[ed1le]

Anyone else notice this or have this problem? I notice a dramatic difference in performance on these hot muggy days (turn on the AC & it's worse!). I love the summer but starting to long for those cooler days so she'll run the way I want her to! Just wanted to vent some! :roll:

 

[bobsaab]

Yep - heat is our enemy - hot air moves slower (essentially)! More energy required to cool it down, etc.

And yes the AC sucks off a lot of power from the engine. Whenever I prepare to stomp it, off goes the AC.

 

[Sako]

Ya, I'm definitely noticing this also. My drive to work in the morning is great, but in the afternoon my car is really hurting.. Oh well. I don't know about anyone else's summer, but at least this one has been much better then last summer. In the state of Maine that is.

 

[Chris 9-5]

I noticed this last year, but this year she still flies, I think its the front mounted intercooler and open air intake improvements

The ACC still hurts the power though

 

[ed1le]

I've definitely created a habit of hitting the econo button frequently when playing. I don't know Chris, do you think the intercooler really helped? LOL :cheesy:

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxFinn]

Cooling is the real key without a dought, heat soak is gonna kill your performance. If you watch the drag strip boys they spray dry ice onto the I/C just before takeoff Hot humid air is very dence and hard to move, bring on the crisp fresh days

 

[Chris 9-5]

I don't know Chris, do you think the intercooler really helped? LOL :cheesy:

Yes, a recent 9-3 Viggen thread showed how an owner swapped their intercooler for a FMIC and gained almost 30 bhp

 

[DJ53]

I was very surprised at how it affects performance.On Thursday doing a few miles on the mway the cars performance seemed just as standard.I thought at one point the PPC had reverted back to standard tune.It was a very hot day etc and the heat was to blame. I tried loads of right foot to get the turbo needle into the red but it woudnt budge.However Friday am cool morning the needle was boosting well into the red and maintaining it. What a difference. It may well be that I will have to keep my eye open for a cheap intercooler to replace the standard one as it definitely is a big performance issue.Or I move to the North Pole.

 

[Raven18940]

The stock intercooler is such crap I'm not at all surprised. I recentedly pulled the grill off to get a screw driver I'd dropped and was perplexed as to why my car had two radiators. Wait a minute....that's the intercooler.....and it's behind the ac radiator! On a hot day with the AC running I suspect you're heating the intake charge rather than cooling it. Why they didn't put the intercooler in front, well saab is dumb from time to time. I too am looking into a cheap intercooler just cause the stock is such junk.

es, a recent 9-3 Viggen thread showed how an owner swapped their intercooler for a FMIC and gained almost 30 bhp

Can you point me to that thread? thanks

 

[Chris 9-5]

Can you point me to that thread? thanks

Sorry but it was on another site completely

Quote Eric (9-3 Hirsch)

"On my Hirsch custom programmed 1999 9-3. Initial impression was of a good improvement in power. I wanted to do a dyno run before installing it but, the shop didn't have time for me for a few weeks. I was really itching to get it installed so in it went without the dyno run. My previous speed on 1/4 mile runs was about 97-98 mph. I went to the drag strip here in Spokane but since it was supposed to be "street racing", they were not using the timing lights. I did, however, reach an indicated 103 mph by the finish line, where I previously indicated about 98 mph.

Anyways, my dyno run at Hirsch was 200 whp. In NL it was 209 whp. I just got to the dyno here yesterday and it came out to 228 whp and 259 lb-ft of torque. I am quite pleased with those numbers. I also hope to get to the drag strip this coming weekend when they are using the timing lights and see how my time and speed improve.

So, in the end, I think it is very safe to say the MP Performance intercooler gave a good improvement in power over the Viggen intercooler that was in my car. "

Sorry I meant he got 20 more bhp ;oops:

 

[ricot83]

the reason for a loss of poower in high humidity is the maf sensor, its readings get screwed up... i actually had a bad one yesterday on the dyno... so i replacd it with another used unit and had full boost once again. i have to get a new one and hten dyno again.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxFinn]

the reason for a loss of poower in high humidity is the maf sensor, its readings get screwed up... i actually had a bad one yesterday on the dyno... so i replacd it with another used unit and had full boost once again. i have to get a new one and hten dyno again.

Ricot I have never known someone dyno there car as much as you You are only partially correct with your analysis. High humidity and dense air causes the the O2 particules to be further apart. As O2 is required for combustion the maf requests more air (O2) which in most cases a standard car cant meet so then boost/request is retarded. Combined with that is the higher temperatures of the surrounding air and also the higher engine running temperatures that all add to heat soak and further boost retard.

 

[DJ53]

There was a relatively cheap fmic on ebay last night with about 10 hours to go.It was a Valeo unit and I think the price was up to near £40. I didnt note down the size of it but it didnt look too big.However I wasnt impressed by the quality of it with plastic type pipes.For an aero are we looking at an anodised aluminium unit? Maybe Chris will post the dmensions of his unit as a guide for us if he hasnt already done so. The final question is ,for us in the UK at least, is it worthwhile going to the expense of fitting an intercooler given that we only get 20 or so hot days a year. I suspect the answer is yes if the standard cooler is considered so crap.

 

[Chris 9-5]

Most of the info is in this thread:

http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47203&highlight=front+mounted

It is a major mod though, you'll need a " man that can "

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxFinn]

I suspect the answer is yes if the standard cooler is considered so crap.

If you are going to keep your aero as a stock car then I probabaly wouldn't bother going to the expense of changing the I/C.

 

[Chris 9-5]

I think its BSR PPC Stage 1 already

"The intercooler..........the fitting is exceptional and it works, Wessy drove the car hard, to quote the great man ..................."Chris your car gets to 120mph bloody quick!" after this hard 20 minute drive the intake temp was 34 degrees centigrade. He then jumped into a 230 bhp standard aero and went for a spin, within ten minutes the intake temp was 8-10 degrees higher on the aero! Boost is up too as restriction has been removed!"

 

[PeterGibons]

Yes, a recent 9-3 Viggen thread showed how an owner swapped their intercooler for a FMIC and gained almost 30 bhp

Ok, pardon my not knowing this, but where is the IC mounted then?

 

[Kermit]

The standard I/C is mounted directly behind the radiator. The obvious problem with this is the heat soak from the rad increasing temperatures. A front mounted I/C like Chris has will invariably allow the car to run cooler, but does involve some fabrication to make it work.

 

[ricot83]

LMAO Finn I use the dyno to help diagnose my problems, and sure enough it was the maf... i recently cut the saab maf out and wired in a GM maf because they are very very easily attainable at a scrap yard here from thousands of different gm cars. and due to the different harness, i had to cut the saab one out and put a new one in... well turns out one of the few mass airflow sensors i had, is bad... it just so happened this was the one i had on the car when i did my FMIC install, and for whatever reason since then the car ran less boost and ran really shoddy...

Well friday on the dyno i had a loss of about 20hp, whne i was expecting a gain of 10-20hp... from the raised boost levels of the smbc install... i came home and put in a maf off an ls1 that i had just purchased, which turned out to be different, but it also proved a point. Lately wiht that broken maf that i had my car had a lean spot, and it turned out to be the old maf sensor. So when i discovered this i put in another one i had lying around and sure enough no lean spot, and my car boosts 9-10psi without the smbc installed instead of 6-7psi. It is great. Now i need to set the smbc lower because the car is boosting 14psi.

What is my point in all this?? Well a while back i read on another saab board about people with Viggens and 9-3's having boost issues and it turned out when they put in a new MAF, it solved all their problems... I recently changed the front o2 sensor and the cps sensor only to find that my car ran the same until i changed the maf. Tomorrow another trip to the dealer to return the ls1 maf and get a regular gm one if they let me return it

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxFinn]

Ricot, I agree that the maf can cause many problems with differing boost levels in one car to another however it does worry me that you make many assumptions that the 9-3 T7 is exactly the same as the 9-5. Whilst the management systems are similar these are 2 very different cars. For instance you have an smbc on your car and we cant use them on the 9-5. You are worried about your 14psi boost levels in your car yet the 9-5 can boost quite happily at 22 - 23 psi with the right mapping..