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Well, I had the pleasure of driving John/ 's 9-3 last night, now that it has a full performance exhaust system and the Maptun stage 2 ECU.
Flippin' heck - what a difference!
I drove this car originally with a Hirsch cat back exhaust when it was delivering around 210bhp. Now, it has 248bhp/260lb. Before, it felt quite ponderous compared to the 9000. Now, it feels very similar in performance terms to my 290bhp 9k. Power delivery is different, with the engine feeling free'r revving than my 9k. This may be due to the different ECUs (mine is Speedparts), but whatever it is, it adds to the driving experience.
Although (strangly) it suffers from a load more torque steer than the 9000, the handling balance with Eibach suspension and 17" Hirsh alloys (nice!) is so much better than the 9000. It feels more 'chuckable' round corners and the ride quality is much better too. Makes me start to think that the Koni's that seem to be a stock 9000 upgrade, are actually rather primitive units. Someone needs to get Leda/Nitron/Pilbeam etc to make a bespoke set of shocks to compare!
So, I can't wait until John/ gets the stage 3 ECU fitted, which should hit 270bhp!
Flippin' heck - what a difference!

Although (strangly) it suffers from a load more torque steer than the 9000, the handling balance with Eibach suspension and 17" Hirsh alloys (nice!) is so much better than the 9000. It feels more 'chuckable' round corners and the ride quality is much better too. Makes me start to think that the Koni's that seem to be a stock 9000 upgrade, are actually rather primitive units. Someone needs to get Leda/Nitron/Pilbeam etc to make a bespoke set of shocks to compare!
So, I can't wait until John/ gets the stage 3 ECU fitted, which should hit 270bhp!


