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Yes, it mostly has to do with the fact that with the tuning when you hammer it hard it loads everything else harder.
It's not just engine parts that are worked harder either (and head gaskets and pistons aren't the only issues, more power most directly puts more load on the rod and main bearings, spins the turbo faster, side loads the pistons in their bores more on the combustion stroke, more load into the clutch, gearbox, CV joints, wheel bearings, suspension bushing.... ). You have to consider the entire driveline as a SYSTEM, not just the engine component of the system when you're talking about tuning the car.
The 9-3SS's have awesome brakes, but you also have to take into account that you will be working the tires and brakes harder too.
The other thing you have to take into account is doing the upkeep on a tuned engine is different than maintaining an un-modified one. The factory oil / trans / spark plug ... etc., change intervals were developed around the rated power of the engine - when you have it making more power you need to increase the replacement intervals for all that stuff.
People who tune the previous gen. 9-3 and 9-5 (and even 9000) usually change engine oil every 3k MAX, spark plugs commonly every 10k, transmission oil around every 30k.
In my tuned C900 I change the gearbox oil every two engine oil changes because I know the trans can be a problem area if neglected.
You should spend some time reading through the archives on the Performance board, and on some of the other sites, there aren't as many people here on TSN who are tuning their cars as there used to be, the performance boards on other sites are rather more active these days.
It also doesn't hurt to contact the tuning companies you're considering directly - John Williams in CO and Nick Taliaferro in MO both post on almost all the boards fairly regularly and can answer questions for you too.
I wasn't trying to shoot you down or anything like that, it's just that I hate when I have a car towed in that has been chipped or has a big intercooler tacked on but wasn't properly maintained and the motor is already pretty well grenaded and isn't saveable. It's a hard conversation to have, and more often than not the car gets towed back out without any service because the replacement costs of major parts is so high. Even a clutch job on the SS easily tops $1,000-$1,400 depending on the parts you use and what your local labor costs are.
Wow, that got really wordy.
, Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:46:43
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