0-60 and 1/4 mile times for SAAB
The Thunderbird Super Coupe Club of Iowa has done a great job of collecting 0-60 and 1/4 mile times for all sorts of automobiles.
They only list times for factory stock vehicles and they gather the times from the “automotive media” instead from random car owners’ personal tests. This is a great resource for bench racing (come on, we all do it).
Lifehacker.com featured a website that sells custom car mounts for all sorts of electronic gadgets on their “Stuff We Like” series.
The idea is that you purchase two parts and end up with a totally customized setup. The first part is a device specific clip that then attaches to the second part, a vehicle specific bracket. The website says it securely installs in seconds without taking the dash apart.
I check out the ProClip company website and they seem to have brackets for four different mounting locations on the SAAB 9-5. The “Angled Mount” bracket even has a notch in it to keep the cup holder on the 9-5 functional.
I have not used this product, but my plan is to get a GPS navigator for the car, and now I’m going to get the ProClip to mount it in my SAAB. I will post photos and my impressions once I get one and install it. This looks like such a smoother and more professional installation compared to the cheap plastic universal mounts that come with car electronics.
**UPDATE:
I purchased the ProClip for my TomTom GPS and wrote a post about it.
The darn power steering reservoir leaked all over my engine bay. The fluid was coming out of the nipple on the bottom of the tank. All I had to do was tighten the screw clamp on the hose, not a big deal, but it still grinds my gears that I have a mess under my hood and on the garage floor and that I was driving around with a nearly empty reservoir.
It obviously started out small and first made a mess, collected grime, then it went nuts and completely drained in my garage.
This trick comes from Chris 9-5, a moderator on the SaabCentral forums. It was in a thread from July of 2007. I found it while searching for Forge diverter valve information. The OP had posted about weak turbo pressure and Chris 9-5 suggested the following modification:
Remove the top vacuum tube from the boost control valve and then plug the loose tube.
Chris 9-5 explains that it bypasses a one way valve that can become faulty.
It worked wonders for the OP. Chris 9-5 recommended that only people with weak turbo symptoms should make this modification.
As far as I knew I didn’t have any problems, the car drove as spirited as the day I purchased it. I had all the power I needed, the car was quick… so I naturally decided it wouldn’t hurt anything to try this trick.
The results were dramatic! It is like driving a different car. My whole driving experience is totally enhanced. The most noticeable change is when the transmission kicks down at wide open throttle on the highway. I really feel the torque steer for the first time, just like the OP in the thread described.
Here is how I plugged the vacuum line; I found a bolt that was the right diameter and cut it down to about an inch long. I then painted the head to make it look nicer. It’s that easy.
Some people in the thread didn’t see a difference when they removed their line. Other people tried it and found the change remarkable. The people who have made this modification haven’t seen any problems and I will make a post if I see any negative results on my 9-5. I’d say people should give this a try and see if they get back some turbo pressure. Just revert it back if there wasn’t a positive change in performance.
This was going to be the weekend where I rebuilt my turbo. I got halfway into removing the turbo and I ran into a banjo bolt that wouldn’t budge. Liquid wrench didn’t help and my 12 point socket was starting to damage the bolt so I’ve put everything back together and will pick up some six point sockets for my 1/2inch wrench so I can give it another try.
The good news is that I think I can get to my stopping point again in half the time it took me last night… now that I know what I’m doing. What surprised me was the exhaust nuts came off with no problem.
I also need to get a set of low profile ramps to raise the car instead of my stands. That should give me some more operating room under the car.