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hey steve,
I have a '98 900SET and it is basically the same car as yours. I have a collection of small mods that make the car more fun and more sporty, without making it a ride/drive like a go-cart. I have a whole other project car for that stuff! Anyway, if this is what you are aiming for, check this out.
I drive this car pretty easy during commute time, so it has to be fairly comfortable without being a Buick, if you know what I mean. On road trips it does see extended high-speed use and/or lots of cut-and-dice curves (this is where the not-like-a-Buick comes in).
For handling I just wanted to tighten things up a bit and increase the grip a bit. I think handling improvements are more important than power, so I'll list these first:
Abbott springs
Abbott PU bushing (trailing control arm to lateral control arm)
Abbott spherical bearing (trailing control arm to body)
SAS rear sway bar
9-5 Aero wheels w/ Sumitomo 215-45-17 HTRZII
coming soon - Abbott style steering rack brace from Group Buy
and when stock shocks die - Koni adjustable shocks
There is now less steering "lag" and the car goes where you point it instead of understeering all over the place. Much less body roll is evident – instead, I just slide across the seat now! Ha ha. There is minimal increase in NVH (noise vibration harshness) mainly noticeable over repetitive stutter bumps.
For power I added the following:
K&N drop-in filter
Viggen crossflow IC (your 9-3 may already have this)
Throttle body transition mod
Saab sport exhaust
Saab HOT ECU 205hp (mine was 185hp originally)
It has a nice kick around town and is very fast and smooth on the highway. Passing power is excellent in 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears. I don't see any need to get a bigger/better/faster ECU right now because 1) already have a project car and 2) It's a slippery slope to buying a new turbo/injectors/downpipe/custom IC, and 3) I'd prefer to not have sudden massive boost onset in my daily driver - smooth is ok. For what it's worth, I've driven the SQR "309hp" box in a 9000 Aero and it is very fun, although it does have "instant boost" that means "instant wheelspin" when you hit the throttle! That’s about it!
posted by 63.207.93...
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