Ownership Verified: My Topless Swedish Model

150hp is still not to be sniffed at, it's more than I have. From what you found in the receipts it seems you bought a little gem as far as the mechanicals go. :)

I'm still putting a mental block on the condition of the shock turrets on HMS Saab 1, I gave mine a very good look over when I was fitting the suspension lift kit. :lol:
 
:lol: Well someone paid ?750 for that beautiful machine, so I ain't complaining. Consider that. Someone paid ?750 for an older coupe with a bit of seriousish rust and poor paintwork with the thirsty and unwanted (but rarer) 2.3l engine. I paid ?1050 for a very nice newer model with the more (not quite completely - that's the 185hp one) desirable 2.0 turbo and its a convertible. Admittedly its only got 2 months MOT left on it and 3 months tax (which I'll get refunded) left on it, but you can't have everything, and it does mean I can almost start afresh with it in my hands.

And chipping may come at some point later. Once I have money.

Also I have just remembered something from the ~60 mile drive home with it. Yes it was snowing and very cold, but with the heating on the engine temperature was dropping so I had to keep turning the heating off to let it warm up again :blink:
 
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Those are expensive.

..or is that just a german thing?
 
It shouldn't be expensive: it's a parts-bin part shared with a whole bunch of other cars. Why a German thermostat would have to be expensive is beyond me.
 
I was just making a joke towards his cars nationality. Female swedes are cheap.

EDIT: Or is it a male model?
 
I haven't decided yet. The old one was called Dave due to Team Dave in the Bratislava rally. I as yet still have no name for it. And therefore no gender.

Either way its a topless swede, and frankly all Swedes are hot, regardless of gender, right...?
 
No, that's Norway. Sweden only has hot girls. :D
 
Adrian said:
Those are expensive.

..or is that just a german thing?
Click to expand...

Labcoatguy said:
It shouldn't be expensive: it's a parts-bin part shared with a whole bunch of other cars. Why a German thermostat would have to be expensive is beyond me.
Click to expand...

Theremostats can be stupid expensive these days. It depends on if you can replace just the actual thermostat:




... or if it comes complete with the aluminium housing, temperature sender etc.



Like on many german cars. (Mercedes CDI thermostat pictured)
 
Nice car!

In terms of bang for buck it's hard to beat a Saab in de UK.
If it's a 2000 model year it'll have the the T5 generation engine, these are bullet proof. But 150 Hp says T7, A T5 version would have 154HP. T5 = Red DI cassette + oil cap above the center of the engine. T7 = black DI and oil cap off-center to the left.

Anyway, both can easily be chipped to 220-ish HP. The T7 turbo is a bit weaker as they last about 150k KM.
If you have a lot of free time, and you can solder a bit and know how computers work you can chip them yourself. I could send you my BDM flasher:
http://forum.ecuproject.com/showthread.php/3267-USB-BDM-adapter-news-and-updates-(part-II)?
There is probably someone on UKsaabs who could do it for a 100 pounds or so. +70 BHP is a nice mod :D
If you have a T5 engine you'll probably also need a boost control valve, BPC, APC valve)

The steering-brace helps with torque steer, the rest of the mods listed above help a bit overall, but it remains a spongy car, specially the convertible. Replacing the suspension helps the most, eibach spings + bilstein schocks (more than the car is worth? :p)


p.s do you still have that photo of your old Saab with the vinyl stickers (specially on the roof)? I'd like to do the same to my locoblade. I want to see what it looked like on your car again.
 
I'm on my phone (on the bus <_<) atm so can send you a link when I get back but you should be able to find all the photos on the thread - find that by looking at my profile > Started threads. :) There was no pattern - only random shapes it out and [badly] stuck on.

I actually can't remember whether the DI is red or black :p Shows how much I cared for it before I left for uni again (leaving it at home so it's not a distraction). As I said - mods wise I am going to wait for a while before I can afford much. And I wouldn't worry about spending too much - I want this to be a good car that will last me a good number of years :) The suspension and polys will be a big and expensive thing down the line but I will get there eventually :) Supposedly coilovers for a vectra may fit (same platform) and would be a lot cheaper than ones sold for a Saab... :p

Also - according to the service book it had a new turbo in 2008 but there are no receipts for the older services so I need to try and check with the garage.

And the V5C arrived. - it is officially my car now :D
 
Thanks, found the photos in the euro trip thread.

AFAIK the Vectra had very different front suspension. For our race car we've been trying to find coil-overs but it seems like we need to get them custom made.

p.s those are also they alloys to have, they suit the car very well! :D
 
Maybe its the 9-5 the Vectra coilovers fit on. Whatever I'll investigate further when the time comes :p

And yeah I didn't really realise how well the wheels fitted it until I went and looked at the car. :)

Just randomly looked on the online car history check thing and it says this is the 185hp model... Which the VIN disagrees with. Damn these 2.0t and 2.0T models are really mixed up easily :p
 
Get that thing on a dyno!
 
I think it seems the only way to actually work it out. I've even foun people saying that its the 185 T because it ha a boost gauge on the cluster, others say look at what turbo model it has, and others saying that these can vary irrelevant of the model. :lol:
How much is a dyno run? I'd rather try and work it out for free to be honest. :p

Damnit I hate exams! I want to be at home with this. A friend who has just bought an MX5 is posting about summer, British country roads and topless motoring. I want that! :(
 
You have the 185HP version then, the 150HP version didn't come with a boost gauge (unless someone retrofitted another dash..).
150(4) and 185HP versions had the same turbos. Only the aero, viggen and a certain US model had a bigger turbo.
 
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