For all you gadget guys……

Personally speaking, I do have an iPod but I only use it when I’m walking. I listen to the radio in my car, I don’t need a cupholder and I can read printed maps. I’m so 1970s.

I got a note through from Joemama about a thread on SaabCentral where a guy purchased what he thought would be a good hack for his iPod so that he could use it in an integrated manner with his Saab 9-3 SS.

Hes gone to the trouble of pulling out the top airvents, then removing the blacktie GM radio only to find that the product he purchased, from a company called Peripherals, wouldn’t work after all.

Who do we curse for this one? The evil corporate parent?

Apparently not.

Our hacker got in touch with Peripherals and despite a whole bunch of GM products having the blacktie radio, the only Saab that their iPod adaptor will work with is the 9-7x. Saab must have some unique electronic gadgetry going on in the system that interferes with the operation of the unit.

Click that link and have a look at the install pictures. That’s a lot of trouble for a part that doesn’t work. Bad Saab!

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The AudioTroll has been around for a little while now, but I haven’t promoted it here. That’s mainly due to some of the technical issues that Carl has had with getting them together. He was let down by various suppliers and consequently he had to let down a number of paid customers.

I believe things are starting to get on track now, but do your homework on where it’s at. The AudioTroll is a brilliant concept and I’m sure those who have got it working absolutely love it.

Word from the Granite Embedded website indicates that they’ve now got stock in hand and a special install will be available as follows:

GES will be at the 5th Annual Kyle and Tim Crisman Memorial Springtime In Sweden show in Amherst, NH. For anyone who buys an AudioTroll at the show, I will personally donate 50% of the profit to the Kyle and Tim Memorial Scholarship Fund. Installation will be available on-site.

Details about the Crisman event can be found here although it seems to have last year’s date on it.

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Is iPod integration the way to go, anyway?

There’s many other audio players out there now and how long will it be before an interface happens via Bluetooth? With the way phones are headed the iPod could go the way of the yo-yo and the hula hoop in fairly quick time. Why do you think they developed the iPhone?

Three years ago, when I first started this blog, that headline would have prompted a “they have Saabs in Hungary?” kind of line. Such was my ignorance about the various pockets of Saab popularity around the world.

Hungary’s got a very serious bunch of hardcore Saabists and this could be the beefiest amongst them. Now that the Viggen’s insurance woes are over, maybe I can start thinking about such things again?

So how beefy, I hear you ask? How about 100-160km/h in around 5 seconds? How about 412hp and around 475Nm? And how about all that 5 doors and serious load-lugging capacity?!

That’s serious beef! The tuning was primarily achieved via some Maptun modifications. You can see the Mitsubishi air duct that’s been incorporated into the 9-3′s hood, as well.

The car belongs to a friend of Ivan’s (he of the famous Saab T-shirts) and to Ivan’s knowledge it IS the most powerful Saab in Hungary right now. I’d say it’s in the upper echelons of Saabs around the world, but that’s just me (how many Saabs over 400hp would there be around the world, anyway?)

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I wrote a little about this a few days ago, but the rpess release has only just come out in the last 24 hours or so.

This is quite remarkable.

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The world’s first ethanol powered diesel car at the Malmö Motor Show.

The world’s first diesel car converted to the environment friendly fuel ethanol is exhibited at the Malmö Motor Show.

BSR has optimised a diesel powered Saab 9-3 for the fuel E95 (95% ethanol). The result is reduced fuel consumption, high performance and minimized exhaust emissions.

This project is carried out together with SEKAB in Örnsköldsvik, a producer and distributor of Bioethanol, and with the EU project BEST (BioEthanol for Sustainable Transport).

Technical facts

Saab 9-3 with an original Saab diesel engine, where combustion chamber, fuel system and engine software have been modified.

- Max power 195 h.p., torque 410 Nm

- Low fuel consumption, road tests show approx. 5 lit/100 km

- 95 % less fossil CO2, minimal dangerous hydrocarbons and nitric oxide exhaust emission and basically complete elimination of particle emission.

Background

BSR has worked with ethanol conversions since 1997 and has influenced the authorities to change the legislation, soon making it legal to convert vehicles to alternative fuels. This legislation change will take effect from 1 July this year.

In 2003 BSR converted the first rally car to E85. This vehicle has reached iconic status is the rally circuits, where basically the entire Swedish rally elite used E85 powered vehicles.

BSR is now trying to show the possibilities to use ethanol as a fuel for diesel vehicles as well.

Here’s something I didn’t realise…..

I’ve always been wary of aftermarket E85 tuning kits. There’s a number of people selling them, saying that all you need is the altered tuning and the car will be OK. But what about the fuel tank, the fuel lines and injectors – all the bits that Saab modify on their BioPower models? Altering the tuning doesn’t change the physical makeup of these parts at all.

It seems that I shouldn’t be so worried, and that perhaps Saab are just being extra-cautious and installing the changed parts because it makes sense to do so. BSR have just expanded their range of E85 tuning kits. These kits are designed to re-tune gasoline-powered cars so that they can run effectively on E85.

And what’s more, it appears that the Swedish government are poised to give it the tick of approval in terms of getting congestion charge concessions etc, just like owners of BioPower cars from the factory do. From BSR’s website:

The new legislation taking effect 1 July, 2008, will make it legal to use E85 in petrol powered cars using approved ethanol conversion kits. BSR’s conversion kits will meet these legislation requirements…..

….The government has proposed that converted vehicles should be classified as “environment vehicles” granting them exclusion from road tolls in Stockholm city centre, free parking etc. Several Parliament parties have, influenced by BSR, presented bills proposing that converted vehicles should be allowed some kind of environment grant.

Re-registration?
Since the authorities are legalising ethanol conversion a reregistration of converted vehicles will be required. This will be carried out by the Swedish Motor-Vehicle Inspection Company, based on approved conversion kit certificates.

I’m sure BSR and other tuners will be licking their lips if that legislation does pass muster, as they’ll be in for a windfall from customers wanting E85 software conversions.

By the way, the BSR E85 tune for a Saab 9-3 2.0T takes the output from a measured 217hp (Saab say 210hp) up to a whopping 247hp running on E85. Torque gets a similar boost from 313Nm to 388Nm.

Not too shabby…..