Rookie 9-3 driver in need of mentoring

[aboveaveragedave]

So a good friend and I both recently bought cars. His is a VW. I saw the light, or drove it rather, and went the Saab route. He has started to tweak his VW GTI, and is having no problem getting performance parts cheap, while I am having trouble finding anything my side of the pond. (USA) Just wanting some tips about where to get the best prices on performance parts (blowoff valve, exhaust, chip, suspension, body, etc), and where to start. I have a 99 9-3, so any info would help.

[03_Saab 9-3]

Im a Saab newbie too but I found these sites so far.

http://www.abbottracing.com

http://www.eeuroparts.com

http://www..se (Swedish but good place to look at stuff)

http://www.scanwestauto.com (These guys import parts, i called them today just to see what was available for my 03 Saab and they were very helpful)

Hope that helps... let us know what you do to mod your car!

[20Ted]

Originally Posted by 03_Saab 9-3

http://www.scanwestauto.com (These guys import parts, i called them today just to see what was available for my 03 Saab and they were very helpful)

Of course they were - they are in Seattle

[CleveSaab]

Good place for used parts...

http://www.volvosaabparts.com

[ERP]

Have you seen my site yet? It should help you get started.

http://www.lehigh.edu/~erp4/Saab.html

Eric

[Jeremy R.]

You guys forgot the best US performance site of all, http://www.genuinesaab.com. They have ECUs, springs, shocks, exhaust systems, air intakes, brakes, and anything else you might need. Definitely take a look at ERP's site. He has pretty much everything covered. The only downside to Saab performance parts is they'll never be as cheap as VW or Honda performance parts.

[aboveaveragedave]

Thanks for all the help. These sites will definitely keep me busy for now. Any reccomentations on where to start? I am pretty happy with the power for now, although the traction is what really leaves something to be desired. Thoughts?

[20Ted]

Originally Posted by aboveaveragedave

the traction is what really leaves something to be desired. Thoughts?

No joke :!

I'm still trying to get used to spinning tires and no movement! Maybe I got spoiled with traction control, but this seems to be in excess of what would be 'normal'.

I'm sure it has to do with the tires that are on the car - I'm not very impressed with them in any regard, except for their total lack of road noise (they're Yokohama 'dbs'). Planning on switching over to some good Dunlops or some new Continentals that I read about.

Jeremy R. (and other Seattleites or West. Washingtonians): what type of tires are you running? Looking for a good all-around tire for our two "seasons" (wet and not-as-wet)...

[davy913]

The only downside to Saab performance parts is they'll never be as cheap as VW or Honda performance parts.

vw parts are not cheap...from what i've seen, all saab parts are priced similar to vw except the 3"hiflo cat is about $300...rip!