New York SAAB Owners Club

On December 14th the NYSOC got together in Cliffwood Beach New Jersey at SPI Power Excell.

Stephen Pivonka started the day driving down from his home in Schuylerville NY to meet Rob Riccardelli in Pomona NY. After some breakfast at a local diner we headed down to Hackensack NJ to meet Rich Levy. Ian Whelan also came out to meet us in his 86 SPG but he just came to watch. Once we were all assembled we heading down to SPI. It took about 45 minutes to arrive at SPI and we met up with Dirk Feather once there. He also came down to watch with his friend Laura in her silver 9-3.

I was unhappy with the boost I was getting on the way down. The night before I had replaced the spark plugs to the range I thought was colder. Upon talking with Rich and Ian, it turns out I went the wrong way and actually went to a hotter plug. ACK! Lucky for me Rich had brought a spare set of plugs. SPI was not ready for us right away so I had time to change them. I took the car for a test drive and I was still not happy with teh boost I was getting, but it was better.

First up was Rob Riccardelli's '02 Viggen. This was the car I thought might be the Big Dog. Him or Rich for sure. On the first run SPI said Rob's clutch was slipping and the feed dyno from stopped recording. He did get 237 HP at the Wheels! His run was incomplete. Rob decided to give it one more run. this time he recorded 215 HP. SPI again told him he had a clutch slippage. SPI asked him if he wanted to run again and he declined his third run. I think maybe the problem they were having was they were not used to car making so much more torque than horsepower and once in third gear they were not just flooring it, they were gradually putting the hammer down. I think with a turbo car you really need to put your foot down to take advantage of full spool up. Since we had established you had to back up you high run with something close, Rob's 215 run had to stand as his benchmark.

In the subsequent days after the event Rob said he had noticed no clutch slippage and had the car to the dealer and they confirmed the same. Hummm.....

Next up on the dyno was Rich Levy and his '95 9000 Super CS Ultra. Rich's car is modified with a stage 3 Trionic upgrade, 3" stainless downpipe, 3" sport cat, and a 2.5" cat-back exhaust system. Once the car was sucured down they proceed to do the three runs. Rich's first run was only 218 HP at the wheels. I knew that couldn't be right. So I asked SPI if they were just putting the hammer down or gradually putting their foot down. They said gradually. So I asked them to just drop the hammer. The next time he pulled 222 HP. It wa better but we still didn't think it was right. On his final run he threw down a 228 HP at the wheels and 259 ft. lbs. of torque. A very good run indeed. Rich set the mark to beat. Rich was also having a problem as his check engine light had come on the day before. He was running a little rich (Not Rich) in the mid to upper rpms as shown by his wide band so with this corrected it's possible he could have run a little higher HP.

I was up last with my '92 9000 Turbo. My car is modified with chipped APC and LH boxes. A 3" stainless downpipe, 3" sport cat, and a 2.5" cat-back exhaust system. I had just installed the Aquamist 2c system the previous week and finished up the wiring the night before. I had not test driven the car at all with the system. I decided to do one run without the Aquamist and two runs with. I made sure SPI knew to put the hammer down once in third gear and to rev it right to redline. My first run was 214 HP and 272 ft. lbs of torque at the wheels. I was a little disappointed. The guy running the dyno thought I might have a boost leak. The next run they turned on the Aquamist and I ran 216.8 HP and 276 ft. lbs. One the third and final run I did a 217.0 and 282 ft. lbs of torque. The guys at SPI definitely confirmed I was leaking boost from around the intake boot that goes to the throttle body because with the Aquamist on they could see the water spraying out. I was also a little rich from 5-6K rpm.

While we were there the owner of SPI was kind enough to show us his 750 HP Toyota Supra. IT was tricked out with all of the latest electronics and two massive turbos. He said HP could be turned up as high as 800 HP!

All in all I have to say the guys at SPI were some of the nicest speed shop guys I've come across. The owner told us about some electronics we could use to lean out our mixtures and certain rpms and was very helpful. They had a fully stocked shop and very will to answer all of our question about whatever.

After leaving SPI most of us head for The Goodtimes Restaurant in Hackensack but Rob and his buddy went on to Atlantic City to lose some money. We had a great meal at the Goodtimes and all hung around chatting for quite a while. At around 8 I decided it was time for me to head back up north and everyone went on their way. Rob claims to have broken even at Atlantic City.

Even though we only had the three cars it was a great time had by all. Rich Levy left as the NYSOC BIG DOG! Rob is already challenging for a rematch. So if any of you out there think you are up to it the rematch will more than likely be at the Central Penn Saabs at Carlisle. If we decide to have one sooner will will post it on our events page.

If you would like to see the complete event calander click here.

Pictures on this page courtesy of Dirk Feather!