After posting about my Monte Carlo mods yesterday, there were a number of questions both in comments and in my inbox about what's available (and from whom) in terms of tuning your Saab.
I thought I'd put together a quick guide as to which companies are out there and what they do. This is by no means a definitive guide and I'm sure that others can and will add to it in comments.
My first tip is read these words of wisdom about Saab tuning before you start.
My second tip for new players is to check out Elkparts to get an idea of what's available in terms of upgrades for your car. I'm writing this not because they're a long term site sponsor, but more because it's the first method I ever used to see what was available when I first started getting interested in tuning my Viggen back in 2005/06. You simply click your Saab model in the left sidebar (for my Monte, that's 9-3 from 98-02), click Performance Tuning on the next screen, choose your particular variant of that model (e.g. 2.0 HOT Sport) and it's all laid out for you nice and clear. I have never found a simpler site to use. Seriously.
OK, so talking globally, who's available and what can you expect?
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The Tuners
These are the companies that design and develop their own tuning solutions for Saabs. The list is probably incomplete, but these seem to be the main players.
For each company, I've tried to locate one example of their ECU tuning and am using the Saab 9-3 Viggen as a baseline (standard output was 225/230hp and 342Nm). They should all make ECU's for other Saabs, too, so you'll have to check their websites for other models, but this is just to give you an idea.
All of them (aside from BSR) make other components to modify your Saab such as intakes, exhausts, brakes, etc.
Abbott Racing
Based in the UK, Abbott Racing are possibly best known for being the original inventors of the Viggen Rescue Kit as well as being expert Saab technicians and tuners of all models going right back to the 900. They do ECUs as well as exhausts, suspension components, accessories and all sorts of other things.
Abbott have agents in various countries. Their work is very well engineered (in-house, to their own top-shelf specifications) and very highly regarded, though I've found it to be a touch on the expensive side here in Australia.
Indicative ECU tune for Saab 9-3 Viggen: +40hp, unsure about torque
BSR
BSR are based in Sweden and concentrate mostly on ECU tuning for various makes and models of cars over the last dozen years.
Their key selling point is ease-of-use. Their PPC unit simply plugs into the diagnostic port of your Saab and loads the program into your existing ECU. The beauty of it is that the program is fully reversible, allowing you to take your car back to stock specifications when you want to.
You can buy directly from BSR or you can purchase through various resellers in different countries.
Indicative ECU tune for Saab 9-3 Viggen: +44bhp/+74Nm
Nordic
Nordic Uhr are based in Sweden and provide tuning options for all Saabs going back to the Saab 9000, and right up to current Saabs, even offering E85 tuning options.
Like several of the tuners listed here, Nordic offer 'staged' tuning packages, which combine ECUs with matched intakes and exhausts, possibly also integrating different levels of aggression in the ECU tune. These "stages" do come at additional cost, however.
Nordic have agents in various countries, all listed on their website. Whilst you're there, check out the various project cars!
A friend of mine in Mebourne (whom many here will know) by the name of Steve B has a 2002 Saab 9-3 Aero with a stage 5 Nordic tune. And if you know Steve, you'll know he only goes with top shelf componentry.
Indicative tune for Saab 9-3 Viggen is a "Stage 3" tune incorporating ECU, exhaust, Fuel pressure regulator and intake, adding 60hp and 78Nm
Maptun
I hadn't checked out Maptun's website for a while. Go check it now. Just do it. Bloody impressive, I've got to say. Possibly the best out there.
Like Nordic, Maptun are a Swedish tuning house and have various stage kits available for your Saab. They're incredibly detailed and can go to exreme limits (for example, there's a Stage 8 kit available for my Monte Carlo to take it to 430hp and 500Nm!!!)
I have a friend here in Hobart with a Maptun tuned Saab 9-5 Aero and it is a very impressive car. Video here.
Again, like others, Maptun have agents in various countries around the world and the listing is available on their website.
Indicative Saab 9-3 Viggen tune "Stage 3" adds 60hp and 98Nm
Hirsch Performance
Hirsch are based in Switzerland and have the distinction of being Saab's official, factory-backed tuners. The one potential downside of using all the other tuners listed here is that you'll most likely void your warranty if you tweak your car with their components. Not so with Hirsch.
Hirsch's work is therefore to factory standards and is very highly regarded, though it's also a tad costly.
Hirsch products are available in most European markets, though sadly still not in the US or Australia just yet. I know work was being done to make this happen, but I take it Saab's current situation and uncertainty with the dealer arrangements in the US is what's behind the current delay.
I've only got around 24 hours experience myself, but I can tell you that the Hirsch ECU is one heck of a good piece of kit. I've also driven a 9-5 Aero in Melbourne belonging to another Saab mate, Jeff B. It is fully Hirsched and it was, to this day, the most aggressive and rewarding Saab I've ever driven.
Speedparts
Speedparts are another Swedish tuning house and they have some pretty deep Trollhattan connections, as well as the best T-shirts in the business.
More than that, though, they have the full range of ECU, intake, exhaust and brake options offered by all the other tuning houses. They are Saab nuts through and through and are the name behind several very radical Saab performance cars. Again, check out their project cars page to see their work.
Indicative Saab 9-3 Viggen "Stage 3" tune adds 55hp and 100Nm
Jak Stoll
Jak Stoll is a US based custom tuner who I don't know much about, but have heard good things about. He's based in North Carolina and can pretty much custom tune your car to your requirements. He's a qualified Saab technician so has plenty of knowledge as to how the cars should run and what they're capable of.
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The One-Stop Shops
There are several Saab re-sellers who stock performance tuning parts for the various companies listed above, as well as genuine Saab replacement parts and accessories.
Elkparts
My personal favourite. John has been a long-term supporter of TS and SU, but more than that he offers a brilliant range of stuff at great prices and has service and response times that are second to none.
Elkparts sell products from the following tuning companies, making it easy to compare different options for your car:
- Hirsch (selected products)
- BSR
- Speedparts
They also sell other components from companies such as Brembo, Sachs, Eibach and many more trusted names in the performance community.
Taliaferro
Taliaferro (otherwise known as Genuine Saab) design and manufacture a lot of their own performance components as well as being US agents of performance ECU tuning for the following tuning houses:
- Nordic
- BSR
Taliaferro have a big presence in the US Saab tuning community and their service and backup is very well regarded. I had a Taliaferro intake pipe in my own 9-3 Viggen and it was great - for a day. Unfortunately I wrote the car off the day after it was installed (but geez it was running well that day).
Frank Strömqvist apparently works through Trollspeed now which can't be a bad thing seeing as how they're the closest thing to a Saab racing dept.
SQR Sweden: http://www.sqr.se/
SQR USA: http://automotion-saabvolvo.com/motorsports/index.html
Trollspeed (founded by former Saab Rally Dept. employees):
http://www.trollspeed.se/default.aspx
They also built the Pikes Peak car a few years back: http://www.europeancarweb.com/tuned/0307ec_trollspeed_builds_760_horsepower_saab/index.html
From my research, BSR seems to offer the best value for the money and the de-tune option is great for the North American market. Yesterday, a guy in a 2008 A4 that seemed to be suspiciously fast chatted me up at a stop light: "great car. how do you like it?" and all that stuff and mentioned he had just chipped his base A4 quattro with BSR. Said it feels like a different car altogether.
An in-house performance division that is available worldwide is an absolute must for Saab now that they will be owned by a supercar maker.
320 HP and 400 Lbs of Torque :).
There are exhaustive discussions on the topic of 'tuning' at Saabcentral for those interested [for 2.8 owners, BSR and VTuner seem to be getting the most airtime there...]
The 'software only' approach of BSR and VTuner were attractive (the ease of being able to detune -- within 1 minute if required). At the end of the day the custom 'VTune' won me over (BSR is a one way download; VTune provides a 'tweaked' tune based on logs you can send to the system architect who can in turn adjust parameters if desired).
Rather:
http://www.vtunersaabs.com/Home.html
http://www.chipcenter.cc/
Don't know anything about them.
a powercheck revealed 221 HP, the difference in driving is absolutely fantastic ! costs 1.400 euro
Hirsch has a good "name" (at least here in Germany) and I was looking for a moderate upgrade, which will leave my engine and my gearbox unharmed and not consuming fuel like a sailor on shore leave. So I got the ECU upgrade from Hirsch for EUR 1400 with a plus of 20HP (now 230HP) and plus of torque with 50Nm (now 350Nm) and it REALLY makes a difference. Very smooth and powerful acceleration from 0 - 200 km/h (jet feeling, can go with "younger" V6 engines from other manufacturers up to that speed), top speed until now was around 240 km/h on the Autobahn, the speed-indicator in my Saab showed more than 245, the speedometer on my route guidance system was giving me a 241. I don't know how accurate they work. But that was NOT fun to drive anymore, it takes a long time to get there because of the long fith gear and I had wet hands.
Fuel consumption is the same like before or even a bit less (but with 98 octane index now, 95 before upgrade). I still can't compete against the 2.8T engine Convertibles *g*...but hell, those were the best EUR 1400 that I ever spent in a car (besides my 18 inch wheels). No problems with anything since that upgrade, just running beautiful and making me happy since 15,000km ;-)
Anyway, Hirsch is IMHO highly overrated and takes their high price for being the only
"factory tuner"
Sorry to say but you have payed double the price of your upgrade compared to BSR stg 1 kit for your car!
and this gives you even better performance than Hirsch.
Besides BSR make it possible to you to get customized fix'es for your specific car, eg. for auto gearshift pattern problems. Does Hirsch ?
Furthermore you can always detune, and go back to factory settings. So no warranty issue or price hazzle in sales situ's.
BSR may be "unoriginal" but is the smarter choice.
Another consideration for tuning is T5 and T7 Suite… some good work going on there at the open source tuning site.
The one thing I can say for sure is that I've never heard of a Saab owner who's had a tune done and is unhappy about it. As long as your car's running well in stock condition and you continue to look after it, a Stage I to III tune should put a smile on your face.
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There was a comment on one of the other (9-3 tuning) articles about me not including upgrading the brakes. This is a fair call.
However, from my experience with the Viggen (and driving Richo's tuned Viggen) it had plenty of braking power.
Likewaise, my Monte feels fine and I'm pretty confident that it will be able to stop OK when the exhaust and intake (i.e. stage III) are done.
Anything above that, and I'd definitely look towards a brake upgrade ($$$$$$)
For the NG900 and 9000 it seems the optimal choice (I mean a good balance between the power, milage and wear of the engine) is Maptun, for OG9-3 (1999-2003) Nordic could be the best, while for 9-3 SS and SC BSR is the one. (These are the most availabel tunings here).
Of course, all of theme offer upgrade for the whole range of models, however, this "rule" based on several practical experiences.
Each of the upgrades have some different advantages and disadvantages, they have different preferences and focus on certaing prarameters.
try to read between the lines, okay?