June '04
After years of tuning my car and getting frustrated with lean running conditions created by exceeding the capacity of the stock LH 2.2, I installed and tuned an aftermarket ecu in the summer of ‘04. I chose the EMS stinger for two significant reasons: foremost was the ability to get support and install help from a distributor reasonable close to home and secondly, I wanted to be able to tune and modify the ecu with wide band road tuning and data logging. Hours on the dyno eating money was not an option. The price for the ecu ($750) and wiring loom also helped my decision making.

I started the process by driving 400 miles to my brother’s home in Spokane, WA. He lives five miles from PTR Injection, the tuner and distributor for EMS in the Northwest.. Taking over my brother’s garage, I spent two days tearing out all parts of the wiring harness that would not be used in the install and soldering in the Stinger EMS into the existing loom. No crimp connections were used. All wires were stripped, soldered togther, shrink wrapped and placed in a split loom. (No tuner wants to try and sort a car out while chasing their tails figuring out poor install methods. If you are going to convince someone that you can install the ECU yourself, you will save a lot of grief if you do good work. That means the time consuming process of soldering all connectins. Plus the installer will respect your efforts.) I tried to retain wires that could be used for the Stinger such as the main power wire to the injectors and ground wires that were functional. I also retained the two relay set up for the LH 2.2 ecu/fuel pump as my power source for the Stinger and fuel pump. This was fairly tedious but straightforward as I mounted the Stinger in the same location that the 2.2 ecu was mounted. When I had everything in place I towed the car to PTR and had Kirk, owner and ecu guru, complete the install by setting up the EZK distributor to act as my Hall affect trigger and tiding up the final bits of wiring set up.

ECU and communication cable in passenger footwell. Hose in is the vacum/pressure line for the internal MAF sensor.

After an a long, sometimes frustrating, afternoon of attention, the car was idling and ready to head out on the road for the tuning session the next morning. The following day, after ten minutes of driving I was blown away at how the car was transformed, part throttle acceleration was considerable better due to electronic timing control and jumping on the throttle produced a wonderful pull that kept going right past the old red line. We spent a total of 45 minutes tuning the car on the road before he turned me lose. The next day I drove home 400 miles without a hiccup of a problem.

Later I picked up a lap top and wide band sensor so that I could fine tune the fuel and ignition maps and work on the coldstart/warmup cycle. I spent many enjoyable drives with my two sons tuning the ecu for full throttle acceleration and low load cruising. Full throttle was easy; punch it to 100% throttle on the freeway and start data logging. Check the A/F column on the spreadsheet and make small adjustments. I taught the boys how to work the software. Repeat until the readings show close to 12.5 through the power band. We also played around a bit with the timing at high boost, mainly taking away advance that was safe while still providing good power and filling in a few lean spots (more fuel) beyond 5000 rpm. Boost was kept down to 10-12 psi to preserve my ten year old transmission and honestly, I was quite happy with the power I had at that boost level. ( I have since created a winter and summer map as the colder temps allow for a more aggressive ignition map and higher boost ). Low load settings, and the cold start/warm up cycle took more time—mainly because the car was 90% tuned and I was waiting for the cold weather.

After seeing a picture of a Swedish 16v Saab with an electromotive ecu and c.i.s. warmup valve I decided to give it a try. It ended up working quite well. I didn’t even end up wiring it in, I just let engine heat close off the valve. It allows for extra air during warmup and is completely mechanical. Until the car warms up, it idles at 950-1000 rpm. Since I don’t have AC and a lot of extra power draws, I had no need for the Automatic Idle Control Valve. I have put over eight thousand miles of driving on the car since the install. the car is driven as a daily driver around town and to work. As an avid backcountry skier, I made many trips to the mountains, both in the Cascades and long drives into the interior of B.C. The Stinger has performed exceptionally well with no problems. It started the car at -20 C after sitting for four days and ran well in all temperatures. Fuel milage is improved and the performance has exceeded my expectations. My air/fuel ratios are not longer all over the place and the car now just "works". Saab 16v engines have a lot of performance potential, I finally am achieving that potential after many years of tinkering with the LH 2.2 and the mechanical distributor. This has also been the most enjoyable tuning addition since purchasing the car in '96. It is quite a kick to pull out the laptop and change anything that you desire with the touch of a key stroke. Tuning, via laptop, which I was led to believe was expensive and time consuming, has actually been quite fun. Once the car is set up well with good initial maps and sound wiring--as Kirk did for me--it becomes a rewarding experience to fine tune your own ecu.
Lastly, I always felt that there was something missing with the way the car performed prior to the install of the Stinger. Every modification I made, whether it was to add a modified 2.1 head or to simply tweak the APC left me wanting more. It just never felt quite right. At this point I don't have any more desire for power or torque. I really could care less how much horsepower the engine is putting out. The car seems to have so much more pull at all RPM's and boost values, I really am quite satisfied with where it is now. You should hear the sound as the engine pulls on past 6k rpm without any loss of power.

Warning: I make no claims that the information is completely accurate or that it will work for you. All I am doing is sharing my experience with many of you who asked for information and maybe are considering an aftermarket ecu. Or perhaps you are just curious about the process. So be it. The reader should know that I am not an expert/qualified mechanic by any stretch of the imagination. At best, I am a bumbling hack DIY. At my worst, I destroy things. What I lack in ability and knowledge I make up for in enthusiasm; both for Saabs and good old fashioned garage tinkering. If you granade your engine don't blame me. There, you have been warned!