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We did a family trip this weekend from Northern Colorado (Loveland) down to Southern Colorado (Pike's Peak). Dad, Mom, the two kids, a suitcase & a duffel bag, all in the comfort of the 9-3. It's a '99 SE w/auto, & we normally get about 21-22mpg shuttling the kids around town & such. The drive down saw 34mpg, with the total 600 mile trip averaging 30mpg. Not bad for dragging around 4 people & their gear for 3 days of sight-seeing. (And while pulling away from all the V8 & V10 trucks on the long, extended uphills to boot!) No, I didn't drive up Pike's Peak. The Michelin Pilots & an auto tranny aren't the right tools for the job, even if it was clear & dry (it wasn't; it was snowing at the top).
For the past two years I've been running my 205/50-16 Pilots at 44-48psi (max rating at 51psi), but on this trip I decided to try'em closer to the manual's "recommended minimums," & I bled'em down to 38psi all'round. (Drew: is this closer to what you run?) Handling & ride quality were both improved, & the tires didn't try to "climb out" of road ruts or jump surface irregularities as much. I'll keep'em at this setting for the season (since I put'em on just before the trip), & see how they do around town. Remember: the manual's tire chart (& the door placard) are Saab's recommended MINIMUM tire pressure settings, so don't let your pressures fall below the numbers listed!
The only trouble I had was starting the car the first morning. I had parked behind our cabin, about 10 feet from the stream, & the nose of the car was pointing slightly down hill. The engine kept dying unless I kept the RPMs up around 1200. I held it here for maybe 45 seconds, while the engine continued to clear out its slight stumble. After this, I was able to ease off the pedal & have the engine stay alive. The engine gave us no more trouble the entire trip. Has anyone else had similar intermittant starting problems? (Nose pointing down hill? Hot engine shut off next to excessive moisture? Small animal lodged in the air intake?)
All in all, a fun trip with a true, 4-person "sports sedan"!
posted by 216.160.177...
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