My Saab 900 IC setup

RaZor · Post by **RaZor** » Fri Jul 11, 2003 3:41 am

It's not the best looking job, but it's works just fine!!

HiRes : http://images3.fotki.com/v31/free/62adb ... 004-or.jpg

HiRes : http://images3.fotki.com/v30/free/62adb ... 006-or.jpg

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Fri Jul 11, 2003 3:48 am

Right on!How do you like it?Did you notice power gains right away?Was it very hard to do?

RaZor · Post by **RaZor** » Fri Jul 11, 2003 7:13 am

The hardest was to find the right stuff for the piping...I kept the original platic hose that was on the turbo outlet and cut it to fit in the red piping...I had to take off the last row of fins on both ends to make it fit...It was pushing a bit to hard on the coolant tank...

The sound of the turbo and BOV is now a lot louder since the intercooler is right on the firewall!!!

The boost feels realy realy stronger...it pulls harder as well...there is a big improvment at higer rpm...it now pulls hard to the redline...I'm running 11 psi for now...I'll try morgie's check valve thing to bypass the fuel cut...I can't wait to try it at 14-15 psi!!!! I'm sure I'll kick stock WRX's asses at 15 psi!!!!

It costed me not more than 150$can to do that project...you should all do it!!!!

A WRX scoop will come soon to let more air get on the intercooler!!!

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Sat Jul 12, 2003 5:30 am

cool,if you are going to put on the wrx scoop it would be really great if you could take step by step photos and post them.I think quite a few would like to see it

IggDawg · Post by **IggDawg** » Fri Jul 18, 2003 6:20 am

I found the piping to be the biggest issue on my setup too. I ended up scavanging the turbo->IC pipes from a volvo. the BOV bung is in there too. on a '80s volvo 740 turbo (IIRC), there is a hose with almost the right bend in it, and a solid aluminum elbow with a bung, both in its turbo->IC puping. the rubber elbow can be bent a little bit to fit. I used hose clamps to brace it and help it keep the proper shape. I had to cut an inch or so off the aluminum elbow to get it to fit properly, but the curve was just right, as was the location of the bung for running the BOV. I got the IC->TB hose section off some saab 9000. but that piece was easy enough to fit. like most, I found that I had to cut a centimeter or so off the IC outlet to get it to fit right. but then everything was good.

as razor found, the boost hits a lot harder, especially in the top end. even on stock boost. honestly, it takes a moment longer for boost to hit (at least I found it did), but its worth it. my 0-60 was a little slower, but highway driving was a blast.

if the sounds of the turbo get too annoying, like having to yell "hey, isn't this fast!" to your passenger cause the turbo is too damn loud... try putting some foam of some sort like mounting tape between teh IC and the firewall. cuts the sound down a lot. I could still hear it over my straight pipe, but it was much quieter than before.

that;s all I got for now. check out my thread a ways down the list.

Redline Dreamz · Post by **Redline Dreamz** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 3:48 pm

RaZor wrote:I'll try morgie's check valve thing to bypass the fuel cut...I can't wait to try it at 14-15 psi!!!! I'm sure I'll kick stock WRX's asses at 15 psi!!!!...............
A WRX scoop will come soon to let more air get on the intercooler!!!

Well when you hit 15psi, it will pull pretty hard, BUT.... you wont be trashing any stock WRXs, not even with a TD05... sorry, i already tried

The WRX hood scoop is supposed to allow for much more air and i would recommend it. I think i may try to make make a custom fiberglass scoop that can house 2 or 3 guages in the back of it.

IggDawg · Post by **IggDawg** » Fri Aug 01, 2003 4:00 pm

Redline Dreamz wrote:
RaZor wrote:I'll try morgie's check valve thing to bypass the fuel cut...I can't wait to try it at 14-15 psi!!!! I'm sure I'll kick stock WRX's asses at 15 psi!!!!...............
A WRX scoop will come soon to let more air get on the intercooler!!!
Well when you hit 15psi, it will pull pretty hard, BUT.... you wont be trashing any stock WRXs, not even with a TD05... sorry, i already tried

Boostjunkie doesn't seem to have a problem ownx0ring WRXs..

bignose · Post by **bignose** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 2:46 am

Did you add a BOV as well ?

If so, what is it off ?

did you put in a boost guage ?

If stock 2.2ltrubo is about 161 hp, what would you estimate to get from just adding the sabb 900 IC, with 13psi ?

lots of questions.. sorry.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 2:53 am

From the second picture it looks like he has the stock blowoff valve plumbed in.

bignose · Post by **bignose** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 3:56 am

it was my understanding, that our cars only came with a wastegate, and not an actually blow off valve.

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:23 am

Actually we have a diverter valve (dv) ,sometimes called a recirculation valve, not a blow off valve(bov). A bov vents pressure to the atmosphere,while a dv recirculates the air back in front of the turbo compressor which is what we have. Hope this helps.

RaZor · Post by **RaZor** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 5:56 am

It's actually a BOV. There are two types of BOV. Atmos, wich vent in the air and recirculation type wich get the air back into the intake. The first one sounds loud, like the aftermarket ones, and the second type sounds quiet, like on most stock cars.

On my setup, I kept the stock one. But it now sounds a lot louder due to the intercooler system being a lot louder itself. Don't ask me why!!! It sounds between a atmo and a normal one!!!!

At 12-13 psi with intercoller and full exhaust, I'd say arround 190. But I could be wrong...It's what it feels like...I have the stock scoop, so the intercooler is not working at its best. When it rains, it feels more likre 220hp!!!! For real...I can't wait to put the WRX scoop on and feel the intercooler at its best all the time!!!

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:15 pm

Well my understanding is that there are different types of air bypass valves, or compressor bypass valves(abv,cbv).Bov, which only vents to atmosphere and dv which recirculates and "hybrids" valves which are a mix of the two.Hybrids recirculate under light loads and vent some to atmosphere under heavy load. It is also my understanding that cars with MAF require a dv setup for correct fueling. A lot of times all 3 of these air bypass valves are called blow off valves but they aren't. Check out the article in june 2003 Sport Compact Car,compressor bypass blow-out. It has a lot of good info on this exact discussion. It's really no big deal, just backing up my side.

bignose · Post by **bignose** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 4:19 pm

so by full exhaust, you mean 3 inch all the way back ?

i was kinda hoping it would be a larger gain than that..

my target is around 250hp, i guess it's further away that i expected.

RaZor wrote:It's actually a BOV. There are two types of BOV. Atmos, wich vent in the air and recirculation type wich get the air back into the intake. The first one sounds loud, like the aftermarket ones, and the second type sounds quiet, like on most stock cars.

On my setup, I kept the stock one. But it now sounds a lot louder due to the intercooler system being a lot louder itself. Don't ask me why!!! It sounds between a atmo and a normal one!!!!

At 12-13 psi with intercoller and full exhaust, I'd say arround 190. But I could be wrong...It's what it feels like...I have the stock scoop, so the intercooler is not working at its best. When it rains, it feels more likre 220hp!!!! For real...I can't wait to put the WRX scoop on and feel the intercooler at its best all the time!!!

RaZor · Post by **RaZor** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 11:42 pm

bignose wrote:so by full exhaust, you mean 3 inch all the way back ?

i was kinda hoping it would be a larger gain than that..

my target is around 250hp, i guess it's further away that i expected.

I have a 2.5 inches from turbo to muffler. Bigger then that is just a waste of low end torque...Unless you're going for 300hp and more...

Like, I said, the 190 hp feel is with the stock scoop. I guess it could feel like 210-220 with a WRX scoop to make the intercooler work better. Your 250hp goal is not that far. Bigger gas pump and injectors, and something to ajust your mixture added to my setup and I'm pretty sure you'd be close to 250hp...

bignose · Post by **bignose** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 1:41 am

ok, that peaks another question i have, my car has 435000k's on it, how high can i go safly ? is 300hp too much ?

RaZor · Post by **RaZor** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 6:34 am

Your internal parts won't make it to that much hp's for sure!!!! Stock with an exhaust line and you'll be near to the top your engine can give you...

bignose · Post by **bignose** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:22 pm

so you're saying i should not even add an intercooler ?

also, what would be preferable, rebuilding the engine, or just buying one with about 100 or 150,000k's on it ?

Post by **Legacy777** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:40 pm

tell me why the internals wouldn't make it to 300 hp?

I would say that it very attainable on stock internals with proper setup and tuning.

I'd be more concerned about the trans.

legacy92ej22t · Post by **legacy92ej22t** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:56 pm

I have to agree with Josh. My understanding was that the ej22t stock internals were good to around 350hp with proper management.

bignose · Post by **bignose** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:57 pm

see, that's the thing, without even seeing the engine, it would be pretty hard to make a diagnosis as to whether or not it could handle any mods.

there is no knocking, or hesitation , it does not leak oil and generally sounds very good. i have not yet done any compression tests etc..

i think i'm just gonna try to stay between 250 and 300 in the long run.

if i wanna go above 300 it'll be with another car.

Brat4by4 · Post by **Brat4by4** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 3:54 pm

why another car? get 300 to the wheels (approx. 400 at crank) and then drive around and watch the cops look THROUGH your car to see what's next to you. gotta love sleepers.

an intercooler is as far as I know is always a good idea. your engine runs safer since it's farther from detonation and it just happens to add a bunch of horsepower

bignose · Post by **bignose** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 3:57 pm

true true.. well, i'll just have to see waht my budget permits..

thanks for the info guys.

RaZor · Post by **RaZor** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 10:26 pm

Legacy777 wrote:tell me why the internals wouldn't make it to 300 hp?

I would say that it very attainable on stock internals with proper setup and tuning.

I'd be more concerned about the trans.

I would not spend money on an enginew ith that much millage...that's what I meant!!!

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 10:50 pm

Whats wrong with an engine like that? Just get it rebuilt. Nothing wrong with it, especially if its still running good.

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My Saab 900 IC setup

My Saab 900 IC setup