The six-piece kit arrived individually protected, sat against the Sport Sedan body with very little correction, and then received a gunmetal finish chosen to complement our existing diffuser instead of disappearing into Jet Black paint.
After our recent introduction to the enthusiast project behind TunStyle, the next stage of the renewed cooperation is much easier to judge. The parts are now here, they have been unpacked, placed against our Saab, checked at the edges and transitions, and sent for paint. That gives us something more useful than a product page or a studio photograph: a first hands-on look at how the kit behaves on an actual car before anything is permanently bonded.
The car is our 2011 Saab 9-3 Aero Griffin Sport Sedan in Jet Black Metallic. It already carries a TunStyle Hirsch-style rear diffuser, installed in 2023 and finished in a dark gunmetal tone. This new phase adds the six side and rear aero elements while leaving the Griffin front treatment untouched, so the question is not simply whether the new parts fit. They also need to make visual sense next to a front bumper Saab redesigned for the final model years.
The Package Arrived the Way Body Parts Should Arrive
Large trim pieces are easy to underestimate until they have to cross borders inside a cardboard box. They may be light, but their length, tapered ends and relatively thin sections make them vulnerable to abrasion, cracked corners and pressure damage. A part can be perfectly molded at the workshop and still become a body-shop repair project if it is allowed to move inside the package.
TunStyle avoided that problem. The six components were individually wrapped and cushioned rather than stacked bare against one another. The package looked very ordinary from the outside, which is exactly what you want. Inside, every piece had its own protection and arrived without chipped tips, transport scratches or stress marks.
What We Are Fitting to the 9-3
The relevant TunStyle product is the six-piece Hirsch-style body kit for the 2008 to 2012 Saab 9-3 Aero Sport Sedan. TunStyle lists this version as an ABS set supplied without the two front splitters. That happens to suit our project particularly well because our car uses the Griffin front bumper. Rather than forcing another styling language onto the nose, we can concentrate on the side and rear sections and see whether the period Hirsch-inspired detailing works with Saab’s later front-end treatment.
The distinction between “Hirsch-style” and original Hirsch Performance hardware is important. These are contemporary TunStyle parts inspired by the appearance of the period aerodynamic package, not original Hirsch Performance components. That is also what makes the project relevant for owners today. Genuine loose Hirsch exterior pieces are difficult to find, and when they do surface they are often more useful to a collector preserving an original installation than to someone who simply wants to build a coherent road car.
Before paint, however, no assumption about aftermarket body trim should be trusted. Even a clean-looking part needs to be presented to the actual car. Bumper and sill tolerances, previous paintwork and small variations in the molded piece can all show up only when the part is sitting where it will eventually live.
One-Side Test Fit Before Paint
We therefore resisted the temptation to paint everything immediately. First, the pieces for one side of the car were positioned temporarily with small points of tape. The objective was not to simulate final adhesion. It was to check the lower sill line, the transitions around the wheel openings, the length of each element and the way the pieces meet the factory bodywork when viewed from both close range and several meters away.
This is where the TunStyle set made its strongest first impression. The surfaces were already smooth and evenly primed, without the waves, pinholes or visibly distorted edges that can turn an inexpensive body kit into an expensive paint-shop job. The pieces followed the intended contours cleanly. We found only a few edges that benefited from light sanding, essentially the kind of small correction expected when preparing an add-on panel for a particular car.
Calling any aftermarket body component literally “plug and play” would be careless, because final fit should always be checked before paint and bonding. Still, this set came about as close as we would reasonably want. There was no need to reshape large sections, build up missing material or fight a piece that was visibly too short or too long. The minor edge dressing was preparation, not reconstruction.
Why We Did Not Paint the Kit Jet Black
Once the fit check was complete, color became the next decision. Matching the body in Jet Black Metallic would have been the most obvious route, but on this particular car it would also have made much of the work disappear. The side pieces sit low, receive less direct light and are already surrounded by dark tires, wheel wells and shadow. In black, their shapes would merge into the body from almost every normal viewing angle.
We had already encountered the same issue with the Hirsch-style rear diffuser supplied by TunStyle. Instead of matching the body, we finished that part in gunmetal, close to a titanium gray. It gave the diffuser enough separation from the Jet Black bumper to show its vertical fins and lower contour, but the contrast remained dark enough to look integrated rather than decorative.
The six new aero pieces have now received the same treatment. In direct sunlight the metallic gray becomes visible and outlines the lower body. In shade it retreats toward the black paint. That changing relationship is useful on a Saab 9-3 because the styling does not need another bright accent. What it benefits from is a second dark tone that allows the shape to register.
The result also links the side treatment to the rear diffuser. Instead of six new pieces reading as accessories added years after the diffuser, the shared color makes the lower perimeter of the car feel intentional. The contrast is modest, but on a Jet Black car modest is enough.
The Next Test Is Permanent Fitment
The painted parts now move into the phase that matters most for long-term use. We will repeat the alignment check, confirm the final gaps and then bond the elements to the car. TunStyle’s product information specifies adhesive installation without drilling and also provides installation guidance. We will document the method actually used on this car, rather than describe a theoretical procedure before the pieces are permanently in place.
That follow-up will also answer questions the first mockup cannot. Does the alignment remain consistent once every piece is fixed rather than held at a few temporary points? How easy is it to maintain an even gap along the sill? Does the gunmetal treatment produce the intended contrast in normal road conditions rather than under a body-shop light? Those are the details worth recording after the car has been assembled and driven.
Why This Project Is Worth Documenting
Our interest in this kit goes beyond adding another set of trim pieces to a project car. SaabPlanet has followed TunStyle projects for years, from early Hirsch-inspired spoilers to interior and exterior parts that remained available long after many original accessories had vanished from normal retail channels. The useful test for a specialist supplier is not whether a catalog photograph looks convincing. It is whether the part reaches an owner intact, can be prepared without major corrective work, follows the car’s geometry and still looks right once the first enthusiasm of unpacking has worn off.
So far, this six-piece set has cleared the first three of those hurdles. Packing was careful, the molded surfaces were clean, and the one-side mockup required only minor finishing at a few edges. The paint choice is now complete as well. What remains is the part we will not rush: final fitment.
For anyone considering similar work on a 2008 to 2012 Saab 9-3, the current TunStyle Saab catalog is worth checking directly because availability can vary by component and body style. Our car gives us a useful variation on the standard Aero installation because the Griffin front end stays in place while the Hirsch-inspired details continue along the sides and rear.
The next article in this series will cover the final alignment and bonding, including the points that needed adjustment and the completed exterior once every piece is secured. At that stage we will finally be able to judge the package as one design rather than a set of very promising parts laid on the car with temporary tape.
