I am 16 years old and purchasing a car. At first I wanted a Ford or a Chevy or something, since I dont like the idea of buying import cars, even if they are used, and lowering the resale value of American cars. But then I found a 1990 Saab 900 for sale, 1200 dollars. Its in pretty nice condition. There isnt much to fix up, it just needs some minor body work and then I'll have it painted and work on the interior. But I also plan on racing this or at the very least driving fast, and since i'm no ricer I would like to tune it up and add performance parts. What should I look for, and where can I find dealers and installers of performance parts. What i'm looking for is anything to improve horse power, rpm, acceleration, etc. Thanks.
1990 Saab 900
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There's lots of stuff you can do to improve performance. But you need the basics first, so give the car a full service, correct NGK plugs, fully synth oil, maybe change gearbox oil to Honda MTF and make sure it is all running well before turning up the power. Otherwise you will have a car that will go bang very quickly. I tend to use genuine Saab parts where possible but sometimes aftermarket ones are OK. Have a look through the Listings section for some ideas on where to get parts from. A lot of US people use eeuroparts. Also search this forum to see who people use.
If you want performance, get a turbo. They are faster and a lot easier to make faster still. N/A cars are perfectly good but are not performance and are more complicated to get more power from. Turbo cars have an APC box. By adjusting the pots in this, and replacing a couple of resistors, you should be able to get anything from 20-40 bhp more fairly easily, taking you to about 200 bhp. Also consider fitting a larger intercooler like one off a Volvo 740 or Saab 9000 (Volvo fits better). Write ups for these mods have been done several times on the forums so just search around. One very good site for explaining how the APC system works and how to turn it up is www.900aero.com . There's also a buyer's guide on here on what to look out for when buying a Classic 900.
Welcome to Saab Central
If you want performance, get a turbo. They are faster and a lot easier to make faster still. N/A cars are perfectly good but are not performance and are more complicated to get more power from. Turbo cars have an APC box. By adjusting the pots in this, and replacing a couple of resistors, you should be able to get anything from 20-40 bhp more fairly easily, taking you to about 200 bhp. Also consider fitting a larger intercooler like one off a Volvo 740 or Saab 9000 (Volvo fits better). Write ups for these mods have been done several times on the forums so just search around. One very good site for explaining how the APC system works and how to turn it up is www.900aero.com . There's also a buyer's guide on here on what to look out for when buying a Classic 900.
Welcome to Saab Central
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What what, 1990 900S rules
Nice choice.
Nice choice.
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They are good cars any way you go.
The top speed on the typical 16 valve non turbo 5-speed is about 180km/h 115mi/h. On a turbo this tends to go to about 220km/h 137mi/h. However the turbo car can adjust the APC system and go a bit more and might go a bit less.
The turbo model will easily "eat" most cars on the road without any modification at all. This is a powerful car. It isn't a LS1 F-body, but it isn't a Civic either.
The top speed on the typical 16 valve non turbo 5-speed is about 180km/h 115mi/h. On a turbo this tends to go to about 220km/h 137mi/h. However the turbo car can adjust the APC system and go a bit more and might go a bit less.
The turbo model will easily "eat" most cars on the road without any modification at all. This is a powerful car. It isn't a LS1 F-body, but it isn't a Civic either.
Ah yes, 5 speed. What we call a manual over here. The automatics have a loyal fan base, but manual is the way to go. Complements the turbo very nicely. But like he says, these are quite fast cars, not so much in top speed but in how quick it gets there.
[old git mode]To be honest, and don't take this the wrong way, I find the thought of 16-year-olds driving full pressure turbo Saabs a bit frightening. Partly this is cultural, as here in the UK you can't drive at 16 anyway, and even then you could only afford a small car with probably a 1.2 litre non-turbo because of insurance. You won't have much experience, and most people will say that even for the first couple of years driving no-one really knows what they are doing. Secondly, I find most people on the roads with a basic driving licence don't know much about driving either. I'm a strong advocate of advanced driver training, and I reckon that if this is going to be the car you learn to drive in, I reckon that a non-turbo would be more than adequate (its still 2 litres), and then in a couple of years when you've got more road experience and more cash you could get yourself a really nice turbo. Just my 2 cents, as it were.[/old git mode]
Oh god, listen to myself - I'm only 32
[old git mode]To be honest, and don't take this the wrong way, I find the thought of 16-year-olds driving full pressure turbo Saabs a bit frightening. Partly this is cultural, as here in the UK you can't drive at 16 anyway, and even then you could only afford a small car with probably a 1.2 litre non-turbo because of insurance. You won't have much experience, and most people will say that even for the first couple of years driving no-one really knows what they are doing. Secondly, I find most people on the roads with a basic driving licence don't know much about driving either. I'm a strong advocate of advanced driver training, and I reckon that if this is going to be the car you learn to drive in, I reckon that a non-turbo would be more than adequate (its still 2 litres), and then in a couple of years when you've got more road experience and more cash you could get yourself a really nice turbo. Just my 2 cents, as it were.[/old git mode]
Oh god, listen to myself - I'm only 32
It would mean a higher level of trim, probably aircon and all that stuff. I don't really know, because 1995 is not a Classic 900 like we have in this forum, it is a GM or NG900. Totally different car. The Classic 900 only went up to 1993, 1994 for convertibles. Have a look in the Galleries menu to see what they look like.
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i just bought a 1990 saab 900 for $600 and nothing is wrong with it check ebay for them thats where i got mine
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