power upgrade,but which one.

[sean treacy]

hi all,i have a my2002 9-5 aero with a manual gearbox in pretty good all round condition.i had thought of getting a newer 9-5 aero but seems my current 9-5 is not really worth alot so as is a good one and i have put everything wright with this one i have decided to keep it and hopefully run it up to 200k.so i would like to get a power upgrade for it but do not know who to go with.i like the idea of the maptun self tune box but also like the abbott racing stage 1 tune price which giles at abbotts has said would do for 399.99 aposed to the maptun box at 563pound on a well known auction site,so am a little unsure which to go for.any pointers on this would be very much apreciated.i am aware to tune the car will up my insurance cost but i am willing to stand the extra cost if the power upgrades available really do give you more driveability with xtra power.

[sgould]

There's a man over on UKSaabs who seems to be doing remaps for a lot less than any commercial tuner.  Good reports on his tunes from those that use his remaps.  And there are lots of them out there now.

Posts as "Saabnoob".  His name is Karl.

I would suggest that you get in touch with him.  If you are not a member of UKSaabs, you need to post 5 posts over there before you can send him a Private Message.

The only downside is that you either have to go to see him in Nottingham or send an ECU to him. 

[chris_de_ze]

Over the years I have compiled the following list of companies that provide upgrades for Saab's. It's up to you to decide which one to choose from. There might be some others as well which I am not aware of.

Abbott Racing UK http://www.abbottracing.net
BSR Sweden http://en.bsr.se
Hirsch Performance Switzerland http://www.hirsch-performance.ch
Maptun Sweden http://www.maptun.com
MP Performance http://www.mpperformance.com
Neo Brothers (Maptun's official tuner in the UK) http://www.neobrothers.co.uk/
Nordic Tuning Sweden http://www.nordictuning.com
RICA Engineering http://www.rica.nl
Speedparts Sweden http://shop.speedparts.se/en
Superchips http://www.superchips.co.uk
TrollSpeed Sweden http://www.trollspeed.se
VTuner USA http://www.vtunersaabs.com/
JZW Tuning USA http://www.jzwtuning.com/
HP Tuners http://www.hptuners.com/
Celtic Tuning http://www.celtictuning.co.uk
Motorsport Developments http://www.evolutionchips.co.uk
Elite Remaps http://www.eliteremaps.co.uk
South West In Car Tech http://www.southwestincartech.co.uk
Advanced Tuning http://www.advancedtuning.co.uk/saab.html
Jak Stoll Performance http://jakstollperformance.com/
Noobtune Trionic 7 tuning only (Karl's work over on http://www.uksaabs.co.uk)

[Max Headroom]

I think this could be posted as a 'locked sticky' for reference purposes. What does everyone else think?

Thanks for that info Chris

[Steve440]

Good idea.

How about people who have dealt with these companies listed give there opinion and if it was good value on a BHP PER ££££ basis?

A good friend who has Scooby has his chipped by one of the above companies, it went back several times because of cold start problems. In the end he was given a refund and he had it done by another well known company.

Steve

[CitTone]

I think this could be posted as a 'locked sticky' for reference purposes. What does everyone else think?

I think it should include Steinbauer for a start!

[chris_de_ze]

STEINBAUER  provides upgrades only for diesel 9-3's.

[Norfolk Jim]

I'll happily start the ball rolling with Abbott Racing.

I've had cars tuned by them for a long time know with first being a 9k CSE 2.0lpt they tuned to around 195hp. Lovely and smooth to drive with excellent pick-up with small turbo. I then progressed up to a 9k aero on which they did ECU, downpipe, exhaust, suspension etc and the car flew. £ for lb excellent. Sold that to enthusiast with 18k on it and bought my first 9-5 which was one of the first estates in 2.3t SE guise 185hp. Abbott's did ECU, inter cooler, hybrid turbo and so on and car went like the wind. They also did engine re-build which was faultless. And lastly my 03MY aero auto estate which they tuned to 275hp and 430Nm torque. Car was incredibly quick and yet a smooth drive. Fuel economy also improved. Only reason sold was no longer long distance drives each week so economy was no good around town at about 23 - 25 so bought a 55Reg Vector Sport 2.2tid which does 44 around town. Would have had Abbott's do the ECU but adding up travel of 3hrs round trip and price Hirsch had discount deal so did that but would have done Abbott's if near enough.

I can honestly say I have never had a single problem with anything Abbott's have done and Ed's team are so enthusiastic beyond belief. Pleasure to deal with.

That's my two pennies worth

[sean treacy]

thanks for all your input guys,i have spent hours comparing all the main saab tuners and narrowed it down to two.those being the maptun plug and go or a visit to abbott racing as they seem to have great history in tuning saabs.bearing in mind the fuel cost to visit abbotts they still come out cheaper than the maptun box so have decided to book a day off and get car into them for stage 1 upgrade.will post when car is done with my opinion of performance and driveability with tuned ecu.it does interest me how much it can improve as car pretty dam quick in stock mode.??

[Norfolk Jim]

Excellent Sean - you won't regret your visit to them but keep your wallet firmly in your pocket or you'll end up spending more than you had intended. If possible see if Ed will take you out for a spin in their development car. He's racing driver and the roads round them are superb for testing cars out and he's so cool when he does it.

Mine was a standard Aero estate with semi auto box and 250 engine with the 380 torque. They take it up to 430 torque and 275 hp and I was quite shocked by how much it changed the car, in particular watching how much quicker the speedo went up after the upgrade. You never need to use the higher rev range normally as it pulls so hard from low down. If your's is an auto you'll find in sport mode it changes just about at red line. You'll also notice a slight improvement in fuel economy. I think they also adjust your cruise so its not aggressive on reset. I'm excited for you already.....

When you leave you'll be grinning ear to ear once you tap the pedal - beware though. The pick up can be so quick you'll need to watch speedo as several cameras in operation round there on main roads.........................have a great day with them. Something you don't get at dealers when you have the Hirsch upgrade.

[CitTone]

STEINBAUER  provides upgrades only for diesel 9-3's.

Ahh, but YOU said "Over the years I have compiled the following list of companies that provide upgrades for Saab's."

You didn't say which models!

[sean treacy]

thanks jim for your info,i will remember what you say when i have car tuned as have six points now and do not need anymore now,but yes i too share your exitement and cannot wait to get over to abbotts but will be a couple of weeks due to work comitments.i will have a good look around when i am there but as you say i will keep wallet in back pocket as my dear wife will not be happy if i go over budget(bless her).i will post comments as soon as tune is complete.just one other thing jim,when you tuned your 9-5 aero estate what was the mileage??

[Al]

Hi,

I've run the following over the years

2 x 9000's, a 2.0 lpt and a 2.3 lpt both at stage 1  from the now defunct Elkparts - Speedparts? - felt like aftermarket tunes - power in with a rush - ok but then I didn't know any better at the time.

1.9tdi 9-3 - Stage 1 mapped by a friend who works for a tuning company that advertises nationally. I could compare this with a Hirsch 1.9 9 5 - only there's no comparrison  - the Hirsch was absolutely spot on - felt like a bigger engine they had obvously done a fantastic mapping job.

Noobtune x 2 2.3 aero and 2.0lpt 9-5's - brilliant - I trust Karl's judgement and advice - I would thoroughly recommend him - he does T8 these days too.

Al

[Norfolk Jim]

Hi Sean

Sorry for delay.

When I had it done I think it was about 120k.

Never had any problems with it - faultless and I am pedantic!

When You go give him my regards - see my PM

[twoshots]

I have a 9-5 MY00 Aero Auto tuned by Karl (aka SaabNoob) from UKSaabs. Although it was tuned prior to my ownership and I do not have the 'before and after' experience I will say that the car is very driveable (and also a bit nuts when needed  ). A whole other world from my old 9-5 2.3lpt.

I contacted Karl to see if he could remember the car and give me any background info. Karl was very informative and seems like a nice chap. The car's previous owner spoke well of him as well. The level of tune seems to be quite flexible, no one map fits all policy, and I have yet to read anything remotely unflattering about him on UKSaabs.

I'd have no hesitation in recommending him.