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9-3 Sport Combi review
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Posted by wei_ [Email] (more from wei_) on Thu, 23 Mar 2006 13:45:10 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: Re: Sport Suspension upgrade done on my Arc, Talladega900, Mon, 20 Mar 2006 18:27:36
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Compared to a stock 2003 9-3, there is minimal body roll thanks to the beefier anti-roll bars. The gearing feels changed so that the transmission is *always* in the right gear for passing; they tweaked it so the turbo is always under a slight load (as shown by the boost indicator). You really don't feel or notice the extra weight in the rear, it drives just like the sport sedan but with improved rear visibility.

I originally believed the tray that replaces the pop out ash tray to be typical GM decontenting. Having spent some time with all my gadgets in the Sport Combi, I have to say it is an improvement. Having access to my center console power adapter without sacrificing my lower cubby is a very good thing. There's enough clearance for the GPS speaker, the added cubby fits my cell phone, headset, and coins discretely.

My main gripe is that the instrumentation has been dumbed down for the United States masses. Why does GM feel that we need a bright orange indicator for whether the passenger airbag is on? A single dot would suffice, but this large 1x1 inch indicator is a complete 180 from Night Panel. There is no way to turn it off. Other dashboard indicators are now multicolored symbols (too much bling).

The cargo area is well thought out. There are lights on both sides of the cargo hold which direct light onto the cargo floor, as such you're not blinded. The cover for the spare tire is a separate piece from the covers for the side cubbies--a nice touch keeping things from escaping while you change out the spare. The cargo cover allows two positions and is an excellent fit. If you have taller items, use the more vertical track. For everyday use, the standard horizontal position is fine. Should you wish to drive with all the windows open, at 100kmph the cover doesn't create deafening flapping noise.

The standard projector beam headlights are great on this car! I didn't miss Xenons one bit.

Some minor gripes, which may be b/c of the lack of package options or programming:
No comfort open.
No one touch open/close on any windows but the driver's.
No one touch open/close on sunroof, at all.
Speed Dependent Volume didn't work.
Holy sunroof rattle (and uglier control switch).
The base stereo seems to have too much bass now. It sounds perfect with the treble on max and bass at 0, but returning bass and treble to 0 results in muffled output.

posted by 65.222.174...
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