Goldenidol and his 9-3SW

by

Greetings Robin:

I’ve attached photos of my 2009 Aero XWD V6 Sportcombi to perhaps give fellow members some ideas on things you can do to your Saab that make it even more fun to drive.  In my case, I have a Hirsch exhaust and interior, Vtuner Stage 0 remap, amber “angel eyes” around my oem foglights, carbon fiber braced Cibie Oscar+ amber driving lights with body color covers, Kamei winglets (from a VW Jetta kit), 9-5 hatch spoiler, and the rather obvious decals (which seem to evoke a great deal of curiosity from onlookers).  Inside, you can see that I machined a special 5 hole carbon fiber/aluminum instrument display which mounts to the center speaker cover via carbon fiber tubes.

I know this is all very over the top for our Saab culture, but it certainly generates a great deal of positive conversation with all kinds of people, so I feel like I am doing my part to keep the Saab spirit alive!

Regards, Al (aka Goldenidol)

Extra pics,,,,

Greetings Robin:

I’ve attached two photos of my one-off five gauge instrument pod in Raikage.  It is anchored to a highly reinforced center speaker grille (backed with JB Weld and brass plates) to counter-balance the weight of the gauges held forward by two .5″ diameter carbon fiber tubes from Dragonplate.  The .25″ thick aluminum plate sourced from Amazon was drilled for 5 VDO instrument pods with a drill press and shaped with a grinder and sander.  Black wrinkle finish with Dragonplate carbon fiber veneer for the front.  Braided nylon sleeves feed wires back under the speaker grill and terminate with a deutsch connector for easy maintenance and restoration back to OEM without any unsightly holes.  A sorbothane dot absorbs vibration on the left wing, but I may get rid of that to improve the symmetry and floating effect.  LED alerts are machined into the outer edges of the plate face for additional sensory electronics.  Installing the senders for oil psi and temp were big challenges on the V6 (no sandwich adapter possible!).  Am happy to discuss further in other topic fora.  Many thanks for the interest.

You can find larger versions on Flickr

19 thoughts on “Goldenidol and his 9-3SW”

  1. It all looks to me to be in great taste – very sporty looking and actually really rather attractive. Congratulations on a superb makeover and thanks for sharing!

  4. Love it Al!

    Blue and orange/amber accents a Winner. I’d love to see more pics of your car (‘d like to see a side shot for instance, rear qtr) inside too (you mention some interior mods–carbon fabrications…).

    Also: You’ve put mud flaps on…was that a chore? [I have a set of rather expensive Rally Armor ones w bunny dust and really should plunge].

    • Hi North Toronto Punter: In fact, the mud flaps are Rally Armor. It took me awhile to install (all wheels off and on jack stands) so that they are level to the ground and all at the right clearance height. As you know, they are really meant for Subarus, so there are no natural holes to take advantage of for symmetry. I sent interior photos to Robin, dunno if he would be willing to post those as well.

      Am about to take the plunge to Vtuner Stage 1. If I recall correctly, you are one of the few running Stage 1. Any regrets to share? Thanks, Al

      • Thanks for those flap tips, Al. I did have Stage 1, briefly: We found the injectors were running near 100 % so went to Stage 2 shortly there after (with larger injectors…now running in the 70s; my fuel pump — touch wood– is fine). Ergo, I would go straight to Stage 2 VTune (Stage 1 with larger injectors + tune) for the few hundred extra bucks. MPG is no worse than it was stock and +/- 400 HP/lbs. XWD is well suited to! Recently I’ve added water/meth injection for increased reliability (‘steam cleaning’ + lower EGTs with more boost, octane flexibility).
        BTW: My Car (with 80,000 KM) is running perfectly. And a Rocket Ship :). You’ll Love it!

        • Hmmm. Glad I asked about the Vtuner upgrades. I feel like Stage 2 is “all in” but what you said makes absolute sense in terms of regaining “headroom” for the engine. Of course, the fuel pump is a concern — have had mine replaced twice, but not for a year now (touch wood also!). Does Stage 2 require a 3″ downpipe mod?

          • I do have 3 inch DP (not sure it’s ‘obligatory’ — but more ‘breathing’ :)). Genuine Saab [GS] in my case. Again, one of those things that you don’t want to re-visit (and while Turbo is out…might as well go Whole Hog). And then there’s intercooler …Where to stop, eh! Water meth [Snow Performance for me] gives more bang for buck in that respect…intercooler requires that car be moving for effect…stop and go mitigates ..and on a hot day.

            [You’re welcome to contact me in private member message to talk more about setup]

  5. Hi, Goldenidol. Beautiful car. I have pretty much the same one, a 2011 9-3X SC, although I haven’t added any aftermarket equipment. What a wonderful car…..it just hangs on the road, wet or dry, like the troughorbred that it is. Love it. What does “RAIKAGE” mean?

    • Hi Hughw: Keeping in mind that this is all for fun, “RAIKAGE” if it was done in Japanese characters, means “Lightning Shadow.” Kinda like the cousin of “Viggen.” 🙂

  6. Goldenidol, I’m glad to see the additional pictures showing the gauge cluster. Beautiful work – looks professionally done.

Comments are closed.

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close