UKSaabs

Sorry if this is in the wrong place. I’m considering buying this and wondering if anyone knows the background and the mods that have been used. Plan to speak to the seller but thought somebody might know more about it. Obviously it’s quite expensive so want to get it right. Thanks.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255375856421

Not sure what is being sold. Hirsch were the official "in-house" tuning company for Saab. The car started as a 2.0t and had 150hp. The Hirsch upgrade for that engine was 210hp. It was a conservative upgrade because it could be sold as a new car, and had to comply with emissions and still carry the three year warranty. It was an ECU upgrade only with no other hardware. So if it has 350hp, there will be nothing Hirsch left in the engine. The only Hirsch stuff could be suspension/ wheels/brakes and trim. The suspension is Bilstein. The only Hirsch stuff seems to be cosmetic.

The engine internals are a bit sketchy so should be investigated further.

The 314mm brakes are larger than the standard 2.0t brakes, even larger than the 9-5 standard Aero brakes. However, I have a 9-5 Aero, upgraded by Hirsch to 300hp, and that has 345mm brakes and 18 inch wheels. With 350hp I would expect the brakes to be bigger.

But it looks clean

But no MOT - expired March. I would want an independent MOT and not one arranged by a dealer that is selling a car.

That looks an awful lot like Ade Wilkins' car and certainly sounds like an upgrade set he would have done.

The reg seems familiar but he ran his car with MW54ABS as the private plate.

If it was his one then it is a beauty and worth buying. I went with him to buy the base car, which was in brilliant condition, and then saw it and rode in it after the Abbott and Noobtune work was done and it was excellent then.

If it is the car that I think it is then it's one not to be missed. Not sure how Hagstrom would have ended up with it though.

The Saabs United Facebook group will probably know if it was Ade's.

I have looked closer and it is definitely Ade's old car. The sticker on the phone mount gives it away.

Therefore, I can tell you that this car had no expense spared at Abbott to refresh the suspension and undercarriage in general upon purchase a few years ago. This also included custom bodywork to give the Aero look as there were no white Aero bumpers etc out there.

Ade also did the necessary mods to allow the Engine to achieve high bhp and Karl from Noobtune then provided the remap. Riding in it I can say that it was smooth and progressive while being hugely fast. At the time I had Ade's Stage 5 Og9-3 convertible and this 9-5 was an evolution using all the lessons learned on that car.

The only thing I ever remember happening that was not ideal was that the Abbott rear anti roll bar snapped and took out a tyre with it one day.

This is a special and unique car that deserves your attention. However, Hagstrom Saab can be a bit expensive so bear that in mind. Also, it's special but possibly not worth £10k. The difficulty is that there is nothing to compare it to.

Thank you for the advice, I was hoping somebody on here would recognise it. Reassuring that it is indeed a well sorted car, although I agree the price is a little rich, would cost me considerably more to build it myself though so helpfully man maths is kicking in. Will get in touch. Thanks again.

Don't see many white ones. Shame it's an auto.
Looks like a very nice car but a lot of money.

I’m sure there was logic to it, I think manual gearboxes struggle at that power level.

Wormus wrote:I’m sure there was logic to it, I think manual gearboxes struggle at that power level.

They do.

Also, the car was the right mileage and condition.