Bugzii,
Our '99 is an auto, so the hp & torque numbers are less than what was available that year with a manual (hey, it's my wife's car). (Honest!!) The engine's a 2.0L 4 cyl with a 4L sump & light pressure turbo (around 8# or 9# boost, I think). Hp is 185 & torque is 169 ft-lbs. (Here are
the specs .) I’m assuming your 1.8t is in a Bug? Man, I’d love to have one of those things for commuting! (Although, I’d be hard-pressed to give up my N/A ’90 C900 anytime soon.
)
The owner’s manual recommends using a minimum of semi-syn 5W-30 for 10k mi OCIs ("normal svc," but recent complaints seem to indicate this interval is wa-a-a-a-y too long on semi-syn for this engine). The preferred recommendation is ACEA A3 full syn oil, & in '00 Saab released a TSB stating all cars were factory filled with 0W-40 full syn (it was reported to be "similar to Mobil 1"). Saab’s OE oils have diesel-style additive packages.
The car’s not chipped, & I’ve only done minor mods to the intake to increase quickness but not top speed. (My wife freaks every time I make a change to “her” car, but it’s the only turbo Saab I have.
) It sees maybe 95%+ short trip service (less than 10 mi), & we’ve had the same 0W-40 in there for 13 mos so far. I think we’ll reach 10k mi in another couple of months. I’ll add Auto-Rx to this oil after I pull a 10k mi sample for UOA, & when I’m done with that I’ll try some kind of M1 0W-40/15W-50 mix.
theguru,
You’re right,
most Saabs
are light pressure systems, as that’s always been part of Saab’s engineering philosophy. But, as
quadrun1 said, it depends on the Saab! Also, just because it’s water-cooled & LPT doesn’t mean it’s easy on oil. (A Bosch tech rep told me Saab does more to utilize boost than any other manufacturer.) Take a look at the Saab UOAs here & you’ll see they beat up the best oils out there.
