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New to the world of the 9-5 Posted by John Fitzgerald [Email]  (#77)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from John Fitzgerald) on Fri, 12 Feb 2016 13:29:54
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Hi, guys,
Been reading your posts as I worked on several projects on my "new" 2008 9-5. Bought it last month ; at 100,000 mi including five years in Texas, it's a rust free car to add to our collection of high mileage 9000's.
I did an OE SEM DI cassette and plugs right away - gone is a slight stumble. A K&N air filter, P/S fluid flush, trans fluid flush, oil change [p.o. mentioned it'd just had a 'synthetic oil change' but the filter was a made-in-china of such dubious quality, I couldn't stand it ... did a Lubro-Moly engine flush and pennzoil synthetic w/ a Mahle filter]. Plus various misc interior light bulbs, incl the shift console indicator light and the central locking light ...
Just finished doing three of the four engine mounts: rt front [main, upper mount], and both lower and upper trans mounts. Had to say, my first three weeks of driving were filled with moments of "why does this engine feel so coarse"? thoughts. Much, much better now, especially at idle, in Park, or shifting gears.
A few observations on the evolution of the Saab, in no particular order:
-the interior feels slightly smaller, but nothing is too tight in the front seat. Rear seat is smaller
-nice, big trunk. Nice fold-down split seats, more useable than the 9000 split, especially with Aero interior seating
-nice audio system, especially compared to all the factory systems we've had in 9000's over the decades [let alone the 'no radio' system in our 1980 99]
-seat heaters are awesome
-rear seat heater!!! a hit with kids, visitors, our dog, etc. Nice.
-cool articulating cupholder, but I keep wondering if it will be overloaded with a full coffee mug. Hmmm. Jury is still out.
-Heater system: works fine, two zones is nice, but tempted to tweak 'full Auto' much more often than the 9000. Gripe: defrost mode seems to jack up the temp irrespective of the temps selected to 'blast furnace' Liked the fact that the 9000 always maintained selected temp regardless of override chosen. Can't return to Auto by deselecting an override mode. Buttons are a little bit smaller [this is a 2008]
-ride, handling is much smoother than all the Aero's we've had. '98 CSE still wins the 'touring car' prize for long haul driving comfort.
-seats: good support, adjustable. Nicer than several other Saabs we've had ... BUT can't find a good height/angle/distance for the steering wheel to the left armrest.
-nifty center armrest/cubby w/ the sliding top feature. Almost makes up for the angle/height of the left armrest on the door
-steering wheel height adjustment is a nice feature. Could use more depth adjustment ... did lawyers tell the engineers how close the airbag could be?
-audio controls, etc on steering wheel is a plus.
-cruise control stalk seems a bit more cumbersome. And: no cruise controls on steering wheel. Very sad, compared to what is 'standard' on the 2003 330 BMW I'm driving when it's not the land of ice, snow, salt, etc. Maybe a big deal in 1999, but should've made the leap by 2008. A weakspot.
-5 speed automatic transmission: this is perhaps one of the nicest upgrades over the 9000. We have had manual 5 speed 9000's [excellent] and several four speed automatics. I could write a book on the things that nag me about the 9000 automatic, gear drag on downshifts, hunting between third and fourth, etc. This Aisin transmission is one of the highlights of driving this car: strong, selects the right gear, coasts down nicely, quiet ... very nice.
-engine compartment is much more crowded and harder for some routine mx - serp belt change, anyone? Man alive. The external dimensions of the hood/engine compartment seem really similar to the 9000, but the burying of items in the front clip, the different subframe, engine mounts on top of the serp belt, running super extra long extensions on hoses from one side of the radiator/intercooler/AC condenser to the other ... what a tight ratmaze. Guess I'll adapt.
-Still recall the first time I opened the hood in England on a 1985 9000, comparing it to the '80 99 and '73 96 we had, thinking 'I'll never know what all these vac lines, hoses, and extra wires are for'. So, maybe I'll just get use to the tighter quarters under the hood of the 9-5. Part of it isn't limited to Saab: the notion of the 'fully packed front clip' as opposed to a bumper, grill, and structural members area first is gone forever, I guess. EU pedestrian safety? Better aerodynamics?
-an external cooling vent for the battery ?! interesting. Maybe a heat problem on early model years in the good ol' USA?
-lots more horsepower in 'stock' trim. This thing flies when i really stomp down. Had to be patient on the auto trans 9000's; the '97 Aero 5 speed is much more comparable to this 9-5
-headlights [halogen, not xenon] aren't as good. Put in two new bulbs, slight help.
-a glove box! yeah!
-door storage: almost reduced to nothing, and the gain is just a speaker assembly. Again, comparing it to the 2003 BMW 330, the door storage could be much better. In fact, even with the glove box, interior storage seems a bit light.
Ok, enough griping and carrying on. I've had the car for five weeks and 2500 miles and it seems a good successor to the fleet of older 9000's we have. Hope to get many miles out of it, and I appreciate, as always, the write-ups and trouble shooting so many of you fellow Saabnet users contribute. Keep it up.
John
Burlington, Wisc
'73 96 RHD sold after four years in Middle Barton, Oxfordshire, UK
'80 99 sold after 20 years/192,000mi
'86 9kT sold after 12 years/approx 121,000 mi
'87 9kT sold after 9 years/approx 174,000 mi
'97 CSE given to my son after 8 years @ 245k; he sold it at 254k mi
still driving:
'95 Aero 136,xxx mi for my daughters to drive
'97 Aero 286,xxx mi wife's daily driver
'98 CSE 229,xxx mi for my daughters to drive
'08 9-5 2.3t 102,xxx my winter daily driver
and a couple of 'non-Saabs':
'01 Suburban 153,xxx mi
'03 BMW 330 Cic 70,xxx mi
_______________________________________ John Burlington, Wisc '73 96 RHD sold after four years in Middle Barton, Oxfordshire, UK '80 99 bought new, sold after 20 years/192,000mi '86 9kT picked up at Trollhatten, sold after 12 years/approx 121,000 mi '87 9kT sold after 9 years/approx 174,000 mi '94 CSE given to my son after 8 years @ 245k; he sold it at 254k mi '95 Aero 146,xxx mi sold '98 CSE 248,xxx mi gave it away '97 Aero 317,xxx mi my daughter’s school car … gave away [we put 300k mi on it] still driving: '97 CSE 170xxx mi 'project car' for myself and my daughters to drive '07 9-3 2.0T 240xxx '08 9-5 191xxx mi my wife's daily driver and a couple of 'non-Saabs': '01 Suburban 201,xxx mi '03 BMW 330 Cic 84,xxx mi '14 Mercedes E350 103,xxx mi
, Fri, 12 Feb 2016 13:29:54 <-- Viewing This Message, Tue, 1 Mar 2016 17:48:01
, Sat, 13 Feb 2016 17:30:54
, Fri, 12 Feb 2016 16:45:28
, Fri, 12 Feb 2016 14:28:33
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