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9000 Bulletin Board
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Re: a few ?'s about the 9K
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Posted by Ari [Email] (#2847) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Ari) on Tue, 23 Oct 2001 09:03:38 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: a few ?'s about the 9K, Allen K, Tue, 23 Oct 2001 00:15:48
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The 9000 came in two styles - the 4 door hatch, and the 4 door sedan. The sedan body style ends in CD or CDE. But the vast majority of the cars are the hatchbacks, all the way up through the end of production in '98. So if it doesn't say CD or CDE, it's a hatch.

The hatchback is cavernous. The body style was basically unchanged from introduction in '86 until through the 1992 model year. In '93 the body style changed slightly. The major difference in '93 and later is the hood is lower, and rear end was changed slightly. I believe that the back end change may have added an inch or two of length and therefore more cargo space. The body style change also made the hatchback look less like a hatchback, but a hatchback it remains.

The 9000 NEVER had the ignition key between the seats. It was always on the column.

Autotranny. A decent, 4-speed transmission. There are two drawbacks to the autotranny. The first is reliability. Plan on needing major transmission work approximately every 100-120K miles. Now, the transmission may very well last forever, but most of them need work in that range, and the work isn't cheap. However, this is also 6 years or more of normal driving, so needing to do some work every half-decade isn't all that big - all cars need work at some time - and the 5-speed isn't bulletproof.

The second drawback of the autobox is that the car isn't as fast as a five speed. If you get an autobox, you must get a turbo. I find the non-turbo automatic to be unacceptably slow. (I know, I've got a '92 since new).

Bottom line on the tranny - if you want or need an automatic, get one. Try and find one that has been replaced recently, or otherwise figure in the cost of a replacement (around $2500) into the price when you buy. The 5-speed is faster, more reliable, and gets better gas mileage. But all my 9000's have automatics because of physical issues, and I'm happy with them. More happy with the turbos....

Actually, the '91KT, built in the last part of the year, are the pick of the littler. In late '91 they went to the 2.3l turbo, and it was one quick car. The '92 was just as quick, but it came with TCS (Traction Control System), that was problematic in some cases. Given a choice, I'd go with the late year '91. But not all '91KTs are 2.3l - the 2.0l is nice, but not as fast.

If I were in the market for a 9000 right now, I'd look for a 95-98. The TCS was out in '95. They're newer, and they've already taken a big depreciation hit. Every year the 9000 got better. From 95 on, they're all turbos, except for the V6. But not all turbos are equal.
The turbo came in two styles - LPT (low pressure turbo) and FPT (full pressure turbo). As a tip-off, the LPTs don't have a boost gauge. The LPT ran at lower boost. The car has good acceleration, just isn't as much fun as a FPT. You can modify a LPT into a FPT, but if you want FPT, buy it that way.
Saab introduced a V6, made by GM. It produces decent horsepower and torque, and is smooth. It didn't have the best reputation. Part of this is because it's an engine from the Evil Empire (GM). It also has a timing belt instead of Saab's timing chains, and belt breakage was a problem. Replace the belt every 30K or else. Else is a belt breaking, which trashes the engine. Some belts broke before 30K. The V6 also is a little harder to work on. This is my old-time Saab roots talking, but if you want a Saab, get a 4-cylinder turbo.

Another boost for a manual car - in the later years, the FPT came with more horsepower with the manual tranny than the automatic. You can get an Aero automatic - but it has the same hp as a non-Aero. The Aero had more horsepower in the early/mid 90's, but by the end of the model run, the regular cars had the same HP as the Aero. The Aero has different wheels, and different seats. Some folks love the Aero seats. Some don't. The back seat in the Aero is different, and it doesn't fold down the same way as in the other cars, limiting it's usefullness.

The difference between CS and CSE is trim level, CSE being more upmarket. In some years it also is LPT vs FPT, but you can never be sure unless you look. For a while Saab let you order cars, so you could get a pretty full up CS, or stripped CSE. The only way you'll know is to look at it.

Frankly, a later model FPT 9KT is just as fast as a '91, but newer.

Good luck!



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