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Date: Sat, 03 Apr 1999 00:57:52 GMT
From: wilkinspnopsamnet.au (Peter Wilkins)
Subject: Re: Saab 9-3 or a BMW 328i


On Thu, 1 Apr 1999 16:59:15 +0200, "Johan LAUWERS" <lauwers.sablonnopsam.be> wrote : >No one can deny that Saab is a master in ergonomic arrangment and alignment. >If you can't admit that .... All these ergonomic features are an heritage >of their plane building history. > Until I bought my 98 9-5SE, I would have agreed with you, but the 9-5 is, in my opinion, an ergonomic disaster in comparison with previous Saabs. Probably designed by GM, not Saab engineers, and it's NOT a drivers car. In Australia, the turn indicators are on the wrong side of the steering column: they are set for left hand drive. So every time I drive the Saab after driving any local car, I tend to turn on the windscreen wipers instead of the turn indicators (and vice versa): not my idea of a good safety feature, positively dangerous, and a pretty petty cost cutting exercise in a car costing 75 grand in Oz. I have to take my hands off the wheel to operate some of the steering column controls, like turning on/off and setting/changing cruise control or changing the variable wiper delay speed. I used to be able to adjust every steering column control without removing my hands from the wheel in my last car (a Subaru Heritage) and in my earlier Saabs. This isn't a problem if you are alone on the road, but in heavy traffic in the rain it can be distracting and dangerous. The front windows don't have up/down controls on the doors: they are only on the centre console. Most annoying and dangerous when approaching a toll booth: trying to juggle change with your right hand, lower the window with your left, and steer the car with your... oops, just ran out of hands. The front window controls are also not intuitive or easy to find by feel, and it's not good to drop they eyes down to look for them while you are driving. The electrically operated front seats have insufficient tilt and height adjustment: it's hard to get a comfortable position, even though the seats themselves are great. The seats also kept forgetting the memorised positions, but they did fix that by fitting a replacement switch: the original switch activated all position buttons and the memory button when all buttons were depressed simultaneously by the back of my leg when exiting the car. I was the first person (at least in Oz) to point out the reason for this problem- Saab service didn't have a clue, and kept suggesting intermittent connections in the wiring! So not only did bad design get through, they couldn't fix it until told how by a customer! You can't safely operate the SID while driving - must have a passenger do it. No passenger, no SID. The internal rear vision mirror is too small, with blind spots for overtaking cars not compensated for by the external mirrors. You can't see some of the switches (eg foglights) without bending down around the steering wheel. The centre armrest in the rear seats has a lift-up lid, but it can't be secured in the up position. Result, one young grand-daughter with very bruised fingers, lucky not to be broken, when the lid fell on her hand. Saab say "bad luck", they are not going to provide any means of locking it when raised. The door pockets won't even take a simple Sydney street directory, let alone a road map book: they are an odd oval "fashionable" shape, which is useless for real items. I have other minor bitches, including several system failures, but that's enough for a start. No, let me give you one more example. There is an interlock which stops you putting the car in gear unless you have your foot on the brake. Good idea. Unfortunately, the interlock has a habit of failing, leaving the car locked in "park" and you stranded. There is a means of bypassing the interlock, but do you think it is mentioned in the handbook or in the delivery briefing? No, I had to hike miles to a phone to find out. Good design? Huh! I have had six Saabs over a period of 20 years, 99's and 900's, and have loved them all dearly, if not fanatically. I skipped the 9000 as it didn't look or feel like a Saab. I bought the 9-5 as it appeared at first to go back to the Saab roots, but it's just a tarted up overpriced Vectra. I won't buy another Saab after this experience, can't stand Mercs or BMW's, so where do I go for a distinctive car with high levels of comfort?. I hate to say it, not normally being a supporter of Japanese over European design, but my last car, a Subaru, seems even more attractive in hindsight. I should have bought another one of those, and saved buckets of money! -- _--_|\ Peter Wilkins Email : wilkinspnopsamnet.au / \ 2/24 Cove Avenue Phone/Fax : +61 2 9977 2395 \_.--._* MANLY, NSW, 2095, Mobile: 0417 415 014 v AUSTRALIA

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