A little drive in a Tuned Saab....

Whilst touring around in Sweden last month I called in on the guys at Maptun, who are sponsors of this site.

Whilst I was there, they thought I'd enjoy a taste of one of their more extreme tuning jobs. So they got a customer to bring in his tuned Saab 9-3 Aero Coupe, which is running on ethanol and producing around 480+ horsepower!!!

The car has a 2.3 engine in it rather than the standard 2-litre that was normally found in the Aeros and it's been worked over pretty heavily in the power department, though the suspension is yet to be fully sorted.

Yes, we did break the speed limit a little, but only in the name of research and only when safe to do so.

FYI, here's a sample of some of the speed intervals this car has achieved:

80-120 = 2.41 seconds
100-150 = 3.07 seconds
110-160 = 3.31 seconds
100-180 = 6.60 seconds
100-200 = 8.64 seconds

It certainly was fun. Tuned Saabs can be so incredibly addictive. Just use them wisely, OK?

13 Comments

Mike900 | October 13, 2009 1:08 AM | Reply

I need more power :-)

MitchbSC | October 13, 2009 1:09 AM | Reply

When the screen went blank while accelerating at 1:25, were you going faster than the speed of light? :)

Fun stuff. Yes, the braking seemed as fun as the acceleration!

Martin | October 13, 2009 1:16 AM | Reply

OMG (or "Oh my God")...
630 Newton meters???
This is f***ing TWICE as much as my car has...
Incredible.

KeepAustinWeird | October 13, 2009 1:17 AM | Reply

@Swade - any more photos of this ultimate sleeper?

Mikkel Nyhold Bruncke | October 13, 2009 2:22 AM | Reply

It could be this one: http://www.maptun.se/customers.php?car=3&cid=527

Dan | October 13, 2009 4:31 AM | Reply

Torque steer!

Let's hope Koeningsegg has the guts to make finally make a RWD Saab!

zippy | October 13, 2009 6:32 AM | Reply

Dan, you could well be horsewhipped for speaking such 'foul language' around here. ;)

That in-gear acceleration makes my 2.0T look like a horse and buggy. WOW!!

Jan | October 13, 2009 7:37 AM | Reply

really like it, have to agree that tuned Saabs can be so incredibly addictive.

PT | October 13, 2009 9:58 AM | Reply

I may

I may be oldschool but I love that shape. The best Saab profile ever in my view. Love the sound of that engine too BTW. What gearbox/diff are they using? Dare I suggest stock?

Swade | October 13, 2009 10:03 AM | Reply

Stock at the moment but with plans to move to a strengthened six speed.

Amazingly, he's also using the stock steering rack clamp and brace. You should have seen the fight between him and the steering wheel under boost.

It was an amazing ride. At low speeds, the car is as docile as a puppy but when you sink the slipper, it absolutely roared.

Tony | October 13, 2009 2:26 PM | Reply

Hey Swade, Anders is using the standard steering rack clamp and brace, no LSD, and standard gearbox. He is also using the standard airbox with a sports airfilter and slightly modified airbox (some extra air holes). MapTun recently tuned a 2004 9-3 Aero (2.0l)to 500hp with standard airbox with some slight modifications (refer above). Seems as though Saab have invested a little time amd money in developing a reasonably effective airbox as standard. Cheers

PT | October 13, 2009 3:26 PM | Reply

Just watched it again. Considering all the crap that the OG93 chassis copped from the motoring world, it would seem to have a bit up its sleeve if you've got the time & money. I would not have thought that the car could handle that output so easily. Quite inspiring actually.

Couple of questions:

what sort of outputs have they got from the usual 2.0 in the Aero?
What mods were made to the 2.3?

till72 | October 13, 2009 3:31 PM | Reply

Great film... Torque junkie as I am, I'd like to take a ride, too.

And great to see they took care about the brakes, too. I once met a guy with a Porsche Turbo who had the problem that several times other cars ran into him because they tried to keep up and when it came to breaking they didn't make it. That Saab might have the same problem...