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Shop Time

Shop time is all I really have to look forward to during the winter. I dont get to drive my 9000 much because of the weather so I get in my saab time working on my 9000. I havent done much work this year and I realized this last night when I began my "list of things I have been too lazy to do". When the list got to be three pages long I stopped writing and got back to work! ;) I recently drove my 9000 daily for about four months straight. He is running great and doesnt really need much anymore. I of course still have huge plans for him! Im working on the small stuff right now but the last major project I have left is putting in a roll cage. My kick-ass brother actually bought all of the steel tubing we need for our cars a couple of months back. Now its up to me to buy the welder and we are well on our way to having a pair of super-cool racing machines!

Since I stopped blogging my car has recieved a new gearbox. (same as the last... shot piened... cryo treated... quaife... and a few other updates courtesy of SCANWEST in seattle WA) It has also been enjoying new Champion brand spark plugs, new abbott racing door sills, and some new upholstry. (photos soon) I have also ditched the Status Racing seats for now until I can buy a new set that are FIA approved!

This week there are a few smaller projects on the bench. My boyfriend and I are working on a custom radiator support for my car. Its almost finished and then it needs some hand sanding and paint. I say "we" meaning mostly him doing the work, and me telling him what to do. What a great guy!

This past weekend we actually bought him his first Saab. Its a black 85 Turbo SPG. (maybe? how can you really tell nowadays if a 85 SPG was really a factory SPG? Does anyone know if its in the VIN or???) Anyways something is wrong with the motor so we got a killer deal on the car. We are thinking, and hoping, that its just a blown head gasket. We all know I have a lot of experience with those. ;) Now all we are waiting for is some more SHOP TIME.

More updates coming... when I get a chance. ;) Thanks for reading my saab blog!

-Kaylan Marie

500HP or parts on the floor! No parts on the floor here!

Finally my Aero topped 500WHP. 510WHP to be exact. The last dyno tuning we put out 476WHP with 32PSI from my GT35R turbocharger! THIS TIME we went 510WHP on only 18psi from the same turbo! The improvement in this 9000 in amazing. Next time we are going to run him hard and shoot for over 600WHP! Wish me luck? Im going to start buying headgaskets in a ten pack.

"Like a dimmer switch" - Saab Turbo-X Driving Academy

You have to be smooth on the power! :)

Day 1:

Day 2:

I am really no good at interviews, but I sure do love driving!

An update for those still reading. ;)

I have received a few emails regarding my absence, thank you very much to everyone that emailed!

Recently I lost my job, and once again I have managed to break my AERO. :) I am actively seeking a new job in a better working environment. My break in blogging/ work/ automotive related events has been nice and given me a chance to relax. After blowing my last head gasket only a few weeks ago many other things have gone wrong. I blew up a heater core and replaced (I got covered in coolant when it blew while putting the full 500HP down to the ground... it is a really great story), and most recently I thought I had clutch failure but it was really my gearbox failing in a miserable way for such a nice gearbox to die. :( A small plastic $8.00 oiler inside the cover failed. When it fails 4th gear gets starved of oil. 4th gear has bearings on it that go on the main rod in the gearbox that has 1st and 2nd on it. The bearings failed and cut into the rod. All in all it was a good failure. After opening up the box we were pleased to see no wear on any normal parts inside the box. It has 30,000 miles on it now inside my car with me driving. :) I'm confident I could drive on it a little more aggressively now! The new parts will be here soon but it will take about three weeks to send them out for cryo treating and to be shot piened. Don't forget this was no ordinary gearbox!

Please keep checking back to my site and I promise very soon I will be actively posting Saab news and continuous updates on my Saab for you to read!

<3 Kaylan

GM to build new Saab 9-3 in Germany 2012 on

This was originally posted on Marketwatch.com. I hope to see more information on this soon. "Built in Trollhattan by Trolls" - Would you buy a Saab built in Germany? I am a Saab purist but I do have an open mind to realize that sometimes things have to be done to keep the brand alive. Hats off to GM for sticking with Saab and not giving up.

European unit will produce the new generation of its Saab 9-3 model at its German plant in Ruesselsheim from 2012 on, biweekly Automobilwoche said in an advanced report to be published Monday, citing GM Europe's top labor representative Klaus Franz. Additionally, 500 new jobs will be created at the Ruesselsheim plant this year, according to the report. p>

2dr 9000 race car finally back on the road!

After a long hard couple of months with my 9000 its finally back on the road.

Wait, let me start again....

After a VERY long, and VERY hard couple of months with my 9000 it's finally back on the road. I don't think I have ever worked so hard on something before. These last few weeks have really showed me just how dedicated I am to this car and how much it means to me. Something I read a few months back in NATIONAL DRAGSTER has really stuck with me. This is in excerpt from an article written by Phil Burgess Editor for NATIONAL DRAGSTER a magazine dedicated to NHRA drag racing published weekly.

Racers are a hardy bunch. They'll work long into the night, in the rain, in the blazing heat, in the dirt, with busted knuckles and sweat stinging their eyes. They'll forgo creature comforts and sleep, risk relationships and credit scores. They'll get knocked down and keep getting up." - Phil Burgess

This quote triggers so many memories for me. I remember swapping my GT35R turbo (that hardly fits between the block and relocated radiator) in my yard laying on my back in the dirt during one of the hottest weeks of the year. I remember supporting all of its weight with one arm in the air while I tried to thread in the bolts with the other hand from the bottom. This makes me remember cutting my hands so many times working on my motor that I would only notice when drops of blood were running off of my tools. Most recently this morning I woke up with black weather stripping and spray glue all over my hands. Yes maybe I should have worn gloves but between taking my turbo off to fix an exhaust leak, fixing my idle, building a false firewall between the fuel cell and passenger compartment, and swapping in a new passenger seat it just slipped my mind. I have lost relationships over giving so much attention and energy towards my car, and I'm sure I have lost many friends because I simply don't have the time. Many times I have run up credit cards because I just needed one more new part... and then one more, and one more.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to put the first 90 miles on my new motor. Modifications to it include, but are not limited to: JE forged pistons, new rings - bearings - chain - guides, custom cams, valve lash caps, adjustable SPEEDPARTS cam gears, and balance shaft delete. The car drives fairly well after we did some road tuning the night before, but there is still plenty of room for improvement in the tune. The car starts up well but I have to fight it for a few seconds before it holds a perfect idle itself. I set the idle a little high at about 1300RPMs where it seems to be happiest at.

This morning I made the 45 mile drive to the tuning shop where it will be given special attention tomorrow on the dyno. :)

Status: Ready for take off

One of the main playing purposes for this blog (besides trying to keep up with saab news) is to cover news on my 9000 in a more organized fashion. Many of you keep up to the current updates to my cardomain.com page found here. I keep my cardomain page updated with current modifications, but with this blog im going to take it a step further. Current updates on tuning, complications, and racing will be posted whenever something new comes up. Many Saab tuners start keeping to themselves once they have a high HP car but I plan on doing the opposite. I am always here to help answer questions and point people in the right direction. I hope to help others by letting them learn from my mistakes and by letting them see the problems you can run into by having such a highly tuned automobile. (and trust me, I run into more than my fair share of problems!) 

I have a full race season planned for my 9000 and I will be posting to the blog each night after racing is finished. The first official race of the season starts on June 20th in Idaho. I will be leaving Friday morning to make the 7 hour drive and I will make it to Emmett Idaho for tech at 5pm. Racing starts early Saturday morning as each competitor takes to the hills at full speed. 

Tuesday June 17th 2008 my 9000 will once again be getting dyno tuned at Horsepower Connection in Olympia WA. The fun starts around 4pm so if you are a local you are welcome to come out, and if you are just tuning in from the internet I will have some updates tomorrow evening. Our goal is to just make the car happy so we can get out to the first race, and when I get home we will be doing some max HP pulls on dynometer! 600HP or parts on the floor?

Insane V8 c900 on ebay!

This is a pretty amazing car! Its just about as non-Saab as you can get, but I respect anyone that can complete a project like this:

V8 468RWHP and 415ft/lbs. It comes complete with an airflow kit, (if I am seeing things right it has an original "SAAB airflow" badge!) SAAB louvers on the rear hatch, and it even has a wheelie bar on the back! I would hate to break this guys heart showing him my tiny Saab 4cyl that is already putting out 476WHP. :) I guess he came up with a very unique way of getting around Saab's unusually weak transmissions, which I suspect to be originally made from cotton balls and #1 recycled plastics.

With the amount of cash this guy must have invested I think $18k to be mildly reasonable for the right buyer. I could do without the interior that slightly resembles an episode of Barney, but the idea of this car puts a big grin on my face!

For the full ebay listing click here!

"Souped-Up All-Black Saab Turbo X Sedan Is Rare, Cool, Quirky " Review on the Turbo-x from Bloomberg.com

Jason Harper of Bloomberg.com speaks highly of the Saab's latest and greatest. Here are some highlights from the review:

Turbo X -- the coolest Saab I've ever driven, am I damning it with faint praise? After all, Swedish cars are known for their safety, idiosyncratic designs and ... did I mention safety?

It's the first of the 9-3s available with Saab's new all-wheel-drive system and a punchier turbo engine. And it's a heck of a branding exercise, too. Saab has pulled a page from Porsche's playbook, releasing a limited edition that pays homage to a past model (in Saab's case, the 1985 900 SPG, which also came in all-black and had a turbo engine). It suggests where the brand wants to go

Though the Saab is a modest car, it zings nicely along the open curving freeways and ably handles back-country two-lane roads.

To view the article in its entirely click here!

SPEEDPARTS AB puts their Saab Turbo-X through its paces at Kinnekulle race track!

(picture on left of the SPEEDPARTS TX on April 23rd 2008. The day they picked it up)

Some of you may have already had the pleasure of viewing this video over on YouTube since it was first posted on June 1st. I have waited to blog this story so I could get some of Peter over at SPEEDPARTS first impressions of how the Turbo-X performed on the course. For those unfamiliar, SPEEDPARTS is one of Sweden's largest Saab tuning shops. Their products can be seen at www.speedparts.se or at their USA distributors site www.genuinesaab.com. The SPEEDPARTS team picked this Turbo-X up on April 22nd 2008, and by the time I got photos on the 23rd they had already made sure that everyone knew that this would be no ordinary Turbo X. The SPEEDPARTS TX already has after market wheels, a tune, different springs, and of course the appropriate SPEEDPARTS name badging. Peter stated that the TX did just fine out on the track with the new SPEEDPARTS springs, and continued on to say that the TX looks too much like a Jeep on stock wheels and springs. I have to agree with his statement! The SPEEDPARTS TX looks like a true sports car with the modifications SPEEDPARTS has done to it. Good work! "Magic by SPEEDPARTS" is an understatement.

Pictured to the left is the SPEEDPARTS TX at the race track during  a Saab Turbo Club of Sweden (stcs.nu) track day. The Video below was shot on the same day, and with Peter Schough behind the wheel, its bound to be a good lap!   

Also making an appearance at the track day was Per Anders Johansson's face lifted 9-3X4R. Appropriately re-nicknamed "TXR" (pictured below)

And Peter's personally owned and tuned 9-3SS: