts available. If it wasn't for that setback I believe with a good turbo and maybe a 50 shot off the line it would run really well.

My girlfriend isn't a pro drag racer by all means but she knows her car well and did everything right. She actually ran quicker than me the first time we brought the car to the track. It spins really bad in 1st and the only thing making it manageable was the traction control. It will be sitting on the drag radials next time out so im hoping to be in the 14.1 range.

[droppedf100]

Pontious, I see your points but not all cars are created equal. I didnt know anything about Saabs before my gf so I joined this forum and from reading on here they don't make the greatest use of hp. The 5 speed cars seem to have way to wide of ratios in the trans. The auto seems good to me but is a weak design so im told. That being said she loves the car and ive come to like it as well so ill help her make it nice and sporty.

You are right they are lighter than I thought but with driver ready to run that is still near 3200lbs. We have no plans on pulling interior as this is a comfy daily driver not a dedicated drag car. It way only see the track a few times a year. Even my F100 is all steel with a bench seat, heat, power steering, stereo and full exhaust.

BTW I didn't post this thread to start a pissing match I figured it was useful info for other Saab owners with similar mods.

[2.3LiterCivicBeater]

Originally Posted by droppedf100

Its a 79 F100 shortbed lowered with drop i beams and a flip kit. It has stock leafs with Caltrac bars and shocks. The motor is 9.8:1 466ci bbf, TFS heads, custom solid flat tappet cam, Edelbrock Victor, 850 Holley, NOS cheater jetted to 200.

Here is a quick video from sunday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62D8e...b9AHT01scAACAA

ohhh nice launch . thats a nice truck you built there. i cant wait until mine is on the road

[grkguy89]

i would be a little hesitant on the slicks with the auto trans.... might break something if it hooks up too well on take off
i have broken motor mount brackets before on a stock 2.3N/A from having to good of a hook up on warmed up tires


pontius.... do a lil research on our Saabs at the drag strip
They do not do good from a dig, Period
our chassis is horrible. it allows for too much flex

John Z Williams is one of THE top dogs when it comes to tuning and drag racing a saab