The banner above is an advertisment - if it asks you to download software, please ignore.
Site News - 7/1: Members: Log In to See Fewer Ads! | 5/28: SAAB Evolutions/TSN T-Shirts $14
[General | Members | C900 | 9000 | NG900 & OG93 | 93 | 95 | NG95 | 99 | Sonett | Vintage Models | Clubs | Other Cars | FAQs | Gifts | Member Photo Galleries | Member Directory | Classifieds | Manuals | *Buddy Registry | *Mileage Registry | Polls | What's New | Raffle | Photo of the Month | Sponsors]

Performance Bulletin Board
[Subscribe to Daily Digest]
(Search Author's Posts: e.g. Keyword:username)*Members Only

[Main Performance Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Laguna Seca with the Audi Club
Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board
Posted by damien [Email] (more from damien) on Mon, 3 Feb 2003 16:07:18 Share Post by Email
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

Greetings All -
I went to Laguna Seca this weekend with the Audi Club - brought my 1986 SPG Saabotage. I was the only Saab in attendance, amid a sea of Audi S4/A4/A6 quattros. Some other cars included a 355 Ferrari, a Corvette, a 350Z, a couple WRX’s, some Porsche 996’s and old and new M3’s.

Preparation: I prepped the car by removing the front bumper, rear parcel shelf, floor mats, spare tire and rear floor boards, etc. The trans was newly rebuilt with the big Ericsson pinion bearings and some new gears in the primary housing. The brakes were bled with Valvoline Synth DOT 3/4. Brake pads are carbon/Kevlar with front slotted discs and rear cross drilled (1988+ system). For the track I have 16 x 7” wheels with Hoosier R3S03 205/45 tires.

Session #1: The first time on the track is for getting used to the car, the corners, the weather, etc. so the pace is at 60-80%. Even so, I had two mechanical problems: First, the clutch slipped under boost. This is a brand new kevlar/carbon/copper disc from SD, but I reused my pp and flywheel (they looked fine) so that may have contributed to slip. The car was still crazy fast! Fast enough that I was braking quite hard and during lap 4 or 5 the brake pedal went mushy and brake function was almost totally lost. Our session was black flagged a few minutes early when a 4000 Quattro crashed into the wall above the corkscrew due to a mechanical failure (left front brake caliper fell off…really!).

In the Pits: I scavenged some Motul 5.1 from one of the sponsors and bled the front calipers out. That fresh clear Valvoline that I put in the day before was already brown and nasty. We couldn’t do anything for the clutch. No problems with the motor, so we just checked the oil level.

Session #2: The brakes came back to life. What a relief. Thank you, Motul. I settled into a nice rythym of driving over 5-6 laps, where my main vehicle concerns were limiting clutch slip and inner wheel spin by modulating the throttle carefully. Saab fans will be proud - passing Audis was not a problem – the combination of fast Saab and wussy Audi drivers made for easy overtaking. The motor temp maintained just below middle, oil pressure fine, fuel pressure fine, etc. No detectable heat soak. Boost was 18-19 peak and 15-16 at redline. Then it happened…as I powered out of the apex of Turn 10 the motor just revved as if it had popped out of gear – accompanied by horrible metal-thrashing sounds – if you have seen the movie Aliens it was like “Ease down Ripley you’ve blown the transaxle!!” I was able to coast it into the pits where we verified that engaging the clutch, even in neutral, caused horrible sounds to come from the gearbox. Game over.

The Aftermath: We spent a few hours tracking down a U-haul and a tow dolly, which we used to tow the car on the 180 mile trip back to Sacramento. I have yet to put a wrench on the car, but the initial diagnosis is that the preload on the pinion bearings was set too high (by me) and in the heat and loading of track driving, just caused the bearings to explode. It could also be a transfer chain, laygear, etc. Strangely, the case is intact and did not leak a drop of oil. We shall see later this week.

Picture - I have a great pic of the car in the corkscrew which I will email if you ask for it. Let me know off line (damiens@amed.com).

Damien
’86 900 SPG Saabotage (looking for new trans)
’98 900 SE (nice smooth daily driver)


posted by 63.207.93...
Posts in this Thread:
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Post a Followup

No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.

Name: Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
E-Mail: (Optional)
Re-Enter E-Mail: (Confidential & Secure - Not revealed to other users!)
Note: Please check your spam folder for BB responses.

Subject:

Posting rules are simple - No for sale/wanted ads may be posted here - use the site classifieds.
You may not cross-post your message to multiple BBs.
Not permitted: political/religious topics and being disrespectful (personal attacks, insults, etc...).
 Site Members do not see any red text, inline ad links, bottom of page anchor ads, box ads, or anti-spam check.

Message: (please no for sale/wanted classifieds - post those in the Saabnet.com Classifieds)
Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).

Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post above, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).
Optional Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/)
Link Title: (Optional)
Optional Photo/Image Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/img.jpg)
Photo/Image to Upload: (Please be patient while file uploads)



StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2024 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]

Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)
This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous. Site Contact | Site Donations | Other Sites by SP - Poverty2Prosperity.org | Run Club Menlo Park | ScreenBot


Site Members do not see red text instructions, bottom of the page anchor ads, or box ads.
Click here to see all the Site Membership Benefits!