PAGE 1 - Vehicle information, plans, updates
PAGE 2 - Car photos and *videos
PAGE 3 - Engine related installs/pictures
PAGE 4 - Appearance related installs/pictures
PAGE 5 - Breakdown of costs to date
The reason for this project is to show how far hard work and strict attention to detail can take you. Thus far, I have not only my own hard research to thank for this but more importantly my father for his never ending work, care and support, my tuner who made the 10+ hour trip to magnificently tie everything together, and to JZW and Vigge off of the Saab Link/Saab Central, whose continual sickness, passion and encouragement for these cars constantly inspires me. Those who are not named know who they are and I appreciate them just the same. I have had a blast.
I'm a 20 year old broke college student from Kansas City, MO who goes to school in Salt Lake City, UT. I don't get to work on the Baas much during the school year so when I'm back home is when things get done.
I've had this car since March 2006, when I was a junior in high school and since then I have spent an unbelievable amount of time and effort with it. It is currently transitioning from the stock turbo to a much larger one with supporting hardware. The tune took place on August 8th and 9th, to much success. On current maximum boost levels and at current health, the car makes 392whp which is 445bhp after the 12% loss is figured in. There is still MUCH more left in the car as it sits and the tuning will continue throughout my 2009-2010, junior year of college. This is just the beginning of the fun that's to be had with this stock, $250, Dodge diesel turbo.
After the upgrades:
Holset HX35 56mm turbocharger
Reindeer Performance Custom made twin scroll manifold
TiAL V44 External wastegate, .9bar spring
Siemens deka 845cc injectors
By me 3" downpipe v-band flanged, welded by Liquid & Powdercoat Finishes
By me 2.5" delivery pipe
JT 3" catback exhaust, catless
CXracing 22"x8"x3.5" front mount intercooler
Custom Stage 'Drew' tune
Bullet 14" universal slim fan
Russell -4AN oil lines
Walbro 255hp 341 fuel pump
Spec Stage 3 Clutch w/ Viggen Pressure Plate
Forge FMDV004 atmospheric dump valve
K&N cone filter, homemade 4" intake plumbing
AEM Wideband A/F ratio Gauge
AutoMeter Pyrometer
AutoMeter Sport Comp Boost Gauge
Equus Oil Pressure Gauge
Koni Adjustable suspension, rear only
Genuine Saab 22mm Anti-Roll Bar
Genuine Saab Stage 2 Motor Mount
Genuine Saab Sport Transmission Mount
Genuine Saab Clear Little Fender Blinkers
SAAB 9-3 Grill
SAAB 9-3 Front seats
SAAB 9-3 Base 15" wheels, 195 width tires
SAAB 9-3 center console
My old stage 3 setup, before the Holset:
DIY Intake
DIY Ported Throttle Body Transition
DIY Turbo Silencer Remvoal
AutoMeter Sport Comp Boost Gauge
Equus Oil Pressure Gauge
K&N Panel Air Filter
Spec Stage 3 Clutch w/ Viggen Pressure Plate
Forge FMDV004 BOV
JT 3" Downpipe and full exhaust - Catless
JSP Stage '3+' ECU
ebay 22"x8"x3.5" front mount intercooler
*Joe P Manual Boost Controller *REMOVED after ECU upgrade
Genuine Saab 22mm Anti-Roll Bar
Genuine Saab Stage 2 Motor Mount
Genuine Saab Sport Transmission Mount
Genuine Saab Clear Little Fender Blinkers
SAAB 9-3 Grill
Ventus V4ES 215/50/16 Tires
Below are updates with my car that I began in 08', when I really started using this website.
Basically I've been trying to keep the exterior of the car completely stock to keep the sleeper effect to the maximum. Eventually when I'm finished performance-wise with it, I may purchase Viggen bumpers and maybe some Borbets, but other than that the car will appear completely stock.
After my Spring 08' semester of school was over, I brought Rhonda home. Before and after the intercooler install, I did 3 pulls on a dyno in Kansas City, MO, at RevLine motor. The first runs had a best of 232whp/259wtq. After the intercooler, I managed to pull 240.27whp/273.53wtq (8/19/08). The intercooler completed what is considered 'stage 3' for SAAB's. Now, a little more time and money needs to be spent on the chassis until I figure out my turbo case.
Stock - 160whp
As of 06/08' - 240whp (4th gear)
Stock vs a 3rd gear run pre-intercooler (231whp)
What I'll eventually do is a Holset HX40 Super, much larger injectors, and the SW to match. Holsets all use a divided T3 flange so I would need a custom header, and also the downpipe would have to be modified to fit.
These turbos have easily brought many to 500bhp , and are much cheaper than the GTBB turbos. I would also install a water/methanol injection system at this point to keep EGTs down and efficiency up as much as possible, and this has shown an increase of up to 15whp/15wtq.
This project won't happen for quite some time, as I'd like to finish all of my suspension upgrades before adding more power. In a video I recently made with a friend of a 0-60 run, it was difficult to shift from 1st to 2nd in all of the WOT attempts due to my current weak transmission mount. These types of problems shouldn't be problems and can be fixed with the right parts - one or two of them I'd like to get this summer.
I've gone to the track once with the current setup, here in Salt Lake City, and I managed a 14.88 (15.2) at 95.15 (93.23). Those figures are corrected for altitude based on the correction factor given by the NHRA.
This was my first time ever in any attempt to launch this car, despite having it for a year and a half, so the time is not that great. Also, I was informed that the track here in SLC actually has less traction compared to the street which is a bit odd. I did this run before I had the Genuine Saab motor mount, so that may have helped my time a tiny bit with the shifting as it's a bit rough at high RPM. Also, I didn't have the necessary helper spring to hold my boost so I was just seeing a boost spike to 23psi and then back down to 15ish. That is no longer a problem. I will most likely run again sometime this summer when I go back to Kansas City, after I install my intercooler and dyno.
8/19/08
Today, I made it back to the dyno. Only things changed from the last dyno is the intercooler, an oil pressure gauge, and an aftermarket oil cooler. There was an improvement of about 8whp/9hp compared to the previous dyno, before the intercooler.
I also made it back to the track on 7/30/08. My best time, now that I'm back at sea level in Kansas City, was 14.54@100.2. I had a total of 6 runs that day and the 60' 's didn't get much better than about a 2.45 so launching is the weak spot. Tomorrow, 8/20, I may bring Rhonda back to the trap one more time before heading back up 4400' to Salt Lake City.
10/3/08
Installed the Genuine Saab Sport Transmission mount, today. Completely different feel in the shifter; usually under high RPM, when letting the clutch in I can feel the shifter flick back. Now everything feels solid.
Next up is the steering rack clamp and brace to help with the crazy torque steer that SAAB's are infamous for straight from the factory.
Also, another addition to the page is a 0-60 video I made one night. Now that I'm back in Salt Lake City, I'm back to 4400' elevation, where a lot of people see about a 10% loss, or so, on FI vehicles. I recorded 6.1 seconds from the video, using a stopwatch and probably 50 replays. Not too bad, considering the torque steer, lack of any traction in 1st, and not-so-fast shifting. You can hear it in the video. Listen for the huge grind as I try to stick it in 3rd and keep going - synchro's really losing it now. No more drag racing until that gets taken care of back home. Transmission rebuild time.
11/7/08
I usually spend quite a bit of time every day on the SAAB forums reading about everyone else's new plans and doing a little bit of planning of my own.
Well I finally decided the route I'm gonna take. Here's some pictures of it:
Holset HX35w
60k miles, twin scroll, similar to a GT35r, $250 shipped.
Another goodie that'll be coming in from Finland within the next two months:
Custom made in Finland by a friend of a friend on one of the SAAB forums. 38mm runners. Final cost should end up at about 530EUR, shipped. At today's exchange rate that would be about $670. The engine bay will look similar to that one - mostly just without the yellow paint.
For now, the plans are to just run the straight HX35, externally gated, without making any modifications to it. If I get bored with the power or if it doesn't meet expectations then the current compressor side will be swapped with one from a HX40, to make a HX35/40: aka Super 40. Measurements for both turbos:
HX35 - Compressor wheel - Inducer: 56mm, Exducer: 81.8mm
Turbine wheel - Inducer: 60mm, Exducer: 69mm
HX40 - Compressor wheel - Inducer: 60mm, Exducer: 85mm
Together I'll get the spool closer to the HX35's with flow closer to the HX40.
A chart of what someone has accomplished so far with this, namely, the Yellow SAAB whose car is pictures above: http://www.stcf.net/viggen/newh_hp1.gif
Follow the dotted lines on that one. Torque, on the right, is measured in Nm so you can figure out the conversion yourself. He just recently finished his so it's still in testing. Boost is only at 1.6bar (~24psi) at the moment.
Other parts needed:
Tial 44mm External Wastegate - ~$250
Innovate Gauge and LC1 Wideband controller - $260
Walbro 255lph fuel pump - $100
Siemens 630cc fuel injectors - $180
'JZW ' Tuning - $200
Larger downpipe
I plan on completing this sometime during summer 09', when I'm back home in Kansas City, MO and have my father's shop and help. "Let the games begin".
11/8/08
I picked up a 9-3 grille, $60, to fit on my 900. Should make the front end look much better when washed.
He'll ship it out on Monday, I'll throw up some pictures once it gets in and on.
11/10/08
I seem to be on a spending frenzy lately. Picked up a AutoMeter Sport Comp boost gauge off of someone on the Kansas City car forum I'm on, KCSR . Nice guy, originally wanted $25 but because I'm in SLC now, he did about $26 shipped. Pretty good deal for an AutoMeter gauge - top of the line! The Equus gauge I have worked fine and it was nice because I can set the backlight to green to match my dash lights and my oil pressure gauge, but it only goes up to 20psi. With my current stage 3 ECU, I should be doing around 23psi max and with the upcoming Holset, I'll probably be looking into the upper 20's range. The AutoMeter that I'm getting in particular has 30/30, vaccuum/boost for those who don't know. Should arrive sometime at the end of the week, along with my new turbo and grille. What a week.
11/17/08
So after over a week of waiting for it to get shipped from Texas to Utah, my HX35 has arrived. Off of a 98' Dodge Ram so it's an HX35 with 12cm housing, 56in/60out.
As I've said, summer 09'. Next update should be the headers that are being made now, finished at the end of the month.
11/24/08
Just PayPal'd 530EUR over to Finland to have my manifold sent here. Should be here within a couple weeks so I'll update again once that and the turbo are united at last. And after that....!
I take a break ���_��� I've been spending quite a bit of money lately so no more goodies until after Christmas, when I come back to SLC from KC and get another part time job, just to support this car stuff!
But...it'll all be worth it by the end of next summer.
Here's a picture of "the twins", as they were named. Great craftsmanship, as you can see...
12/14/08
Header made it home to Kansas City from Finland. Here's a picture the other Saab guy, who also bought one, took. Mine will also look like this except this turbo is new. His turbo is essentially the same as mine except a 4mm larger compressor wheel. Only about 100bhp more of flow.
In other news, I read on Kansas City's local street racing forum, in my dyno shop's section, that their dyno reads 7% lower than comparable dyno's in Kansas City. Normally I would neglect something like this but on my first 'stock' dyno, it actually isn't stock. I had an MBC installed as well as a couple DIY mods. At the time I had an IAC problem that I thought might affect results, so I just ignored the whole thing. But if I factor in this 7% lower readings, it would put me at...
(160*100)/93 = 172whp So, depending on who you ask:
Stock: 172/.88 = 195.5bhp or 172/.85 = 202.4bhp
and
(240*100)/93 = 258whp
Current: 258/.88 = 293.2bhp or 258/.85 = 303.6bhp .
My point for doing the math is because the 'stock' number make more sense with the 7% loss, and they make my current numbers look more well rounded. Of course these numbers are all just 'fun' and the 'games' part of that expression is what really proves what a car can do. That's how I choose to do things, anyway, and other people who face me on the highway will understand that, as well.
12/30/08
Back home in Kansas City now. My manifold and turbo are here as well, unfortunately my car and the rest of the necessary parts are not. My dad recently bought another Saab, 2000 9-3, that ran a little low on oil so we fitted the turbo and manifold to it so he could check for any spacing issues. Here's a look at that:
4/29/09
Only a week and a half away from heading home where, hopefully, the fun can commence right away. Not a whole lot to update since the last time, just a few pictures that I'll have to add later when I'm not on a school district's network. Have only been able to sit, read up, and watch as few others complete their builds. Two of which, who are both currently using Super 40's, already have things up and running but neither are quite finished. Still some updates to be made on the fuel side of things. One other member of The Saab Link is nearly finished, if not already running an HY35, which is nearly similar to the HX35 but with smaller exhaust housing.
There are still several things that I've yet to buy, putting it off mostly because they're not necessary til everything begins to go on, and also because I'm broke :)
A TiAL V44 wastegate and Walbro 255 will be picked up from RevLine Motors once I'm back in Kansas City. Also, an Innovate LC-1 Wideband, Siemens 60# injectors, tune, silicone connections for intake/hot side of intercooler, and oil lines, not to mention whatever other miscellaneous things I need or break in the process.
My downpipe will also need some modification. Can't remember at the moment which direction it is shifted, but that will need to be fixed as well as new connections welded onto the turbo and downpipe.
On the turbo intake side, I've found some 4" short radius elbows that will work.
As I said, not too much going on for me just yet but time has gone by fairly quickly and so hopefully by the next time I remember to update, I'll have some good news.
5/24/09
I'm home and have some small progress being made..waiting for v-band flanges to come in so we can really get started. We have one of these:
..to drop another Saab motor/tranny in, so we can more easily fit and finish the downpipe. Once that downpipe's done, everything goes onto my car.
6/22/09
Not too much to show for as of now, just finished up the exhaust work to about as much as I can do until it's installed, and stuck an external wastegate on the manifold. Some rubber elbows and aluminum piping are in the mail for an intake.
I have made one vital change of plans that I'm not ready to let on just yet until everything is 'in writing'. Just know that it'll be important to make this whole project come together and I couldn't be more happy about it. I'll give an update once that is confirmed..and hell I'll take more pictures of whatever I've done at that point, as well.
7/12/09
Exhaust, dump tube fabrication. We decided to stick it in between the exhaust and transmission rather than straight down and in the other direction, towards the oil pan.
7/24/09 - HX35 Replacement Update
So I've had a lot going on all week with this, and I'm happy to say it's going rather smoothly. I'll allow pictures to do most of the talking because I have several other places where I have to update this and it becomes tiring after the third time :)
Started on 7/21 and have been working on it every chance I get, with my dad. Removed all the old things, placed everything in once to double check for clearance on everything, then removed it all again. Now I've got everything back on more permanently and am now working on all of the intercooler plumbing, along with the delivery pipe as you can see in one of the last pictures. Also paid to have the exhaust welded yesterday which turned out fairly decent. More to come by the end of the weekend; if I'm not finished with this today (have other things to work on with my dad in the shop) then it will be completed tomorrow (Saturday) for sure.
So that's all for now. HOPEFULLY it will be finished sometime today if I ever decide to get out of bed. I won't be installing the injectors and fuel pump, and I'll also keep using my stage 3 JSP tune for a couple weeks. Changing the injectors is no small job but I still think it's safe to say that the worst is now over.
7/25/09
So I've got some good news and a little bit of bad news. The good news is my turbo is mounted and the car is running. The bad news is the intercooler piping isn't very well done so it has to be resecured. There's a lot more air going through those pipes and a lot more pressure so it really can't be left alone as a weakpoint.
Also, the new injectors and fuel pump are not yet installed. I'm still using my stage 3 tune so throwing in new injectors wouldn't work very well without a retune. I'm expecting a rough version of that to come in the mail this week sometime so I need to get started on those.
Well here's the fun stuff:
After we finished, we took it out to get a small feel for what it could do with stock fueling and a bad tune. Three for three tries, we blew off or blew up an intercooler connection. On the second try, though, we did get a feel of what about 5-7psi feels like. Getting to that point was an interesting feeling that I've only felt once - in a 400whp Integra. What a feeling.
Idling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVuYVu3Kh4k
I cannot wait to get this tune.
7/30/09
Just a small preview of what's to come. In this video, the injectors, fuel pump, and tune are not yet installed because there isn't a tune to go with. The main point of it is to take in the sounds :)
8/3/09
Walbro fuel pump installed today, I may do the injectors tomorrow and let my car sit until Saturday. The anticipation is killing me so I might as well let it kick me while I'm on the ground.
Next update will include videos and dyno numbers.
EDIT
Okay I lied, just wanted to throw these last pictures up. Fueling is now totally taken care of, as promised, so hardware is now 100% complete, with the excedption of redoing my delivery pipe.
8/20/09
I think I'll let pictures describe what was completed between my last update and August 9.
Replaced valve cover gasket
Intercooler connections replaced with more silicone, t-bolt clamps
Completed engine bay pictures
Tuning time, August 8 & 9
8/10/09 Dyno day
So we got everything done and made tremendous progress with the tune over the weekend. I brought it in the following week and put it on the dyno. To our surprise, it made 390whp and somewhere around 350lb.ft. The reason why I say 'to our surprise' is that the tune is not completed yet. The car is currently running around on ~18psi and is what was being used at the time of the dyno as well. This is most likely due to a hardware issue that I haven't had a chance to narrow down, yet, and there's also a really small chance that it's the tune.
In other words, once this kink is figured out we can continue the tune via email to reach our initial goal of about 1.56 bar, about 23psi. Aside from just raising the boost, there are a couple other things in the tune that have yet to be fine tuned.
Plenty more power to be had in time; I'm just now getting back to Salt Lake City and settled in for school but once that's done, I'll purchase my own means of flashing my ECU so we can keep going.
I think that's enough talk for now. Here's what I've been waiting to see all year.
Second/third gear pulls from the side, third gear speedometer
Dyno, camera phone quality
Second gear speedometer
THE END..for now
Here's an update just to throw in a couple more fun things.Third gear, as is on paper.
60-70 1.51
60-80 2.56 70-80 1.05
60-90 3.77 80-90 1.21
60-100 5.27 90-100 1.5
60-110 6.69 100-110 1.42
Notice how the first increment takes a second and a half but the next one, 60-80, is only one second more? Plain and simple, larger turbo means larger lag. At 70mph is about when full boost says hello, which is why going from about 70-80 is the fastest of the given ranges.
Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity for any 4th gear pulls which is where I'm really interested to see how she blows. I'm still in the process of diagnosing my boost problem, most likely BPC, so that we can begin to push this thing just a bit more. If I were looking for maximum efficiency from this turbo, I would keep the pressure ratio right where it's at now. But since there's a lot of wiggle room with this turbo, I think we can afford to punch it just a little harder than we currently are :)
Just give me a few more weeks to get things together. It's not over til it's over..500bhp ;)
