info saab 95 hot aero 250bhp

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horgantrevor

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hi i collected a saab 95 hot aero yesterday 2.3 250bhp

any thing to look out for besides the most common faults

i have to say what a quick car 250 bhp all through the front wheels it spun the wheels in third gear at fifty miles an hour yesterday on the way home in the wet

i felt so uneasy in it im so used to a rear wheel drive car i have cars faster but asking the front wheels to steer and drive at both times i found i was driving uneasy

would be a great car if four wheel drive

comfort and power then


any tips on her would be great thx
 
I had a 95 Estate and loved it, except for the econony from the petrol auto.

I had problems with front suspension - drop links and ball joints, which were prone to knocking over bumps.

Otherwise - a great car - 250bhp should be a hoot - and the world's best cup holder :thumb:.
 
yes the best cup holder every

thank you for the advice no noise thank god

yes 250 bhp front wheels is mad very good on petrol i feel which is weard

its a 2001 car saloon all the toys

but still mad in a straight line and its a manual drop to second gear and your off like a jet ( had to put that in some were ) i would say better pick up then the c36 i have to say

now it has up-rated inter-cooler and hoses and a few more mods

de-baged just the aero wheels sprayed black nothing else


any way back to my baby's

thanks again
 
hi i collected a saab 95 hot aero yesterday 2.3 250bhp

any thing to look out for besides the most common faults

i have to say what a quick car 250 bhp all through the front wheels it spun the wheels in third gear at fifty miles an hour yesterday on the way home in the wet

i felt so uneasy in it im so used to a rear wheel drive car i have cars faster but asking the front wheels to steer and drive at both times i found i was driving uneasy

would be a great car if four wheel drive

comfort and power then


any tips on her would be great thx

Common failures are crankshaft position sensors, usually shows as hot starting issues, the direct ignition cassettes can fail with little or no warning. Saab did a recall on early ones so you may have an upgraded one but a lot of Saab 9-5 drivers keep a spare in the boot. If you do keep a spare unit only 4 torx bolts and a connector to change) try to store it upright or if not then leave it fitted for at least 10 minutes before starting otherwise the oil in the coil packs may not have run down and they can overheat .

It is essential to use synthetic oil, all AERO;s should have had this as part of the Saab service schedule but if not folowed the oil can degrade in the sump due to the heat from the exhaust and from the larger turbo leading to carbonised particles building up and blocking the oil strainer and eventually wrecking the engine.Saab at one point were replacing engines under warranty up to 8 years old but this has now stopped. It is advisable to get the sump dropped and cleaned for peace of mind. About £200 from a good iSaab specialist. If you do it yourself get the correct red loctite anaerobic selant for the sump pan faces.

Also check the crankcase ventilation hoses and valves, there are modified PCV kits from about 2003/04, if yours has not been changed (new ones have white lettering)then these can soften, collape, valves jam or the hoses break up and also cause problems in the sump and with general running.

4 wheel geometry checks are wise as otherwise it can eat tyres all around, the rear camber is changed by using shims. Find a good Saab forum such as Saab Tech Talk - Index and a local specialist and enjoy:)
 
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thank you yes she is getting a oil flush and filter change and breather checked

running very well for its age and im quiet impressed i must say

ow30 full syn im putting in

i have been told to run her on diesel car oil for a few miles as tis has more cleaning additives and then flush her and new fluids

im doing my usual
oil
oil filter
plugs
new water and antifreeze
air filter
brake fluid
clutch fluid
pads all round
new front discs


and fitting a turbo timer to let the turbo run down slowly
 
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I think a sump drop and clean is considered pretty essential at this age. Flushing will not clean out a partly blocked oil pick up. The first sign is a whining on a cold start up as the oil pump strains to pick up oil.

Depending on mileage most I know would possibly move to a 5W-30 or even a 5W-40 synthetic as it can make the engines much quieter. If you look on the Saab forum I mentioned and ask these questions you will get a lot more info. Good luck.
 
I had a LPT 2.3 auto. Lovely seats, liked night vision button. :D. Went through 2 ECUs. Agree about cup holder :D and windscreen ticket holder. Understeered like a dog and that's with 185bhp yours must be " interesting". But if I was going to do a 500 mile motorway journey it and the Volvo S60 I had were the most comfortable cars I've had. Why are the swedes so far ahead of the game on seat design?
 
yes i know its a motor-way muncher all right


yes 250bhp is a bit unnerving in the wet but as i usually drive a rear wheel drive car every time i corner kind of fast i feel in the back of my head that its going to drive straight off the road its like an murder waiting to pounce


but fun yes the night vision button is nice and some other touches are good also

and on advice i am going to drop the sump and clean the pick up just for peace of mind
 
They do handle quite well, it is just "different" to rear wheel drive and there ara a lot of suspension kits that can improve handling at reasonable cost. A lot of people with these find that tyres of 94 load index or greater can help with tyre wear.
 
I think they were 230BHP up to September 2001 and 250BHP onwards.

My last car was a 9-5 Aero HOT Auto on a 2004/04.

As an all round car, it was very good. Did well in the snow, was very comfortable and with a good set of Contis on the front, it was able to get the power down on dry roads really well considering - although you could tell 250BHP is pretty much the limit. I found the handling to be excellent and being front wheel drive, very easy to chuck around.

They are geared up for mid-range, safe for overtaking, so you will find 0-60 is not great (still good) but 30 to 70 is very impressive.

I found I only had to lightly touch the throttle on an incline and it would happily power up without changing down gear with a noticeable pull in your neck.

Unfortunately, the DI cassette went (£250 > £300 IIRC) but is an easy swap out. I had an error light with no noticable impact, so required diagnostics to work it out but had I left it, eventually it would have killed the engine I understand.

I noticed no difference with 95RON and 99RON, in economy or performance. It only felt a little smoother with 99RON but that could be psychological. Also, I would calculate your real life MPG once or twice to see how far out your computer is. Mine was wildly out.

I did notice a massive improvement when you have a cool dry morning when the air is quite dense. Much more responsive and much more so than on a normally aspirated engine.

The rear exhaust box tends to rot, but because it is triple skinned, it lasts a while. On every MOT for 3 years, it was noted but still wasn't blowing. I think I sold it with the rust working through the final skin.

Get an aftermarket one though rather than OEM and you'll save a few quid.

The only thing I found with mine was I needed a service and MOT at the same time, no problem, but in each of the 3 annual services, there was always around £200 > £300 extra needed for bits relating to the suspension which was a bit annoying (something I've not had on any of my other 14 cars). Meant a £350 annual service was £600 - and that was at trusted independent labour rates. If you can do it yourself - you will be laughing.

www.saabscene.com was a good resource for me.

The cup holder is indeed the best ever.
 
I think they were 230BHP up to September 2001 and 250BHP onwards.

My last car was a 9-5 Aero HOT Auto on a 2004/04.


I noticed no difference with 95RON and 99RON, in economy or performance. It only felt a little smoother with 99RON but that could be psychological. Also, I would calculate your real life MPG once or twice to see how far out your computer is. Mine was wildly out.

Strange as my late 04 Aero Hot produced more boost when switching to 99. The boost gauge showed it and you could certainly feel the difference. Mine was manual, maybe there was a different ecu setup on the auto's :dk:
 
Hmm, my boost gauge behaved exactly the same on full tilt with them both fuels - and I filled up more than once in succession with VPower with the tank on fumes to be sure.
 
i have always had saabs , this clk i have is my first merc and i miss the saab seats ;) now i wonder if a can retro fit a set into the clk .......
 
One of my neighbours has these hot saabs , changes them pretty much every year , always black , with black interiors ...

They always go to a company called Abbott Racing , who tune it up to 300 + bhp.

Madness.
 
tbh the 9-5 engines are not as tunable as the old 9000 saabs 300bhp is the limit with the 9-5 engine but the old 9000 power plant could take 500bhp with no internal upgrades ! only injectors , bigger turbo , and a ecu remap the 9000 is the best car ever to tune my old one had 350 bhp on front wheels , needed to fit LSD to try and stop launching off the road , i know of a few with 500 bhp, but they eat gearboxes every few weeks , as the front wheel drive gearboxes cant handle the torque
 
tbh the 9-5 engines are not as tunable as the old 9000 saabs 300bhp is the limit with the 9-5 engine but the old 9000 power plant could take 500bhp with no internal upgrades ! only injectors , bigger turbo , and a ecu remap the 9000 is the best car ever to tune my old one had 350 bhp on front wheels , needed to fit LSD to try and stop launching off the road , i know of a few with 500 bhp, but they eat gearboxes every few weeks , as the front wheel drive gearboxes cant handle the torque

That's because the newer SAAB engines were GM/Vauxhall/fiat.. not SAAB's own..
 
Just looked at my neighbours , it's got big AP Racing calipers on it too !! :cool:
 

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