1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
You are correct, I guess I did miss your point, if firm ride and sensitive steering is your complaint. Yes the car arguably "suffers" from this but to me this is not all bad, in fact I prefer it to most other de-sensitized rides out there, but that's personal preference. I have driven 3-series and other RWD cars aplenty. Great car, the 3-series, but needs active stability control to manage oversteer. The new ones have very light steering, which I dont find so appealing. Viggen needs driver input to manage understeer. The A4 w/ 4wd eliminates most handling worries altogether but has other issues that I find less appealing than the Saab. I wont argue over the Viggen ride firmness. I bought mine after driving it a fair bit and understood what I was buying. I didn't expect the firmness to go away after I left the lot. I like it. I drive about 40k a year on all sorts of surfaces throughout northern New England and Eastern Canada. Lots of frost heaves. The only complaint I have is low ground clearance of the front spoiler but i am learning to live with it.
To compare the Viggen to an old muscle car is simply wrong, in my opinion. There is no doubt the suspension design is older than many of today's high performance cars, but it still does very nicely under any real-life driving conditions I encounter (no, not Road Atlanta) I regularly drive the same routes through the twisties in norhtern New Hampshire where I live and have done so with lots of good cars over the last 20 years. I cannot find any traits with this one that are so objectionable -at real life speeds- and I do push my car a lot. And I certainly have never jumped into another lane after hitting a bump! But then maybe I have both hands on the wheel when I drive, and maybe this is where I miss your point.
To sum up, does this car need more driver involvment than most, yes. To some that is a good thing to others not. Is it unsafe and unpredicable? Not to me, but maybe I have spent a bit more time bonding with mine and seeing what it can and cannot do. This may turn the unpredictable into the predictable.
For my buck, the car gives me 28-30 mpg at 85 mph, lets me carry almost as much stuff as my 850 wagon, has great seats and I don't tire of it after 8 hour drives. Say that about an M3 or an S4!
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.