63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

question for you all- i have a 09 tc fully bolted running a k04+ with powell/koni suspension. My plan was to over the winter, purchase an upgraded trans to replace my 3.82 due to the car seeing a few days of drag racing throughout the year at the track. I drive my high milage awd pickup all winter and to tow our boat, and had planned to trade it in the spring for a newer used model, as i am concerned it wont make it through many more winters being trouble free. I am entertaining the thought of instead parting out the car in the winter ( have all stock parts) and buying a 9-3 awd to drive year round, and keep the truck just to haul the boat and stuff. So what do you think? Invest more in the cobalt and get a newer truck, or buy a saab in the spring and trade/sell the cobalt in, while keeping my old truck. I am older than most of you and we purchased an 04 9-3 for my son, and i was very impressed with it. I would of course put a downpipe on it, and tune it to 260 hp. My cobalt has just 35,000 on it now. What do you think?

andrewcarr1993

iTrader: (5)

Your call, do you like having a fast FWD car?

63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

I love my cobalt, but there are limitations, like anything else, especially trying to get the power to the ground.

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

Build cobalt

Spawne32

iTrader: (1)

saab 9-3 turbox is 10x more the car the cobalt will ever be, trust me lol

63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

I really do love my car, and don't want to go farther with it with the 3.82 trans. If I knew for sure the cracked block issue would never show up I would for sure hold onto it. Just hate to throw $3,500 in on a tranny and clutch only to have the block rear it's ugly head. That money would put me into a more reliable, slower, well made car. Hate that the porus block thing hangs over my head.

Wert842

iTrader: (3)

Its hit or miss. If it happens it'll happen.

Spawne32

iTrader: (1)

saab 9-3 turbox is not slower, especially not the 2.8T v6's lol have you ever driven one? If you can find a hirsch edition you will never look back.

BlackielawlessSS

iTrader: (1)

I am starting to debate getting a SAAB myself.

63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

I reached out to the Saab forum and their mod didn't make me feel very good. Said that they are having intake valve problems on the motor? And more importantly for me the x wheel drive is not reliable. Parts are hard to come by, expensive, and few people know how to work on them. That's depressing.

Spawne32

iTrader: (1)

saab's all wheel drive system is designed by haldex, one of the best swedish manufacturers of commercial vehicle dynamics systems, and ive heard nothing but fantastic things about saab's all wheel drive system. Don't know why they would have told you that, but id take what forums say with a grain of salt to be honest. People's opinions about how things work tend to skew facts immensely. Some parts are hard to come by since saab was put out of business by GM, but saab was bought out by a european electric car company several years ago. Unfortunately they are not yet selling the states though. Most part's in general can be had on rockauto but some of the more advanced electronic systems, especially that of the keyless entry system can be pretty expensive. Going through this with my buddys 9-3 right now, the security system is impeccable but lose your key and your spending 500 bucks on laser cut keys and key fob's and you have to send the steering module out to a company in texas to have them programmed, they cant do it on site at a dealer.

OrangeK

When I had my Saab when one thing went wrong there would be multiple things after that. In the beginning of the Summer the ECU went on it.. It took my 3 weeks to find the correct part number. The only dealer that fixed Saabs and had the software to reprogram it was 40 minutes away from me. After that was fixed the alternator went. After that a radiator hose blew. The total cost of that was about $750 for me so right after those were fixed and the dealer gave a courtesy check it was sold.

If you're really considering it I would find multiple places that are willing to work on them by you. Although, I may be a little biased, besides all that it wasn't a bad car. I had a 2003 9-3 by the way.

Spawne32

iTrader: (1)

I see that as being no different from a cobalt lol i have almost 2 grand in repairs to my SS since I bought it last summer.

OrangeK

Ohh, well I cant comment on them. Ive only had mine for about a month. I thought parts would be cheaper and more people would work on them though

Haven07

They give you any insight on the tuning? Kinda tempted to look into them.

Spawne32

iTrader: (1)

canned tunes, no actual tuning program that i know of for trionic 7 and 8. They work well but there are only 2 or 3 companies that actually do them.

63 Nova SS

iTrader: (3)

Haven- bcb seems to be the best least expensive. I think you can get a stage 2 at 260hp, 280tq, or stage 3 at 280 hp 295 tq. Not many people make parts for them though so you would have to settle for a lot less power than the cobalt. A couple company's make down pipes/exhausts. Several make good suspensions including koni. Their turbo is small, but fully spools at like 2,000 rpms. I'm sure it doesn't flow a ton, but the tq/power band is quite large with a low spool. Turbo is the limiting factor as are spare parts. People do swap off the self turbos on them though. I look at it as 0-45 minimal/no wheel spin with awd, after that a cobalt would freight train it. It would be hard for me to part with my black car in the end so I don't know if I will do it. May test drive one just for the hell of it. Stock tune is super laggy on my son's 04 9-3, and I won't tell him about the tunes, he doesn't need that.

Haven07

Bah no fun

Spawne32

iTrader: (1)

Alot of guys are doing the TD04 wheel upgrades using the volvo kits. Currently in the process of doing a 16T wheel upgrade on my buddys LK9 saab. I know that they make them up to 19T. I've seen the LK9's go as high as 500hp with a stage 4 kit that is under development right now. Tuning seems to be the limiting factor but...trionic 7 and 8 are a much more advanced ECU then anything that GM put in their car's. They utilize feedback from a wide range of sensors OEM from wideband to EGT. It's a different class of car, and the people who own them are a different class of car enthusiasts. High end car guys dont really bother with the nitty gritty stuff like what we are used to, they pay thousands for parts and pay thousands for reputable shops to install said parts.