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Classic 900's *can* handle as well as *any* FWD car in a true hot hatch kind of way (easy to drive at say 90% of its ultimate potential; agile; rear end helps the car turn with a little lifting of the throttle :o) ) with relatively inexpensive changes, but you need to be thorough and go against conventions in some respects.
* Springs & shocks - these are your biggest investment, bar the tyres. I'm running a set of Merwede motorsport springs with Koni's; the Intrax/Koni combo is well proven, though.
* Sway bars: With well-controlled suspension movement, you don't need a torsion bar at the front end. Note that a torsion bar will always transfer load to the outer wheel when turning, decreasing the amount of available lateral grip & traction. What you patently *don't* want, then, is a bigger sway bar at the driven wheels. With a stock T16S/SPG sway bar at the rear (I understand most later cars, be they turbo or non-turbo, got the sway bars in the US) you get a nice, neutral, 'interactive' balance. All of a sudden your Saab will dive keenly for the apex instead of ploughing like a Deere. Especially after having sorted:
* Alignment. The front can be set up far more aggressively than standard, without the 'sting in the tail'. Depending on tyres you're looking at about 1.5 deg negative camber (stock 0 +/- 0.5 I believe), 2.25-2.75 deg positive castor (stock 2.0 w/ power steering) and the smallest amount of toe-in you can dial in, without it being zero.
* Battery relocation: you will need this at some point anyways to get rid of that awful cast 90 degree exhaust bend at the turbo. Relocating your battery to the underfloor trunk area (best is to use a sealed gel-type battery that can be turned on its side and doesn't need a ventilated 'box') alone will give a noticeable change in front/rear weight distribution. For the better, of course. :)
* The details: stiffening up the body with simple things like the bolt-in reinforcement plates between rad support and inner fenders from the 900 Converible, and a rear brace between the wheelwells are always wirthwhile. Having no sunroof helps, too, both for stiffness and center of gravity. :o)
I'm using poly shock bushings, but OE rubber bushings anywhere else. Here, it's important to strike a balance. No need to stiffen things up any further when the overall compliance of your suspension is already 'at the edge' for the kind of roads you're driving on.
posted by 82.169.6...
, Fri, 13 May 2005 21:27:32
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