Make it go faster

[deezneez45]

I drive a 1999 Saab 9-3, 4 door, manual transmission. I think of it as a reasonably fast car, both in terms of top speed and acceleration.

However, I now for the first time have some extra money at my disposal and have my heart set on making it just faster in general. I know very little to nothing about cars.

So here is my question. If I want to spend somewhere between $300-1000 what products/ types of products should I be looking into for either acceleration or top speed? If I'm going to need to pony up more cash let me know as well.

Thanks in advance.

[diebitter]

Only drive downhill?

[Mr_J]

Sell it and buy a toyota supra TT and put a few K of the difference into tuning.

[n.s.]

It looks like your car has a turbocharger. If you really want to make it go faster, you should be able to change out the boost controller to let you run it at a higher psi. I think by the time it's all over (since you'll need help installing and configuring it), you'll probably be right at the top of your price range or over it. You can often get a lot of extra horsepower this way, but it comes with an increased chance of blowing your engine, and may increase the emissions.

The other thing you could look into is replacing the ECU. This is the chip that determines the air/fuel mixture. A performance ECU would give your more power, usually at the expensive of higher emissions (making it technically not street legal in states with emissions testings). The one that I put in my old car allowed me to switch between performance and stock mode. I think a new chip will run you $200-$400, and it's easy to install yourself (or you could pay someone $80 for 15 minutes of work...). Actually, if you increase the boost enough you may have to get a new ECU anyways, since the stock one won't adjust correctly for all that extra oxygen.

The thing to do is to search for a dedicated saab forum (I guarantee you that there is one - there may even be one dedicated to this car in particular), and ask them there. They will be happy to talk your ear off about exactly what products to buy, how much HP you'll get, and how much it's gonna cost. Oh, and both the above solutions will void any sort of warranty you may have remaining.

In general, though, with a well-tuned car like a saab, there aren't any quick and easy ways to increase power with sacrificing something. You could spend $400 and have a shop slap a new muffler on it, but you'll probably just make it louder and not actually go any faster (you could actually loose power if the exhaust has too little backpressue).

[Borodog]

If it were $300 worth of easy to increase the performance of your car, Saab would have done it at the factory.

[n.s.]

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If it were $300 worth of easy to increase the performance of your car, Saab would have done it at the factory.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's generally true, but there are some exceptions when the performance increase would come at the expense of fuel economy, reliability, safety, emissions legality, etc...

[GGrey]

[ QUOTE ]
If it were $300 worth of easy to increase the performance of your car, Saab would have done it at the factory.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is completely bogus. There are a ton of reasons why certain steps were taken instead of others, and some were listed above.

I bought an intake and exhaust for ~$450 and it made my car quite a bit faster, but there's no way in Hell Toyota's going to sell a car that loud off the lot.

OP, look for some Saab enthusiast forums. You'll find your answers there. With forced induction there's usually plenty of potential to be found. Just don't be a n00b and buy a manual boost controller and blow your engine.

Also, your top speed is either limited by an electric governor, wind drag, or gearing. A new ecu and/or more power will get your to the top of your gearing faster.

[JRussell]

[ QUOTE ]
The thing to do is to search for a dedicated saab forum (I guarantee you that there is one - there may even be one dedicated to this car in particular), and ask them there. They will be happy to talk your ear off about exactly what products to buy, how much HP you'll get, and how much it's gonna cost. Oh, and both the above solutions will void any sort of warranty you may have remaining.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is your best route. Not only will you be able to find the info mentioned above, but you can also find how these modifications will affect the reliability of your car (if at all).

Having said that, exhaust and intake are generally the first mods you will want to do with a turbocharged car. Freeing up the air flow as much as possible gains power and often fuel mileage too. Unlike a naturally aspirated engine, with a turbocharger you actually want as little exhaust backpressure as possible.

[GGrey]

[ QUOTE ]


Having said that, exhaust and intake are generally the first mods you will want to do with a turbocharged car.

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Not always true. A turboback exhaust will do wonders, but intakes don't typically do much for FI cars.

You'll probably be told to add silicone intercooler hoses, a catless uppipe, and either a turboback exhaust, or a catless downpipe + catback exhaust, along with some sort of engine management. I've no idea who the notable tuner companies are for Saab though.

After that, if you want more, bigger injectors, fuel pump, bigger turbo, intercooler, etc etc.

[JRussell]

[ QUOTE ]
Not always true. A turboback exhaust will do wonders, but intakes don't typically do much for FI cars.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to disagree regarding intakes. Most stock air intake boxes are overly restrictive. Installing a lager than stock open-style filter and eliminating the box will increase power and fuel mileage in almost any vehicle. More air to the engine = more power. In addition, more air to the turbo generally means more boost (and cooler boost), which means more power.