RE: Shed of the Week | Saab 9-3 'Aero' cabriolet
Discussion
Greg the Fish said:
For 4 up, cruising with the wind in your hair
Noooo,Unless under the age of 12, nobody should ever sit in the rear seats of four seat convertibles with the roof down, it just looks utterly wrong.
Guy locally when I was late teens used to cruise with his mates like he was the man in his XR3i convertible, he was the local tough, son of a scrap dealer guy, only problem was his car was his mums and it was pearl pink with a white hood and he cruised round with the poor, basic Ford stereo cranked up to distorting levels with three of his mates in the car, looked a bit sad.
BricktopST205 said:
Saab have never been the best dynamically...
Owners of 900s may well disagree with you there, as the handling of those was well up with the best at the time - certainly the aero-spec cars (SPG in the US) - with well-located rear suspension and north-south engines, but once GM spoiled the party your statement stands, unfortunately.J4CKO said:
Noooo,
Unless under the age of 12, nobody should ever sit in the rear seats of four seat convertibles with the roof down, it just looks utterly wrong.
Guy locally when I was late teens used to cruise with his mates like he was the man in his XR3i convertible, he was the local tough, son of a scrap dealer guy, only problem was his car was his mums and it was pearl pink with a white hood and he cruised round with the poor, basic Ford stereo cranked up to distorting levels with three of his mates in the car, looked a bit sad.
Sitting down is better than standing up, especially with your arm held out straight...Unless under the age of 12, nobody should ever sit in the rear seats of four seat convertibles with the roof down, it just looks utterly wrong.
Guy locally when I was late teens used to cruise with his mates like he was the man in his XR3i convertible, he was the local tough, son of a scrap dealer guy, only problem was his car was his mums and it was pearl pink with a white hood and he cruised round with the poor, basic Ford stereo cranked up to distorting levels with three of his mates in the car, looked a bit sad.
Having driven Saabs of this vintage, the one thing missing from the description is a limited slip diff. It's a must with this much power. A colleague had a Y reg Aero coupe (a real Aero, not a tarted up SE) with 320bhp which was incredibly well sorted (including the aforementioned limited slip diff) - I had a 60 mile jaunt in it once, and it was stunning. Reliable too, as it was his everyday car for many years. My own 2003 9-5 Aero had a polybushed subframe and limited slip diff - they transformed the car.
Decent shedding this week.
Decent shedding this week.
Thanks for the article Tony it made me laugh - it reminded me of Custom Car magazine back in the early 80's (when they used to refer to you as Tony Middlethng ha ha ha ) so appropriate in the context of your prose ! most amusing - always enjoy your pieces - the cars are just cars......who cares
I bought a LPT convertible a couple of years ago and love it. I think when new I would have found it dynamically lacking but it's a lovely relaxed lollopy old thing - 154 bhp is enough for its chassis and quick enough for overtaking etc. I think the build quality is good - very solid feel to stuff inside, and 19 years old and 125k miles it drives very smoothly. And in the last two and a bit years I've spent little to nothing on it other than servicing and some decent tyres. from a £1k whim car I can imagine keeping it for many years.
I’m a multiple Saab owner too and can only echo the earlier comments. Comedy torque steer, chassis flex and turbo lag.
I miss turbos of old though and the nothing , nothing, nothing.......WHOOSH! Was tremendous fun.
Throttle bodies also seemed to be a weak point on these along with the mentioned gearbox. I think I got through 3 of them in 60k miles. Might have been they way I drove it though (see above ‘whooshing’ which is quite addictive).
An earlier poster mentioned a cheap interior which I don’t agree with. Mine always felt very solid and well put together. Definitely took a downward step in the next generation 93 though which was a huge disappointment even if it drove better.
Great summer shed for the money and still looks great.
I miss turbos of old though and the nothing , nothing, nothing.......WHOOSH! Was tremendous fun.
Throttle bodies also seemed to be a weak point on these along with the mentioned gearbox. I think I got through 3 of them in 60k miles. Might have been they way I drove it though (see above ‘whooshing’ which is quite addictive).
An earlier poster mentioned a cheap interior which I don’t agree with. Mine always felt very solid and well put together. Definitely took a downward step in the next generation 93 though which was a huge disappointment even if it drove better.
Great summer shed for the money and still looks great.
12 months MOT and a convertible for the summer, don't need much else. Run it for a year if it gets through the next MOT that's 2 summers fun out of it. If it fails bung it on ebay 99p start no reserve, worst that could happen is it sells for 99p so a year of motoring for £100ish a month.
Still a lovely looking thing, the years have been kind.
Lovely interior in these, a mate had one of these same colour and everything (though I remember his seats being less yellow and it may not have been a turbo, imperfect memory) it was a lovely place to be a sunny day the interiors are a good place for a dead cow to find itself. It does seem very sad that we will never see their lik again. Enjoy them while they last.
Lovely interior in these, a mate had one of these same colour and everything (though I remember his seats being less yellow and it may not have been a turbo, imperfect memory) it was a lovely place to be a sunny day the interiors are a good place for a dead cow to find itself. It does seem very sad that we will never see their lik again. Enjoy them while they last.
They had one on a re-run of Wheeler Dealers this week .
An 02 reg in the same colour .
They replaced the ignition cassette, turbo , gear knob and fitted a steering rack brace , oh and replaced the ignition lock barrel as it had become sloppy . I have had 7 SAABs over the years but never a convertible, they seem to be one of the few that a bloke doesn't look like a poser when driving them . As each summer comes around I ponder a rag top and if I ever did take the plunge it would be either a SAAB or an Audi 80 .
An 02 reg in the same colour .
They replaced the ignition cassette, turbo , gear knob and fitted a steering rack brace , oh and replaced the ignition lock barrel as it had become sloppy . I have had 7 SAABs over the years but never a convertible, they seem to be one of the few that a bloke doesn't look like a poser when driving them . As each summer comes around I ponder a rag top and if I ever did take the plunge it would be either a SAAB or an Audi 80 .
My mother still has one which she has owned for well over 10 years. A 1998 2.0 non turbo, It couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding but it's ultra comfy and I think the build quality is actually okay, certainly better than the last generation 9-3s which my father has. The chassis flex is comedic but all that aside it still looks like a classy classic car. I can't see her ever selling it!
B10 said:
Sadly the steering rack was mounted on the bulkhead. This would flex and sometimes crack.
That was it. Not just a Convertible trait, they were all fallible. Someone did a rack brace for them. I remember buying one, and swapping it for a leather interior for my mate's one (mostly as the interior vendor had fallen out with the brace supplier, so I was the Kofi Annan between them).FerdiZ28 said:
I’m naked as I write.
Good for you 
Edited by BFleming on Friday 5th July 11:45
Turbobanana said:
As the long term owner of an original ("Classic") 900 Convertible, I should hate this.
But..., over time, these have grown on the purists and offer excellent value. Yes, you'll get scuttle shake but nothing like as bad as mine. Yes. you'll get turbo lag but that's just how they are, sir.
The worst thing is probably the torque steer, because these have transverse engines whereas the older ones had longitudinal, so equal length driveshafts - something not mentioned by Shed in the article.
For the money this is a fantastic summer smoke, in a good colour combination too.
I feel exactly the same way. It's not as if my car is the last word in handling and anyone who has driven contemporary things like the Audi 80 drop-top knows that chopped cars of that era were not always all that good!But..., over time, these have grown on the purists and offer excellent value. Yes, you'll get scuttle shake but nothing like as bad as mine. Yes. you'll get turbo lag but that's just how they are, sir.
The worst thing is probably the torque steer, because these have transverse engines whereas the older ones had longitudinal, so equal length driveshafts - something not mentioned by Shed in the article.
For the money this is a fantastic summer smoke, in a good colour combination too.
But who cares. They look good (and better and better with time), and are very comfy.
I'll keep my old 900, though, thanks! Very entertaining in a gentle, old school way. Actually a much nicer steer than my 1994 Merc E320 cab, a car which is meant to be the last word in luxury convertibles of that era, but which handles less well and shakes more than the Saab, and has a less fun drivetrain.
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