RE: Open Season: The Saab Convertible Story

[iva cosworth]

billzeebub said:

Anyone who doesn't rate these cool cabrios hasn't owned one...lets hope Koeoonnnigeegsssigeeeeeeg sort a vehicle with such a breadth of talent in the near future

Edited by billzeebub on Thursday 6th January 17:49

Edited by billzeebub on Thursday 6th January 17:52

Edited by billzeebub on Thursday 6th January 17:53

Edited 3 times and still got it wrong Spyker bought Saab

not Koenigsegg

[MX7]

anything fast said:

MX7 said:

Without doubt, the worst handling car I have ever driven. Great got a pose though.

You must have driven only good cars then. I have driven an old Turbo 900 and i thought the handling was not awful but not really what i expect from a sporty car, but there are far far worse handling cars out there like old cavaliers, old astras, nissan micras, most american slushmobiles from the 80's to name just a few

I'm sure the hard top is fine, but the convertible is woeful. Break heavily, and you can feel the rear wheels getting light. There just wasn't enough metal to keep any rigidity.

[KM666]

billzeebub said:

I have owned several BMW E36 V6 convertibles..and an E46..without doubt a great drive in the summer months, If you have two cars then, assuming you can live with the image, there is nothing better on the market...however if you only have funds for one vehicle and intend to use it through the winter months then nothing else has the all round Saab package. Built originally by Scandanavians to withstand the very worst of their winter weather the cars were totally over engineered, and this shows now with the amount of examples still on the road and in very good fettle.

I have owned several classic 900 convertibles, and I can honestly say Ive never had anything break and never had to make use of a breakdown service...despite all of them having been well past the 100,000 mile mark. What other car can you say that about? For all-round all-season ability nothing beats them..the quintessential four seat four season convertible...even the GM models have their merits for safety and winter use.

The classic feels like a bespoke car..almost 'bentleyesque' when you buy a top spec Turbo 'Aero 16S' version with the wood dash, leather interior and air conditioning. Almost like a Landrover/Rangerover/Golf/Mini in that respect...A classless car that when you see one, even though now the youngest examples are over 15 years old, it could be anyone driving..from a movie star to a high court judge..there are still a lot around in the poshest lanes of London town

Also there are many expert garages out there who will help you treasure the car at very reasonable rates..the number of times Ive been given discount and/or free parts just for being enthusiastic and owning a classic 900..tintop or convertible!. The owners club is also a very active and hepful source of information, with lots of meets and activities throughout the year.

Anyone who doesn't rate these cool cabrios hasn't owned one...lets hope Koeoonnnigeegsssigeeeeeeg sort a vehicle with such a breadth of talent in the near future

Edited by billzeebub on Thursday 6th January 17:49

Edited by billzeebub on Thursday 6th January 17:52

Edited by billzeebub on Thursday 6th January 17:53

slightly off topic but i dont suppose you'd know which company produced convertable E30 3 series with a D3 badge on the back, my mates got a black E30 with IIRC the 2.5 petrol but is confused further by having aplina alloys, exhaust and some other engine bits. i know bmw never made thier own convertables of the E30 and that D3 usually referrs to the uber deisil alpina jobby. i cant find anything anywhere about any bmw tuners calling a cab the d3

[noclue]

I just made a random purchase on Ebay of an old 8V Turbo 900 (1985) as saw it was just down the road and fancied another project. Have to say my first Saab and im impressed at how much of a totally usable classic it is even with 170k on the clock!

Torque steer and lag are massive and sorry but handling is pants (my Alfa 75 leaves it for dead on both counts), but still a great car to put a smile on your face!

[NiceCupOfTea]

Probably needs its suspension refreshing - handling is very tidy on these old buses (the tintops at least)

[SleeperCell]

KM666 said:

slightly off topic but i dont suppose you'd know which company produced convertable E30 3 series with a D3 badge on the back, my mates got a black E30 with IIRC the 2.5 petrol but is confused further by having aplina alloys, exhaust and some other engine bits. i know bmw never made thier own convertables of the E30 and that D3 usually referrs to the uber deisil alpina jobby. i cant find anything anywhere about any bmw tuners calling a cab the d3

If you can't find any info, and the car is full of alpina badged gear and there is no plaque on it saying what it is then maybe you should just accept the obvious fact that it's almost certainly just a wrong badge someone has stuck on it for whatever reason (sadly very common for BMWs to have incorrect badging). If you insist on looking further the main tuners of E30s who put out their own badged versions were Alpina, Hartge and Schnitzer.

Also BMW did make it's own full E30 convertible, it was however designed by Baur, who also made the Cabrio version with full BMW support.

[Turbobanana]

Riggers said:

TheOrangePeril said:

"The idea of a sun-seeking soft-top being built in a land proved to be a captivating idea"

Couple of words missing chaps?

Great article though, does anyone know if they made an open top Sonnet (production)?

There were... there aren't anymore

Don't forget that in summer Sweden (at least the far north) gets 24hr sunshine: why wouldn't you want a convertible?

[John.Taylor]

GR4 said:

My wife's got a 9-3. By no stretch of the imagination a sports car, but quite well appointed convertible transport for very reasonable money. I'm happy to be corrected, but understood the 'bulkhead issue' not to be a massive deal and not even an MOT failure when it happens. I was told it is spot welds letting go, not metal fatigue, and a cheap fix when and if it happens. The other issue to be aware of on the second generation cars with 2.0 petrol engines, is clogged up sump strainers which has led to quite a few engine failures. Worth having the sump dropped and cleaned out if it's not been done.

Yeah, this looks a doddle: http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/My-NG900-Bulkhea...

[Cupramax]

billzeebub said:

I have owned several BMW E36 V6 convertibles..

But never looked under the bonnet?...

[Turbobanana]

NiceCupOfTea said:

Probably needs its suspension refreshing - handling is very tidy on these old buses (the tintops at least)

Agreed. Tin top certainly handles better but needs good tyres to get the best out of it. Used to use Bridgestones on my old one. Soft top, due to greater shell flexibility, is better in the wet and snow however.

[NiceCupOfTea]

noclue said:

Torque steer and lag are massive

Whilst the early cars are laggy (much better with later water cooled mitsubishi turbos, although it's a characteristic that I quite like) I would question your statement about torque steer - c900s have an equal length double wishbone setup that virtually eliminates it! Also, an 85 8v turbo was around 140 bhp when new so hardly a power house. I doubt what you are feeling is torque steer, more likely to be alignment/tyre issues IMHO.

[DrTre]

NiceCupOfTea said:

Whilst the early cars are laggy (much better with later water cooled mitsubishi turbos, although it's a characteristic that I quite like) I would question your statement about torque steer - c900s have an equal length double wishbone setup that virtually eliminates it! Also, an 85 8v turbo was around 140 bhp when new so hardly a power house. I doubt what you are feeling is torque steer, more likely to be alignment/tyre issues IMHO.

Agree, never had a hint of TS in mine...although the oil cooler dumping oil in the path of the NS front tyre lead to some interesting handling characteristics just before Xmas...

[GR4]

John.Taylor said:

GR4 said:

My wife's got a 9-3. By no stretch of the imagination a sports car, but quite well appointed convertible transport for very reasonable money. I'm happy to be corrected, but understood the 'bulkhead issue' not to be a massive deal and not even an MOT failure when it happens. I was told it is spot welds letting go, not metal fatigue, and a cheap fix when and if it happens. The other issue to be aware of on the second generation cars with 2.0 petrol engines, is clogged up sump strainers which has led to quite a few engine failures. Worth having the sump dropped and cleaned out if it's not been done.

Yeah, this looks a doddle: http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/My-NG900-Bulkhea...

I'm not a mechanic and have not experienced the issue first hand on our car, but I've seen it stated on Saab forums that if you have the problem it can be repaired for a few hundred quid and engine does not need to come out. So doesn't sound any worse than any number of problems you might experience with a 10 years+ old car, and not really enough of a deal to put you off buying one. Would be interesting to hear from someone here who has had it fixed.

[Frimley111R]

Just as a quick aside, I was watching JC on an old TG testing the 9-5. He said: The only part of the car that has any link with a SAAB jet plane is a button to turn most of the control lights off at night (heater, radio, etc) and that the SAAB plane uses a Volvo engine!

[KM666]

SleeperCell said:

KM666 said:

slightly off topic but i dont suppose you'd know which company produced convertable E30 3 series with a D3 badge on the back, my mates got a black E30 with IIRC the 2.5 petrol but is confused further by having aplina alloys, exhaust and some other engine bits. i know bmw never made thier own convertables of the E30 and that D3 usually referrs to the uber deisil alpina jobby. i cant find anything anywhere about any bmw tuners calling a cab the d3

If you can't find any info, and the car is full of alpina badged gear and there is no plaque on it saying what it is then maybe you should just accept the obvious fact that it's almost certainly just a wrong badge someone has stuck on it for whatever reason (sadly very common for BMWs to have incorrect badging). If you insist on looking further the main tuners of E30s who put out their own badged versions were Alpina, Hartge and Schnitzer.

Also BMW did make it's own full E30 convertible, it was however designed by Baur, who also made the Cabrio version with full BMW support.

tbh i always thought he was full of st. but claimed the logbook said D3 although of course that became 'lost'. ahhh yeah thats what i meant, sorry, that somebody outside of bmw had designed it, IIRC in an article about the scirocco the convertable 3 series were built in the same factory as the scirocco, alongside the convertable escorts too. karman i think it was. its also got wierd embroidery on the seats a slanted red and blue motif which i havnt seen on any other E30's although to be fair to it iv only ever come across 316 and 318 e30s before his.

[NiceCupOfTea]

This sort of thing?

[noclue]

NiceCupOfTea said:

noclue said:

Torque steer and lag are massive

Whilst the early cars are laggy (much better with later water cooled mitsubishi turbos, although it's a characteristic that I quite like) I would question your statement about torque steer - c900s have an equal length double wishbone setup that virtually eliminates it! Also, an 85 8v turbo was around 140 bhp when new so hardly a power house. I doubt what you are feeling is torque steer, more likely to be alignment/tyre issues IMHO.

Could be, its my first so could not say for sure, although only seems to happen on boost.

[bencollins]

EEEEE, dead classy.
I reckon the current and pre facelift models look great, plus they always seem to painted in beautiful mica type colours. The turbo motors are pretty good too and reasonable mpg for 200hp, plus the tid.
C.ant see SAAB lasting much longer producing miniscule volumes, so gotta be collectable (very long term that is)

[KM666]

NiceCupOfTea said:

This sort of thing?

yes but without the 'M' and the light blue stripe

[aeropilot]

Frimley111R said:

Just as a quick aside, I was watching JC on an old TG testing the 9-5. He said: The only part of the car that has any link with a SAAB jet plane is a button to turn most of the control lights off at night (heater, radio, etc) and that the SAAB plane uses a Volvo engine!

Clarkson also failed to mention the fact that, Saab the planemaker, and Saab the car maker have been totally seperate and unconnected companies since 1989, so any comparison with any Saab designed after that is rather pointless