RE: SOTW: Saab 9000 Carlsson
Discussion
cbcbcb said:
I didn't expect to see my own car on SOTW! I bought the black one last week. It's having some work done at the moment, hopefully MOT'd next week...
Everyone will be really polite with their posts now - nice car mate, glad I criticised the pink one and said yours was cool!I wanted a fast 9000 when I was a lad.
A few years ago I was on the look-out for a quick, practical car and I had a test-drive of a late-model 9000 Aero.
It was rubbish. Admittedly, it was a few years old, but the handling was shocking.
I went with an Octavis vRS which was superb overall package.
I drove a friend's 9-5 Aero HOT and that wasn't much better and it had ridiculous levels of wheelspin. My Octavia vRS (pre-remap) could keep up until 80mph and used a lot less fuel.
Those sheds will be money pits too. Stay away.
A few years ago I was on the look-out for a quick, practical car and I had a test-drive of a late-model 9000 Aero.
It was rubbish. Admittedly, it was a few years old, but the handling was shocking.
I went with an Octavis vRS which was superb overall package.
I drove a friend's 9-5 Aero HOT and that wasn't much better and it had ridiculous levels of wheelspin. My Octavia vRS (pre-remap) could keep up until 80mph and used a lot less fuel.
Those sheds will be money pits too. Stay away.
Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 13th August 10:36
brilliant cars but they can be variable
very sensitive to bush wear
get a baggy one and it will understeer into the nearest bush
Polybush it ,piggy back the rear a/r bar and
FUN CITY
I have one as a track car
what you say ,that old barge
well at marham last time it was embarrasing some people round the twisty bits
especially in the rain
cars were spinning off trying to keep in front of it
And its only done 260,000 miles .....
very sensitive to bush wear
get a baggy one and it will understeer into the nearest bush
Polybush it ,piggy back the rear a/r bar and
FUN CITY
I have one as a track car
what you say ,that old barge
well at marham last time it was embarrasing some people round the twisty bits
especially in the rain
cars were spinning off trying to keep in front of it
And its only done 260,000 miles .....
MC Bodge said:
I wanted a fast 9000 when I was a lad.
A few years ago I was on the look-out for a quick, practical car and I had a test-drive of a late-model 9000 Aero.
It was rubbish. Admittedly, it was a few years old, but the handling was shocking. I went with an Octavis vRS which was superb.
John Miles in Vehicle Dynamics International magazine: "The last 'proper' Saab, the 9000, had a classic chassis. It was an object lesson in how to make a forgiving, but also beautifully balanced car." A few years ago I was on the look-out for a quick, practical car and I had a test-drive of a late-model 9000 Aero.
It was rubbish. Admittedly, it was a few years old, but the handling was shocking. I went with an Octavis vRS which was superb.
With all due respect, I'm not sure anyone in the business would praise anything based on a Golf IV platform in similar terms...
(If you don't know who John Miles is, I'd suggest a Google search, ignoring the results that come up for a certain '70s pop star...).
MC Bodge said:
I wanted a fast 9000 when I was a lad.
A few years ago I was on the look-out for a quick, practical car and I had a test-drive of a late-model 9000 Aero.
It was rubbish. Admittedly, it was a few years old, but the handling was shocking. I went with an Octavis vRS which was superb.
Probably a knackered version then, they don't handle as well as the 900 with it's double wishbone front suspension but decent enough.A few years ago I was on the look-out for a quick, practical car and I had a test-drive of a late-model 9000 Aero.
It was rubbish. Admittedly, it was a few years old, but the handling was shocking. I went with an Octavis vRS which was superb.
MC Bodge said:
I drove a friend's 9-5 Aero HOT and that wasn't much better and it had ridiculous levels of wheelspin. My Octavia vRS (pre-remap) could keep up until 80mph and used a lot less fuel.
You'd turned the traction control off in the Saab then ?I've owned a 9000 aero for a while now, it averages 30mpg, even better on a long trip, the engine in the 9-5 was revised to make it more economical again, what mpg does the Skoda manage ?
Edited by Strawman on Friday 13th August 11:16
I have in the past owned two 9000 Carlssens and two 9000 Aeros all uprated to close on 300bhp by Abbott Racing,the last being a 1996 car.they fettled the suspension and a few other bits and pieces.The early TC was plain dangerous shutting down engine power in a skid just when you needed the power ! dropped on later models.they all covered close on 300,000 trouble free miles except the last which had a new engine at about 250,000 miles.seriously fast and one of the most comfortable cars i have ever driven,excellent A/C.once you understood a frontwheel drive car with close on 300bhp these were very easy cars to drive fast even allowing for the understeer,most of which Abbott dialled out with the suspension mods over the standard models.
still miss them,my last one was a monza Blue,a dark Blue was one of the best colours
still miss them,my last one was a monza Blue,a dark Blue was one of the best colours
Edited by markreilly on Friday 13th August 10:36
Done well the 9000 can look ok but generally not a fan of 9000s or red cars. Think the 9000 needs a dark colour to look good. Even a well restored 900 Carlsson in red I'm not 100% about http://www.paradisesaabs.com/1990g-carlsson-restor...
Personally though there's no better SAAB than a 900 carbio. Not shed money though.
Such a timeless looker
Place down the road from me specialises in SAAB restos and often have decent stock.
http://www.paradisesaabs.com/index.html
Personally though there's no better SAAB than a 900 carbio. Not shed money though.
Such a timeless looker
Place down the road from me specialises in SAAB restos and often have decent stock.
http://www.paradisesaabs.com/index.html
900T-R said:
With all due respect, I'm not sure anyone in the business would praise anything based on a Golf IV platform in similar terms...
Apologies. My post didn't read correctly -I'll edit it.The vRS was a superb 'package' (performance, economy, practicality, value). Grip was ok and although the steering wasn't as good as all that and the rear suspension a bit crude, it felt far better than the 9000 (and the 9-5, different chassis)that I drove.
The 9000 may drive better with a lot of work done to it, but that is also true for many other vehicles. The Mk1 Mondeo, for example, (albeit a newer design) was a better handler as standard.
The Octavia with a rear arb and KW coilovers could be fairly good. Cash-flow at the time prevented my doing the suspension mods though.
Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 13th August 11:22
cbcbcb said:
I didn't expect to see my own car on SOTW! I bought the black one last week. It's having some work done at the moment, hopefully MOT'd next week...
Is this the first time that the SAOTW has been bought by a PHer before being posted as SOTW? They get bought quite often after...Top shed, anyway!
Always liked the 9000 Turbo, especially, for some reason, the 'big headlight' five-door hatchback version. Always thought it'd make for a nice offbeat rally car, especially with those huge 'Saab'-branded, grilled spotlights on the front and finished off in that metallic bronze colour they used to do.
Had 2 9000's and I've currently got a 9-5 albeit the LPT and not the full fat version. They have all been great cars, not the most economical, but to be honest putting aside normal servicing never had to spend a penny on any of them. I've just put in an order for a new skoda fabia vrs for the wife to replace the 9-5 (just don't need a big car now the kids have gone). The fact that I'm reading this shows that I'm probably regretting it!
900T-R said:
MC Bodge said:
I wanted a fast 9000 when I was a lad.
A few years ago I was on the look-out for a quick, practical car and I had a test-drive of a late-model 9000 Aero.
It was rubbish. Admittedly, it was a few years old, but the handling was shocking. I went with an Octavis vRS which was superb.
John Miles in Vehicle Dynamics International magazine: "The last 'proper' Saab, the 9000, had a classic chassis. It was an object lesson in how to make a forgiving, but also beautifully balanced car." A few years ago I was on the look-out for a quick, practical car and I had a test-drive of a late-model 9000 Aero.
It was rubbish. Admittedly, it was a few years old, but the handling was shocking. I went with an Octavis vRS which was superb.
The chassis of my 9-5 Aero is way better than the 9000 Aero.
Edited by aeropilot on Friday 13th August 11:19
Hmmm...
As someone mentioned before, i do want to like the 9000 I really do. It appeals to me on a number of levels but, for some reason i can't bring myself to. The 900s of similar vintage however just look right. They do have character though. Something I would venture to say that an Octavia VRS lacks in comparison.
As someone mentioned before, i do want to like the 9000 I really do. It appeals to me on a number of levels but, for some reason i can't bring myself to. The 900s of similar vintage however just look right. They do have character though. Something I would venture to say that an Octavia VRS lacks in comparison.
Prefer the later version with the different front end.
My only dealings with these was one afternoon in the early nineties, went round to the in laws and a white one was parked there, went in and it belonged to a visitor who I recognised, it was Geoffrey Hughes the actor, aka Eddie Yates of Coronation Street back in the day and latterly Onslow off keeping up appearances, very nice chap, very intelligent and good taste in cars, quite bizarre discussing motors with Onslow as in my head he drove a Cortina, not a posh (then) Saab
My only dealings with these was one afternoon in the early nineties, went round to the in laws and a white one was parked there, went in and it belonged to a visitor who I recognised, it was Geoffrey Hughes the actor, aka Eddie Yates of Coronation Street back in the day and latterly Onslow off keeping up appearances, very nice chap, very intelligent and good taste in cars, quite bizarre discussing motors with Onslow as in my head he drove a Cortina, not a posh (then) Saab
MC Bodge said:
I wanted a fast 9000 when I was a lad.
A few years ago I was on the look-out for a quick, practical car and I had a test-drive of a late-model 9000 Aero.
It was rubbish. Admittedly, it was a few years old, but the handling was shocking.
I went with an Octavis vRS which was superb overall package.
I drove a friend's 9-5 Aero HOT and that wasn't much better and it had ridiculous levels of wheelspin. My Octavia vRS (pre-remap) could keep up until 80mph and used a lot less fuel.
Those sheds will be money pits too. Stay away.
one of the best saloons I've driven was a 9000 fpt with LSD, I can only assume your example was shagged or wornA few years ago I was on the look-out for a quick, practical car and I had a test-drive of a late-model 9000 Aero.
It was rubbish. Admittedly, it was a few years old, but the handling was shocking.
I went with an Octavis vRS which was superb overall package.
I drove a friend's 9-5 Aero HOT and that wasn't much better and it had ridiculous levels of wheelspin. My Octavia vRS (pre-remap) could keep up until 80mph and used a lot less fuel.
Those sheds will be money pits too. Stay away.
Edited by MC Bodge on Friday 13th August 10:36
The only problem I had with mine was a f
king German driving into the side of it, killing it for good, the bdEdited by The real Apache on Friday 13th August 12:51
So I went from my first car (55bhp) to a 130bhp Citroen ZX.
Amazing leap in performance to my inexperienced years, but 5days into ownership it need a throttle linkage. Garage had no courtesy car avail but felt guilty, so I was thrown the keys to the MD's black 9000 carlsson.
Oh my word, it felt a) huge and b) defined turbo lag and torque steer for me. Nothing, nothing, nothing, boost, wheelspin, and hedge tractor beam activated!
It was both brilliant and horrifically scary (I was only 20 / driving for 12mths) but etched itself onto my memory forever. Only had it for two days but blimey, it had character!
Oh, and one of the electric window switches was wired upside down
Amazing leap in performance to my inexperienced years, but 5days into ownership it need a throttle linkage. Garage had no courtesy car avail but felt guilty, so I was thrown the keys to the MD's black 9000 carlsson.
Oh my word, it felt a) huge and b) defined turbo lag and torque steer for me. Nothing, nothing, nothing, boost, wheelspin, and hedge tractor beam activated!
It was both brilliant and horrifically scary (I was only 20 / driving for 12mths) but etched itself onto my memory forever. Only had it for two days but blimey, it had character!
Oh, and one of the electric window switches was wired upside down
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