[eurolover]

Hi all, long time reader first time poster hehe. Anyways, I am currently in the works of purchasing a '00 silver 3 door viggen. I still am not sure how the car performs against today's ''hot cars''. Ive searched for some kill stories from members of this board, but have not found any. What cars have you viggen drivers raced, win or lose? How reliable is the car? Previously owning a GTI VR6, should i expect a lot more problems than my VW gremlims gave me? Lastly, is the car tuner friendly? whats the best bang for the buck modification wise. THX in advance...

 

[BoulderViggen]

'00 Viggen

I have a 3-door '00 Viggen....it's quick, just not right off the line. I have played with the new M3's....right off the line they are a touch quicker, but when you shift into 3rd gear you are pulling even....on the highway they can't keep up with the Viggen.

I've toyed with a few Evo's and Subaru STi's.....both are very quick cars. I've managed to spank a few...but I've also had some that hung on my rear bumper pretty well till we got into the triple digits.....

It'll be a big jump from your VR6 - that's for sure.....

-Eric

 

[SLAB]

not alot of people drive their VIGGEN like it should but i like to give it some.

My mates drive evo's 5-6 and 8 and a couple have got scoobies to be honest their isn't alot between the cars once moving, off the line i dont bother but once in second gear it is alot more intresting :cheesy: I have had 150mph showing on the Road Angel and that is true speed not speedo reading.

 

[eurolover]

Ive heard that the viggen was underated and really had about 250hp, 260tq, how can it manage to pull on 300hp cars on the HW? Anyone have any 1/4 mile times/trap speeds or ne other kill stories?

 

[petrolhead]

Ah, the VR6....lovely sounding engine.
To be honest though 174bhp always seemed a little under-powered for a 2.8.
As far as the performance goes the Viggen would be all over the VW in that respect. My friend has a VR6 and couldn't keep up with my SE when it was stock.

If you really want a car that you can mod..look for a T5 engine management as it will allow you to do a lot more mods to it. The viggen I'm pretty sure didn't come with a T5..it was T7 only...but hey if I had a viggen I'd be a happy chappy in stock form.

You won't find many kill stories on this board...

 

[eurolover]

Ah, the VR6....lovely sounding engine.
To be honest though 174bhp always seemed a little under-powered for a 2.8.
As far as the performance goes the Viggen would be all over the VW in that respect. My friend has a VR6 and couldn't keep up with my SE when it was stock.

If you really want a car that you can mod..look for a T5 engine management as it will allow you to do a lot more mods to it. The viggen I'm pretty sure didn't come with a T5..it was T7 only...but hey if I had a viggen I'd be a happy chappy in stock form.

You won't find many kill stories on this board...

Just curious, im new to the board, is performance/racing looked down on this site? The only reason why is because im curious to know what im getting myself into before purchasing the car.

ps. thanks for the kind words about the VR6. And yes i agree, the car could have used a bit more grunt. I was planning on SC it until the motor ceased . But like you said, simply adding I/E, the sound is to die for.

 

[petrolhead]

Hi,

There's people on here with cars with 330bhp. One chaps 60-92mph time is 4.6 sec or so - not alot is going to touch that.

Most turbo cars are easy to tune becuase raising the boost pressure is pretty easy compared with enhancing the performance of a N/A engine.
The T7 has 32 bit engine management that doesn't allow you to mess about with it as much. So really if you wont a car to mod go for a late t5 car. The viggen has lovely looks though and getting the bodykit for an SE is very hard and expensive.

The engines in Saabs are pretty sturdy. Like the VR6 there's no cam belt its chain driven. The only major thing to look out for is the DI cassette which can go (about £130 to replace). I've had mine about three years and no problems yet with anything (touch wood) and mine is running high boost.

 

[eurolover]

I didnt know that the viggen was also chain driven. This will be my first turbocharged car so im still new to it all. Im looking forward to seeing what the hype is all about. I was first thinking of purchasing a VW jetta (bora) 1.8T, but was turned off by it unreliablity. Finally I decided to entertain the idea of purchasing a viggen. Due to Saab's poor resale value, i found them to be more affordable than i thought. So here i am looking forward to be saaber.
I was trying to find a new ECU or "performance chip" for the viggen and came across abbott racing's website, are the gains they advertise really as substantial say? How much would a chip for the viggen go for?

 

[mg_td]

abbott is overpriced, and generally it is a good idea to do hardware before an ecu because of the expense of an ecu. a 3 inch turbo back and intercooler are the most necessary items, but many choose to start with suspension mods because of the power the car already has, a 22mm rear sway bar and steering rack clamp and brace are the first two things that should be done to any saab.

 

[Automaggot]

You have more options than Abbott. Be sure to check out Maptun, BSR and SQR too.

 

[mg_td]

dont forget nordic, nick is the nordic man at genuinesaab. thats the route ill probably go when it comes time, in a long time, for software.

 

[eurolover]

Sweet, ive heard of Nordic, and i ll definately check out the others. Ive checked out some pics of lowered viggens on google and i must say it's quite arousing :lol: . But here in Montreal, there are as many pot holes to watch out for as cars on the road. As for the torque steer, i'll definately take ur advice, i ve heard it's a little crazy. From the factory, wat is the viggen's actual bhp, i've heard the engine is underrated. Also, after mild bolt ons are added to the car, what kind of figures does the car produced?

 

[BoulderViggen]

I dyno's mine stock once.......for what it put down at the wheel, there is more power then 230hp at the crank. HP isn't the only number that you have to keep in mind....torque is important as well...the torqe in the Viggen is huge.

 

[Alex_Saab]

the viggen isn't really comparable to todays high performance cars from bmw, audi, general rice burners like the sti or evo... maybe an e36 m3 in a straight line but the current m3? Your kidding right...

 

[BoulderViggen]

No, not kidding....it was a current model M3. A few doors down from where I get my Viggen serviced is a tuner that works on STi's and Evo's - just about everytime I go drive by there is some kid with a new STi or Evo that is just bugging to race.

My roomate has a 2002 9-5 Aero (250hp) that I turned up the boost on.....we are close till I get in 3rd gear - then I pull away hard from him.......
I plan on getting the BSR software, and exhaust and then seeing what the Viggen can do.....

 

[eurolover]

How does the viggen do against cars such as S2000s, 350Z, S4, SRT-4, RX-8. I know from a stop, the wheel spin must hinder the viggen's performance, but how does it do from a roll?

 

[BoulderViggen]

From a roll I've taken a 350z, a 2000 S4...haven't had the opportunity to play with the others.

1st and 2nd gear you are limited in power....1st has the most limitations to prevent wheel spin. If you can get a rolling start in 2nd or 3rd (and be in boost) the acceleration is incredable......

 

[DougR]

I previously had a GTI VR6('98) Even my SE HOT wipes the floor with it as far as I am concerned. I would imagine the viggen is a couple steps above that.

 

[stromer]

I've taken most of these cars from a roll also... 350z, two rx-8's, gti vr6's, 1 s4, S2000, and my proudest is a turbo rsx. I should hope a Viggen can do the same. Although there was that black Viggen last month in Aroostook country that I schooled on the highway. He looked like he was trying, I mean I could see the suspension flatten and lift as he shifted. A younger guy. But nothin. He slowed down to about 60 as I approached (my cruise was on 85, I mean its northern Maine, c'mon!) and so we went from 60 on up. By the time I maxed out third I was 2 car lengths ahead, and 6 ahead at redline in 4th. I would blame the heat, but we were at the same disadvantage. :roll:

 

[Adrian W]

How does the viggen do against cars such as S2000s, 350Z, S4, SRT-4, RX-8. I know from a stop, the wheel spin must hinder the viggen's performance, but how does it do from a roll?

From a roll, it'll beat an S2000, be pretty even between the 350Z, and beat the RX-8. From a roll it's more or less even with an STi and slightly quicker than a stock Evo. Again, only from a roll.

The stock Viggen dynos at around 213 hp and 250 lb-ft at the wheels. For reference an S2000 will get around 190 whp on the same dyno.

While the Evo and STi dyno slightly higher in terms of horsepower, the Viggen has much fatter powerband; it has over 200 whp all the way from 4,500-6,000 RPM.

Here are a couple of my stock Viggen's dyno charts: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v14/SaabTuner/206-211-213.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v14/SaabTuner/211-206.jpg

Anyway, the Viggen is very quick from a roll. With some suspension mods and a limited slip differential it would likely be fairly quick from a stop as well.

-Adrian