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Re: Chip Tuning
Posted by aperkins (more from aperkins) on Fri, 8 Dec 2000 00:48:35
In Reply to: , Kok Chen, Sat, 17 Dec 1988 12:00:00 

De-Lurking here on chips and tuning..

I have long shunned any 'add-on' performance gear, until I stumbled into a 
series of co-incidences that led me to Nordic Tuning (Rolf Uhr) and Wigwam 
Saab in RI. Rolf, I am led to believe, was a one time Saab Engineer for 
their computer systems, and now has his own tuning company web 
site:  http://www.saabtuning.com They
offer stage 2 and 3 Computers and 

accessories to improve performance.

Cost - Still skeptical, I did finally order a Stage II kit for My '00 9-5 
Aero. This involved a modified computer, Ferrita Stainless exhaust, and a 
rising pressure fuel regulator (I did the K&N Filter as well.) Wigmwam Saab 
in RI  http://www.wigwamsaab.com  did
the ordering, install, etc.. the 

total bill was $ 2,370 or so completely installed. The gain per Nordic 
pushes the car to +/- 280 HP and +/- 300 lbs/ft Torque. (for another $800 
or so you can do the downpipe and Catalyst for an additional 20 HP - Stage 
III) Installation took 2 hours, and from the moment I drove out of the 
dealership, I had a huge grin on my face...

Performance - The performance increase has been amazing, unlike Abbott (I 
don't want to start a flame war on this, this info is what I have gathered 
from talking to people and net-based research.) Nordic does not blow out 
the torque limitations in 1st and 2nd gear, so your transmission will thank 
you.. but they do increase fuel and boost in all gears, and the power 
addition is really quite something in 3rd and 4th. As a side note, I can 
break the front wheels free at will by accelerating hard in second gear in 
a  straight line on dry pavement! So there are some changes to the ECU for 2nd.

Economy - Surprisingly, it has not taken a hit.. 2 or 3 tanks after making 
the modifications my fuel economy was right back at 25 mpg (mixed driving- 
mainly rural) and highway mileage at 28, 1 mpg less than before.

Heat - No change in the needle position on the temp guage, no noticeable 
change in underhood temps.

Noise - The 4' tailpipe does make you look a bit like an inner-city Honda 
tuner, but it sounds nice at idle, and there is no appreciable difference 
in road noise inside the car.

Warranty - Wigwam is warranting their installation, and while ANYTHING you 
do to your Saab voids the factory warranty, they are confident that these 
mods are within tolerances for the engine and transmission.. of course it 
all comes down to how you drive, you can kill a stock car by being stupid too!

Overall - Best thing I've done to a car, ever! 5,000 miles in temps varied 
from 80 to -5 snow, rain, etc.. the car idles normally, drives amazingly, 
and performs, well.. you need to drive it yourself to believe it!

Back to the point of this post... The two outfits that I have found that 
provide tuner parts for 9-3's and 9-5's (Abbott and Nordic) are listed 
above. Both have excellent reputations, though the combination of Nordic 
and Wigwam certainly made it a no-brainer to get the mods done without 
crawling under the car, and spending your life at the local muffler shop 
while they figured out how to put the exhaust together. And for 6% of the 
cars cost, a 20% power gain is a pretty darn good deal. Check in with me in 
a couple months and I'll see what the reliability is.

Ap.
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