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first impressions of 9-3 Posted by MJM [Email] (#872) [Profile/Gallery] (more from MJM) on Fri, 12 Apr 2002 09:30:41 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
My car is in the shop today for the SRS light and the service manager graciously gave me a new 9-3SE 5 door for the day. This is the first 9-3 I've driven and the newest one since the '95 and '96 I test drove (bought the '95).
It's a great color combo, dark blue with beige leather, one of my favorite combinations.
On the plus side, everything is tight, which it ought to be with 80k fewer miles than my SET. Responsive steering, well damped over bumps, relatively little body roll. Tires are Pirelli P6000's, 205/55/16 and are _much_ quieter than my RE730's without giving up grip, to the extent that I could tell playing on off ramps. The embossed "turbo" logo on the seats is cool. The steering wheel is nicely shaped and I like the perfed leather cover.
On the down side, nothing significant has changed on the inside. The seats still offer absolutely no lateral support and I feel like I'm sitting on top of the car rather than in it. It's nice to have a working seat heater, although I think more heat, ie more than one setting, would be nice on really cold mornings. The dash layout is just like my '95 and while the wood (plastic?) offers a nice color contrast, it looks like plastic, or at least like the stick-on stuff my friend put in his Saturn. This was an auto., so I can't comment on the newer clutch, but the car doesn't seem to have as much power as I'd thought. Even mild power-braking only brought a small chirp halfway across the intersection (TCS off). Romping on it brought out a touch of torque steer, but it's orders of magnitude less than the t.s. on my SET where the car will crab sideways with the steering wheel pointed straight.
Bottom line - there isn't much there that excites me. It's tuned and positioned more for luxury than for sport. In that sense it reminds me more of the Acura 3.2CL/TL, except that the Type-S's offer 260 hp and on the CL, a 6-speed with torsen LSD, and for ~ the same money. Actually, this 9-3 strikes me a lot like my friends new Accords do, competent but bland.
I'm sort of disappointed Saab, I hope the new 9-3 is better.
Mike
'95 SET
85k, Konis
posted by 146.186.237...
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