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There are a number of things Saab is up against with the 9-3 platform - some are problems inherent to the design, some are not.
Most of the 9-3's problems come from the front wheel drive setup. We all have to understand that a front wheel drive car is a mixed blessing. Saab chose the front wheel drive mainly because of its safe handling characteristics in snow and ice, but there are also benefits to cost, weight reduction and gas mileage. Two problems inherent to this choice: the car steers with the same wheels it powers, and the car lifts off the front wheels while accelerating (loss of traction). Both these combine to exagerate any other suspension problems that may arise. The fix? Traction control has done away with much of the disadvantages of rear wheel drive, but all wheel drive is where the industry is heading. Saab should have gone there a long time ago.
Second, the body of the 9-3 flexes a great deal. This is a real complaint, and is one of the problems that Abbott has tried to fix. The fix? Hopefully the new platform will help, but Saab needs to pay more attention to body flex in the future. The C900's and 9000's had much stonger bodies.
Third is the suspension setup, including tire choice. The most glaring omission of Saab's is in the rear. Without independent suspension, any bump on one side is transfered to the other. The bump is also not absorbed in a straight line, but in an arc, as the axle is hinged at the other wheel, so movement is not only up and down, but left and right as well. I can't tell you what is wrong with the front suspension, other than to say something isn't right, at least in the Viggen. I have driven cars with suspensions that have been screwed up by the owners (big offsets, super-wide wheels, etc.) and the Viggen feels like that. Saab has tried to explain it away as loss of traction, but I'm not buying it. I do think that a lot of the Viggen's problems are related to the tires, however, in that the Dunlops have stiffer side walls compared to the Michelins, or so I've been told. However, I think that the tires are probably exagerating/masking a deeper problem.
Finally, there is the turbo. Yes, even the turbo. Many of the failings above will be made apparent when the suspension torqued suddenly. The 2.0 and 2.3 are some of the smoothest turbos out there, with very little turbo lag, but they can still be "bouncy" (especially if you've been fooling around under the hood), and it takes some experience to know exactly when the power will hit. This affects the Viggen, I guess, more than anything else.
There are other factors, too - steering rack, car width, weight distribution, etc. I think the only two problems that are related to "old" designs are the body flex and the rear axle. Everything else is either a design decision or poor adjustment.
I've been on a rant the past few days about Saab and the Viggen suspension, but don't take it the wrong way - we own two Saabs and we're looking at another one. I just think Saab has really run up against the limits of front wheel drive, to the point that it is revealing every little flaw throughout the car. They should have done more with the Viggen than they did - the car's power demands more from the rest of the car than Saab realised or was willing to put into it. It's a shame, really.
, Thu, 30 Nov 2000 23:32:05
, Fri, 1 Dec 2000 22:44:16, Sat, 2 Dec 2000 13:13:38, Sat, 2 Dec 2000 13:16:31
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