[XAAMOTTOMAAX]

After serious reading and research on this wonderfully informative forum, it seems to me the SpeedParts ECU is a bit unreliable. But at the same time, it seems to be the most popular choice. Does anyone have any experience with the Abbott or MapTun ECU? Also, is there any other way to bump performance without upgrading the ECU or spending a small fortune for a small HP increase?

 

[SteveN]

Welcome to Saabscene

Like you say Speedparts are quite popular here and I think it's more a matter of them being talked about so much that highlights little things rather than them actually being unreliable. Also any ECU upgrade will highlight weak points elsewhere in the car and accelerate their demise (eg. DI cartridges, rubber hoses, dump valves, PCV check valves). How many cars with what are initially thought to be faulty ECUs, have actually got good ECUs and faulty old components? I've got the Speedparts ECU in the 9000 and so far (15k miles) haven't had any problems with it.

There are a lot of folk here with the Abbott upgrade and both BillJ and Mark E, are using Maptun software. And don't forget Hirsh.

BTW the Speedparts stage 1 & 2 ECUs are made by BSR but, IIRC, Maptun also supply Speedparts with their ECUs for the higher power upgrades.

 

[Al]

I agree with SteveN.

I have had more than my fair share (well I think so

) of probs since I fitted the Speedparts ECU.

But - with 100K + miles on the clock some bits and bobs were ready for replacement or close to it anyway. The extra horses just brought their demise forward. - I guess that the dump valve might be next.

Unreservedly - none of my problems were due to the Speedparts kit - except for a fualty solenoid vave - (rapidly replaced by Elkparts - but that was a SAAB bit anyway )

Value for money, bang for your buck it makes sense - I would do it again!

Alyn

 

[Schu]

I have heard no bad things about the Speedparts ECUs. Someone please give more info on this as they were going to be my choice of Stage 3 computer. Is their a better option?

 

[murphwiz]

I've had no problems over the last 8000 miles on a speedparts stage 2 ECU, I've heard of some secluded problems... but nothing serious!
I will continue to recommend the speedparts upgrade, as they appear to be the best value overall!

 

[billj]

As SteveN says, I have a Maptun upgrade (both mine and Mark's are "custom" to a degree - Mark's more so than mine, probably). I've been very happy with it. Having said that, none of the Swedish tuners had UK distributors at the time so there was no easier route other than Abbott, who don't give much bang for buck and I've been told that under analysis, their upgrade turns out to be a bit primitive.

The Speedparts stuff sounds excellent. I've driven a Speedparts-upgraded 9-3, 9-5 and 9000 Aero and they all seemed to go very well. If I were doing it all again, I might be tempted to go for Speedparts because they now have a distributor in the UK.

Don't forget that these cars are not all about horsepower. My Maptun upgrade is a little more aggressive than Maptun's standard offering (and than what Speedparts will sell you), but although I "only" get 300-ish hp, the upgrade also provides over 310lbft of torque all the way from 2500-5000 RPM. I let drivers of "powerful" cars try to guess how many hundred more hp my car must have than theirs as I pull towards the horizon on a wave of torque.

 

[Mark R]

Had my 96 MY 9000 2.0 ECU Abbott modified. No reliability issues at all, improved HP & Torque, benefits kick in from 2500 rpm up, esp when dropping a cog to overtake or squeezing the throttle in 5th when the motorway clears.

Marginal improvement in MPG as less need to run WOT than in a standard ECO. Mod included dump valve replacement and air filter replacement.