RE: Saab 9-3 HOT | Shed of the Week
Discussion
That's a lot of car for the money these days, when anything with an MOT is worth over a grand.
As has been noted they do not have the most resolved chassis in the world. I had an LPT 2.0 and although it was super comfy and great on the motorway or dual carriageway, on the twisties it was a bit of a mess. Not much point in trying really, just slow down and use the turbo to whoosh you along any straight bits.
For all that I enjoyed the Saab experience. This is a good shed.
As has been noted they do not have the most resolved chassis in the world. I had an LPT 2.0 and although it was super comfy and great on the motorway or dual carriageway, on the twisties it was a bit of a mess. Not much point in trying really, just slow down and use the turbo to whoosh you along any straight bits.
For all that I enjoyed the Saab experience. This is a good shed.
benzinbob said:
Another Friday, and if it’s not a Volvo it’s a Saab. Really do not understand the fascination with the crusty old things..
They can only choose from what's available on PH Classifieds. It's hardly PH's fault if people are unloading powerful Swedish cars at tempting prices. Ouroboros said:
Just be warned it will as old as dinosaurs. Sounds good on paper but against newer stuff just can't compete.
For £1K you shouldn't expect to compare this to new stuff....for the equivalent sum you can buy a pretty nifty new electric scooter but that's not good for doing the school run or popping down to B&Q.benzinbob said:
Another Friday, and if it’s not a Volvo it’s a Saab. Really do not understand the fascination with the crusty old things..
I was like you. Didn't understand why anyone would want a crusty old SAAB or Volvo. So I ended up buying a crusty old SAAB and a crusty old Volvo to see what all the fuss was about. I kept the SAAB for 3 yrs and the Volvo for 11 yrs. I would say without any doubt that when limited to the sub £3000 bracket, the Volvos are better put together than the SAAB's.
They get under your skin and once you have tried not a care in the world, reliable, comfortable, Swedish shed motoring, its hard to go back to spending a fortune on cars that serve the same purpose, but crucially, depreciate and are often less reliable. Not caring if you curb the wheels, use the bumpers or bash the door on something is such a freedom and opens your mind to new motoring possibilities. I can go on a boozy night out and drive there in my shed, leave it in the roughest part of town and I don't have to worry that it may go missing overnight. I can squeeze into the tightest of spaces between two builders vans and not worry that a transit door will chip my paint etc. Swedish sheds are automotive nirvana.
x5tuu said:
I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but in my eyes that's just awful (inside and outside).
This car could do with the bigger wheels but I think this gen of 9-3 is a handsome old beast and the interiors are much better than some of the drab ones on cars of a similar vintage. I have really fond memories of my old 9-3 which I had as my first 'proper' car 10 years ago. Yes it was pretty s
t in the bends but it was a great practical cruiser with leather, cruise, climate control etc and a massive boot for £1.5k when the rest of my mates were in corsas and other fairly terrible hatches.I really like this shed, but then I always did like Saab’s. At this level you’re talking no more than 3 months worth of PCP payments so if it lasts longer than that you’ve had your money’s worth, if it lasts a year without major borkage you’ve done well, and if it lasts three years you’ve entered shed nirvana.
It probably won’t of course but even if and when it does die you can’t lose.
It probably won’t of course but even if and when it does die you can’t lose.
I had a 2001 model LPT version in Cosmic blue, had a choice of that or a better specced 2.0 NA version that had alloys and aircon, tried them both, no contest, the NA was only 15 bhp adrift on paper but on the road it felt like it had half the power.
The LPT engine was lovely, bought it as needed a car and thought it was a bit of a wooden spoon choice as I would have held out for a HOT, Viggen or whatever but it was lovely, smooth, powerful, loads of low down torque and very reliable. We thought it had a headgasket problem and was losing water, found an service bulletin that said to tighten the head bolts, re torqued them then did 30k more before I sold it and it was fine.
It was very comfy, good seats, great heater and it felt like a Saab despite being Cavalier/Vectra based, I had the later 9-3 Aero later on and that felt like a Vauxhall trying to do an impression of an Audi and failing, despite not being a bad car per se.
It was quicker than I expected, much quicker, it kept up with a Civic type R (Breadvan variety) and a Mini Cooper S.
Handling was sketchy, but not that horrendous really if you didnt expect too much from it, its party piece, in the wet was to see when you came off a roundabout what speed you could get the speedo to whilst the wheels span, it would hit 70/80.
Wasnt great on fuel, used to average 27, but could manage 40 if very careful on a longer run.
So, if its all right, this is a good shed, regardless of LPT or HOT, for me its in my favorite cars I have owned, not the flashest, most capable or desirable just got under my skin, really missed it when I bought the later one.
The LPT engine was lovely, bought it as needed a car and thought it was a bit of a wooden spoon choice as I would have held out for a HOT, Viggen or whatever but it was lovely, smooth, powerful, loads of low down torque and very reliable. We thought it had a headgasket problem and was losing water, found an service bulletin that said to tighten the head bolts, re torqued them then did 30k more before I sold it and it was fine.
It was very comfy, good seats, great heater and it felt like a Saab despite being Cavalier/Vectra based, I had the later 9-3 Aero later on and that felt like a Vauxhall trying to do an impression of an Audi and failing, despite not being a bad car per se.
It was quicker than I expected, much quicker, it kept up with a Civic type R (Breadvan variety) and a Mini Cooper S.
Handling was sketchy, but not that horrendous really if you didnt expect too much from it, its party piece, in the wet was to see when you came off a roundabout what speed you could get the speedo to whilst the wheels span, it would hit 70/80.
Wasnt great on fuel, used to average 27, but could manage 40 if very careful on a longer run.
So, if its all right, this is a good shed, regardless of LPT or HOT, for me its in my favorite cars I have owned, not the flashest, most capable or desirable just got under my skin, really missed it when I bought the later one.
Do love a SAAB and have scratched that itch, but hmmm a 'W reg' as shed of the week, I'm a huge SAAB buff, but I think this is a little too old now.
The 'verts of this era are still quite cool and desirable though (even in non aero guise), just not sure on this one this week, which pains me to say
The 'verts of this era are still quite cool and desirable though (even in non aero guise), just not sure on this one this week, which pains me to say
Ouroboros said:
Just be warned it will as old as dinosaurs. Sounds good on paper but against newer stuff just can't compete.
I mean, this is a pretty daft statement for a variety of reasons.. We'll start with I don't think anyone in the market for a 1.5k Shed is actually thinking it is going to drive like a new 5 series.. Compete in what way? In a crash? Well, definitely won't.. In actual driving experience.. Very subjective.Had a slightly later one of these as a company barge (on a Y plate), went well but the torque steer was hilarious.
Not a patch on the old pre GM models, I had an old 900T years before and that was way, way, better engineered and felt special. The GM ones were too GM despite all the stories about Saab re-engineering lots of unecessary stuff, its still a Vectra platform in drag.
Despite all that, I quite liked it as it was different from the other company barges I could have had at the time and the lease costs were very good as they could not shift them.
Not a patch on the old pre GM models, I had an old 900T years before and that was way, way, better engineered and felt special. The GM ones were too GM despite all the stories about Saab re-engineering lots of unecessary stuff, its still a Vectra platform in drag.
Despite all that, I quite liked it as it was different from the other company barges I could have had at the time and the lease costs were very good as they could not shift them.
I had one of these from new when I was going through my Saab phase (5 in a row). A 3 door, silver , velour seats. Mmmmm, I miss velour.
Can’t disagree with any of the handling & chassis comments. could definitely be a handful. Better than the previous same shape 900. Was a lot of fun though and mid range whoosh was very addictive.
This one is definitely a HOT. From memory you could have it with any trim level - basic, S, SE and Aero. 3 door, 5 door and convertible. Engines were 2.0 NA, LPT 150bhp, HPT 185 and HOT 200Bhp. Later there was the Vigen which I think was 230bhp. I think there was 2.3 NA but most people avoided that as it was terrible.
Wasn’t this still on the cavalier chassis and the vectra
Chassis didn’t get used until the final shape 93?
Whatever, if you’ve ever driven a vectra or Saab back to back they don’t feel anything alike.
Can’t disagree with any of the handling & chassis comments. could definitely be a handful. Better than the previous same shape 900. Was a lot of fun though and mid range whoosh was very addictive.
This one is definitely a HOT. From memory you could have it with any trim level - basic, S, SE and Aero. 3 door, 5 door and convertible. Engines were 2.0 NA, LPT 150bhp, HPT 185 and HOT 200Bhp. Later there was the Vigen which I think was 230bhp. I think there was 2.3 NA but most people avoided that as it was terrible.
Wasn’t this still on the cavalier chassis and the vectra
Chassis didn’t get used until the final shape 93?
Whatever, if you’ve ever driven a vectra or Saab back to back they don’t feel anything alike.
I had an N/A one of the same age ... which was very very slow. It made up for that with acres of beige velour and being fantastically practical.
I keep on looking at Saabs (I had two 9-5s after my 9-3) as a cheap and comfy daily but they are all getting on a bit now.
My gut feel is that to rejuvenate this and get a solid three years hassle free use out of it you’d need to chuck another £1.5k at it. Still not exactly crazy money though.
I keep on looking at Saabs (I had two 9-5s after my 9-3) as a cheap and comfy daily but they are all getting on a bit now.
My gut feel is that to rejuvenate this and get a solid three years hassle free use out of it you’d need to chuck another £1.5k at it. Still not exactly crazy money though.
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