[jeremyfrost]

I thought I'd never think it, but sometimes when I put the foot down on the motorway, I almost do!

 

[john]

OK, pop round and you can have my V4 in exchange for the aero

 

[Andy Bowles]

JezF/.

What have you done to yours ?, I think mine is a bit nippy, but never thought it TOO quick..

Andy B
9000 FPT (around 260 BHP?)

 

[jeremyfrost]

Speedparts stage 3, which gave me 290bhp/293lb torque at the rolling road, though my ecu had yet to fully adapt. It feels an awful lot faster than the standard Aero that I was used to.

 

[john]

well, last night JezF treated me to a trip in his 9000 Aero. Of course the temperatures were dropping so he had to take things easy, but I can confirm that the acceleration is phenomenal

 

[Skiddins]

On a rolling road last year i had 225.1bhp and 271 ft/lbs torque.

I'd like more but i doubt i could afford the tyres or fuel bill!

SKiddins

 

[Skiddins]

Oh yeah, forgot to ask

JezF, whats your fuel economy like, where did you get the bits, how much etc. etc?

Thanks
Skiddins

 

[billj]

Skiddins, for comparison, which rolling road did you use?
I assume your Aero is currently unmodified.

 

[jeremyfrost]

Skiddins, Got the kit from elkparts.com, courtesy of Julian and John. Speedparts stage 3 for the Aero costs £800, which is a bargain.

I drove up to Loughborough on Monday and averaged 32.5mpg - 36 on the computer. Not bad for a car that kicks out nearly 300bhp!

 

[Skiddins]

I had mine rolling roaded at Van Aaken Developments near Bracknell, Berkshire.

And yes, at present my car is totally standard.

Skiddins

 

[cdcarlsson]

I'd like more but i doubt i could afford the tyres or fuel bill![/b]

It's all down to how much you use or abuse it.

If you are generally light of foot then consumption will be good still. For example a 200 mile A road and motorway run at high average speed (read 'I wouldn't wish to be explaining it to a traffic officer' )returned a 35.9mpg on the info display back in September. As with Jez brim to brim calculations showed the actual average for the tankfull to be lower at around 32mpg, but by then I had done some town driving.

As for tyres, it is possible to drive swiftly without spinning them everywhere, even in the wet. It takes a sensible approach to the application of the right foot. A modified 9000 will never be the fastest thing away from the lights, if you want that go for a Scooby or similar, but once on the roll in second or third there isn't much that can live with it.

Nick.

 

[billj]

I can still get 40mpg from my modified Aero on a run without having to work hard at it. I don't generally exceed the speed limit, though. I'm pretty sure the fuel economy improved when I fitted the Maptun ECU.

You can, of course, get less mpg if you try - at my last track day, I averaged 9.5mpg over the day

 

[1989agoodvintage]

Too fast? Not all the time, but sometimes it can catch me unawares.

No no no, not the Goodwood thing!!

On the way back from Nottingham yesterday I scared my mates silly doing a 4th gear overtake. The car lurched from 60mph to 80mph in an unfeasibly short space of time!!

However, on other occasions it was quite "manageable", a few hard 3rd gear accelerations only resulted in the boost reaching top of the dashed red/yellow area.

There's no doubt the engine could handle an uprated ECU quite easily. But as I've said before, the grip levels of the standard setup leave a lot to be desired.

 

[Anthony B]

Hello all

I have been toying with the idea of uprating my Aero. At present, with the bleed valve it will boost 1/2 way up solid red and generally is able to scare passengers. The funny thing is that it does not feel that fast to me. Even "2 lorry overtakes" seem pretty easy now.
The thing that bothers me is what am I doing to my engine by making it do things Saab didn't want it to? For example, what will the head gasket take, am I killing the big ends and mains, will the clutch take it all. Fast IS fun but big bills are not so how far can I go on a car with 106 K on it. Does 280 bhp have to be done when only at 50K??

Cheers all
And happy christmas

ANT

 

[wrighar]

Don't all standard Aero's boost to half red anyway (well at least from 2250-4750).

Andrew

PS. Had to tie wrap some more pipes today. Thats 11 so far now. I need silicon soon.

 

[ylee coyote]

anthony b..
I have done about 50 k after an ecu upgrade (on a 120 k motor btw )with no drama's apart from a blown turbo at 165k (I think I got my money's worth !!)
These engine are incredibly strong as long as you take reasonable care of them....ie do not skimp on the choice of oil but apart from that ...ps beware of speedparts stage 3 + dawes device ..this could lead you into dangerous fuel to air ratio teritory...but you will be making 300 hp +
My standard aero did feel slow and I put this down to the high final drive ratio...
(it is not standard now !!)

 

[Skiddins]

Whats this Dawes Device everyone keps mentioning?

SKiddins

 

[ylee coyote]

dawes device is a simple pressure regulator that keeps the wastegate closed until a predetermined pressure then it opens the wastgate ..
cost about £40..

 

[1989agoodvintage]

Basically it's a cheap was of winding up the boost without having to fork out for an ECU upgrade.

 

[cdcarlsson]

Figured Jez F's Aero the other day and found that it had comparable accelleration to a 911 Carrera in third gear....Now thats fast by any measure.