Have just bought a 1993 C900 convetible non turbo, and am about to replace the gearbox to get it back on the road for the summer. I'm thinking about options to improve the performance a little. Thought about changing engine for a turbo unit or adding turbo to existing engine but don't want to go down this route yet.
The car has a cat but the exhaust is in poor condition - would i get a bit more power from removing the cat, and replacing with a std box or straight pipe? Will this mess anything else up?
Other options I've thought of are ITG air filter, & magnecor leads, but I'm not convinced they will have any noticable effect?
As it's a convertible and assuming it's in good nick, it would be worthwhile converting it to a turbo as find a good c900 turbo convert is pretty tricky and pretty costly! It's would be easier (and probably cheaper) to fit an engine from a c900 turbo than to convert the exisiting NA engine. I'd get hold of a T16 with a good engine and gearbox (that is running well) and swap the bits over.
Trying to tune any NA Saab (bar the GM V6's) is always tricky as most Saab tuners focus on the turbo's as big power gains are much easier to attain with the turbo's.
Magnecor leads were a big help on my 8 valve N/A. I used the 8mm ones and they really surprised me. An open air filter will help but the JR ones are much better valve than the ITG offerings with similar or better performance. I can't remember the MOT rules on cats but it has been much discussed here. You could try fitting a rising rate fuel pressure regulator - get one with a gauge and be prepared to adjust it to keep it right. This should help with throttle response but is a little controversial - some swear by them, some swear at them.
You might have trouble with emissions at MOT time if you remove the Cat from a 1993. Vehicles after August 1992 have more strict emission criteria to meet. Saying that, I think some people have done it, and having the Cat is not the issue - meeting the levels is.
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