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I'm quite baffled that no one's mentioned this yet; perhaps my definition of body roll is incorrect? What I understand to be body roll is the tendency for the car to lean to the outside of the turn as the outside suspension compresses.
Now I don't know about anyone else, but I view this as a non-issue in the stock 9-3 compared to other problems. How can it be that the Saab both has the roughest ride and the worst bodyroll of any car worth comparing it to? It can't...right? Rough ride is an indication of a pretty stiff suspension (even the auto mags agree on that one). A stiff suspension, by its very nature will not roll too much. (Of course, those of us who really spend a lot of time racing around need even stiffer shocks and lower springs, but that doesn't apply to this discussion.)
We all know that the 9-3 chassis is not particularly rigid, and the stiff factory suspension is a bandaid attempt to combat this and give the car a sportier feel. Perhaps this lack of body rigidity is more accurately what you describe. In fact, I'll bet it is, seeing as how you have compared only convertables. I don't know for sure, but logic dictates that the convertable will be even less rigid than the roofed models.
Another issue (one that isn't discussed too much here) is the half-ass (semi-dependent) rear axle. My understanding of this is that factory tolerances for tracking and camber on the rear axle are quite poor. Since the axle geometry is quite important to handling, especially at high speeds, this can be a problem. There is a quite wide spectrum of axles ranging from ones that handle 'perfectly' to ones that border on unsafe. The axle is not adjustable, except by Abbott Motorsports to the best of my knowledge. They have found what they determine to be optimal angles (2mm toe-in tracking and -1 degree camber) and can modify your axle to meet these specifications.
The 9-3's steering stability is not world renouned either. Tire pressure is another quite important issue not to be overlooked, as Dean pointed out.
Anyway, I have experienced just about everything but excessive body roll in my 9-3 (MY98/99, 5-door, base, stock 15" tires, 27k miles). Depending on the type of turn and road conditions, she'll always oversteer, understeer, or slide well before you feel like the car wants to roll over. Handling remains solid and predictable to 140+ mph, even with heavy loads. Of course, I may just have much lower standards than you do, this being my first real "sporty" car, if you can call it that.
Abbott (http://www.abbottracing.com) has just about everything you can possibly get to improve the handling of the 900/9-3, but at quite a cost. Perhaps the Viggen Rescue Kit would be your best bet...opinions, Dean?
, Tue, 6 Feb 2001 19:09:46, Tue, 6 Feb 2001 13:24:33
, Sat, 3 Feb 2001 23:58:41
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