All R engines are mapped for high octane fuel. But like all modern engines the engine can handle lower octane grades (it detects knock, and reduce ignition advance accordingly). Oil schange schedule has more to do with how you use you car, not engine mapping.

“In short, the car is set up for Joe Average, but is capable of a lot more – and this is where tuning software comes in.”

Engine tuning by software modification is like taking a shortcut, yes it might get you there faster but you also risk fall into a hole you didn’t knew about.
Trionic 7 is a torque demand based control system. In other words, when you push the gas pedal the control unit translates this into a torque demand, which is translated into airmass/combustion and the engine control unit adjusts the throttle opening and boost pressure to achieve this torque output (airmass/c). So when you want to increase the output from the engine the first thing you have to do is to increase the torque demand, which in turn means a higher boost pressure and a higher turbocharger speed.
To increase power a tuner can also increase the ignition advance at high loads, which then mean that the engine must use high octane fuel to get this power boost. More ignition advance also means higher combustion pressures and a greater risk of engine knock, and some tuners have ’solved’ the latter issue in a very bad way; reduce the knock sensitivity. Reduced knock sensitivity, which means that Trionic will accept more knock until it takes action, and the increased ignition advance at high loads can cause very high combustion pressures. This is a root cause for piston failures in Trionic 7 equipped engines.

The higher turbocharger speeds that are associated with software tuning may also become an issue, remember that Saab had turbo issues with B235R due to too high turbo speeds already with the original software. If the owner rarely uses full power it may never become an issue, but if full power is used for long durations this can certainly become an issue.

“Regarding T7, I read somewhere that the ECU adapts very nicely to higher octane fuels, max torque is attained and held longer. For a 2.3L T7 car, Viggen or Aero, I would love to have a customized stage 1 tune that incorporates a better-flowing intercooler to keep the intake temps and EGTs lower while conservatively bumping up the torque. For a Viggen, this would be ideal.”

No, it will not adapt to higher octane fuels. A too low octane fuel will however decrease engine performance.

Yes, a better intercooler should be very high on a Saab owners list of to do things when they tune a B205/B235 engine. If it’s a B205R or B235R engine, the turbo air intake from the M06 and later Aeros should also be high on this list. This is far more important than the exhaust from the catalyst and back often included in “stage II” tunings.

“You could also mention diverter valves and blow off valves, as well as performance air filters to go with the other mods.”

Things like blow off valves and performance filters are often actually downgrades, rather than upgrades. The stock charge air bypass valve is a very fast responding device that can handle boost pressures of 2.5 bar absolute without difficulty. Aftermarket units often respond too slow for proper function, so stick with the original unless you plan for a substantial power increase.

Better flowing airfilters decrease filtration, which is bad, but can decrease the pressure loss before the compressor which is good. Use the stock airbox to avoid dirty and hot air. An open filter is likely to have a negative rather than a positive effect on the engine.

“There has been an interesting thread on Saab Central forums with a fellow who has found a way to make a boost controller work with a fairly simple electronic mod. Looks like he might be onto something. Could be a nice option instead of an electronic tune.”

Sure, that is an option if you would like to find out how fast you can destroy your engine.

“Sorry Aeropilot, but my Viggen had Trionic 7, as I’m pretty sure all Viggens do”

All Viggens have the B235R engine (Trionic 7), initially with 225 hp. 9-5 Aero later got the engine from Viggen.

I would like to add my “first law of tuning” to your list: fix the issues you have, not the issues you’ve read about.

I’ve met quite a few people who’ve spent thousands on upgrades that do not address any problems that they’ve experienced on their own cars.

Intake and exhaust mods on cars that don’t need them, lowered suspensions on cars that already handle well, aftermarket wheels on cars that come from the factory with high-quality, very light wheels, billet pop-off valves on cars to replace fully functional stock valves, etc, etc.

All of the mods that I’ve made have addressed issues that I’ve actually experienced.
The bigger rear ARB fixed understeer on long sweepers.
The steering brace fixed steering issues over bumps.
The bushings (front outer only) fixed the worn-out stock bushings.

The best mod that I’ve done was to replace the all-season tyres with high quality summer and winter tyres.

http://www.ecuproject.com
and
http://trionic.mobixs.eu/

Takes a while longer to understand what is what and of course you have noone to blame but yourself if anything goes wrong…

Also MP has an ECU mod that is getting good reviews. mpperformance.com

Note: not affiliated in any way and have not tried any of these myself. Just trying to add to the discussion of options.