The must do big rear brakes job.

[ragtopcav]

Cost wise the pads and discs are consumables and are affordable; I got the discs cheap on ebay as part of a clear out, pads are about £45 a set and then the calipers...

...£180+ each

The Genuinesaab kit is great value [imho] link Postage for a UK Saab owner I'm sure will be crippling but if your in Canada/US then what are you waiting for?

[Philip HS]

Today I did it, too





I had the discs cross drilled Porsche style to match my Porsche front discs. Looks very nice on the car (more pictures tomorrow).

Thanks to Nick Taliaferro for inspiration, help and brakelines!

Yours,

Philip

[NickTaliaferro]

Looks great! The pattern on the drilling even appears to miss the vanes. Post pic of them behind your beautiful wheels.

I tried those Hawk Autocross pads in the rear of my car and it seems it has upset the brake balance compared to factory 9-5 pads. I am running HPS compound on the front and they are not as grippy as the new rears. I get more ABS now. This might also have some to do with the stiffer front springs and the resulting less weight transfer. (Even though it seems stiff springs would help keep the weight at the rear. ) Also have newer slicks on the front and oldish on the rear.

[ragtopcav]

Nick you're a bad man leading us astray like this

[Philip HS]

Originally Posted by NickTaliaferro

Post pic of them behind your beautiful wheels.

Here you go :

[Tweek's Turbos]

How come I don't see a bigger sway bar?

[Philip HS]

Because the Viggen has softer front sway bars and doesn´t need a bigger rear one

By the way, you can do a lot by varying tire pressure

Trust me, the car is cornering very well

[mike saunders]

Nurburgring?


Niiiice....

[StormCrow]

Right then.

I'm going to do this upgrade - got Black Diamond discs on the front and EBC greenstuff all round at the moment.

What year do I need the calipers to be? 2002 ->?

Cheers guys

[Tweek's Turbos]

02 was a refreshening year for the 9-5s. Suspension, brakes, xenons.

[Wessy]

Rear callipers need to be from an 9-5 02- Aero, 3.0TID or 3.0t, the 2.0 and 2.3lpt's brakes didnt change.

[liketheword]

I need to see more Nurburgring pics of Saabs!

[1oldsaabman]

a rear swaybar is worth it!!

[ragtopcav]

Originally Posted by StormCrow

I'm going to do this upgrade - got Black Diamond discs on the front and EBC greenstuff all round at the moment.

That is the 308mm 'Viggen' or 9-5 aero front brakes yes? If you've still got the factory 288mm rotors then fitting the 300mm rears will be folly, especially as the Viggen front size upgrade is readily available for less than this rear conversion. Get the fronts as good as you can first, these do the bulk of the work.

[Philip HS]

Originally Posted by liketheword

I need to see more Nurburgring pics of Saabs!

Then, look here

http://www.viggenfactfile.de/events.html

Yours,

Philip

[mike saunders]

OK....after all these recommendations and Raggy's great writeup, I bit the bullet...

Set of used 03 9-5 Aero calipers arrived today (with Textar pads nearly at OEM depth! Whoo hoo! ) $108 shipped....

Getting rotors this weekend, so I should have fully upgraded brakes fore and aft by end of next week.

[StormCrow]

Originally Posted by ragtopcav

That is the 308mm 'Viggen' or 9-5 aero front brakes yes? If you've still got the factory 288mm rotors then fitting the 300mm rears will be folly, especially as the Viggen front size upgrade is readily available for less than this rear conversion. Get the fronts as good as you can first, these do the bulk of the work.

To be honest I can't remember, I just ordered the replacment set from PFS so I guess it's the 288mm discs...

What is necessary for this conversion? Viggen calipers?

[Adrian W]

Originally Posted by CO-Saab

The car seems to be pulled to a stop from behind.

Well that's how the modification should feel given that you are effectively increasing the rear brake bias by increasing the leverage the brake caliper has against the tires.

Presumably the factory sets the brake bias a bit more to the front than ideal for safety reasons. (same reasons many cars got rear anti-lock brakes years before front) Bringing things back into proper balance should, in that case, result in quicker stops, albeit sometimes less-stable stops in certain circumstances. (but that's where good driving comes in, right? )

[CO-Saab]

Originally Posted by Adrian W

Well that's how the modification should feel given that you are effectively increasing the rear brake bias by increasing the leverage the brake caliper has against the tires.

Presumably the factory sets the brake bias a bit more to the front than ideal for safety reasons. (same reasons many cars got rear anti-lock brakes years before front) Bringing things back into proper balance should, in that case, result in quicker stops, albeit sometimes less-stable stops in certain circumstances. (but that's where good driving comes in, right? )

Spot on, (as usual)

Originally Posted by mike saunders

OK....after all these recommendations and Raggy's great writeup, I bit the bullet...
Getting rotors this weekend, so I should have fully upgraded brakes fore and aft by end of next week.

Having run this 300mm rear brake kit for about six months, I can say this is the overall best modification I have made to the vehicle. This really should be the very first mod anyone does to these vehicles. If you read this and drive these cars enthusiastically, you should seriously consider Rear Brakes as your very next mod.

Mike, it sounds like you'll have this installed shortly. Give us your review, let us know if you agree.

[ragtopcav]

My brakes are now fully bedded in and are performing superbly; what is noticeable is the way in hard braking the the nose doesn't dive in quite the same way anymore, you're aware of a brake load from the rear. I have yet to put the car around a circuit, I'm hoping to get to Oulton Park later this autumn.

One thing that may be worthy of a discussion is the pads; I went with oem Saab, my logic was that these brakes are for a car with similar power but weighs 300+kgs [over 660lbs] more than my 900 and as such it would take some rather extreme driving to push enough heat into these brakes to feel a need to go up to a track/fast road item [if available]. Any using fast road pads? any comments, I'd like to read what you guys think on this.