Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 19:18:48 GMT From: "William Brooks" <sea.brooksnopsamdnet.att.net> Subject: Re: Alfa164/Saab9000 similarities?
I had a fairly wild taxi ride in Rome in a Fiat Croma. As I recall (it's been more than 10 years) the Fiat did a pretty good job of absorbing some fairly huge bumps in the road at speeds I would term "alarming." I remember thinking at the time that it was too bad Fiat hadn't brought that car to the US. I have an 88 9000T and the ride is much firmer than the Fiat's was. Since I wasn't actually driving the Fiat, I can't compare handling. "Johannes H Andersen" <johsnopsamsafish.com> wrote in message news:38AB166C.572D99Fnopsamsafish.com... > > > Per Amneus wrote: > > > > Interesting observation... > > Do you think the difference in handling could be directly depending on the > > difference in weight? My personal experience is that heavier cars tend to be > > more "boring" (can not explain it better) although quite stable at high > > speeds. > > > > / Per > > Oh yes, there may be something in that, but steering geometry and suspension > also plays a part. As far as I can remember, the type 4 project collaboration > did not go smoothly, the italians and the sweedes had different markets in > mind. E.g. Saab stuck to a dead rear axle while the italian type 4 cars have > independent rear suspension. You must bear in mind that the project started > as early as 1974. As far as I know, no Saab 9000 part is interchangeable with > the italian cars, with the possible exception of standard (nonspecific) car > parts. The doors may look the same, but the Saab doors are much heavier than > those on the Fiat Croma. > > Johannes