Date: Fri, 9 Apr 1999 07:48:24 -0700 From: "Calvin Cheng" <bmwxxxusanopsamell.net> Subject: Re: Saabs are little bitch cars (BS)
I took my '95 9000CS with the light pressure turbo (170hp) and auto to Laguna Seca the other day for a NASA event. I have recently also upgraded the rather soft stock suspension with the struts, shocks and springs from the 9000 Aero + 205/55ZR16 tires. The car did remarkably well, but that's given the fact that I was in the beginners' group and there were 50 cars on the track at the same time so there was always a traffic jam at each turn. The nice thing about the Saab was that it didn't understeer as much as most of the front drivers I have driven (well, I guess mostly pure family cars). But the turbo lag (with the auto esp.) was annoying. Then again, with just 170hp,. faster cars (ie. Mustang Cobra) were blowing by me in the straightaway and I was quite helpless. The brakes felt rather mushy too although it seemed to work better than it indicated. Then once again, I never really got to push the car as hard as even my limited skills could because of the traffic. I used to own a BMW M3 and I'd say things happened a lot more quickly. The M3 also provided a much better feel at the corners. And the brakes (including the feel) were awesome. The Saab actually had pretty good steering feel although the steering ratio was rather slow. The Bimmer's seemed to be calibrated just right for the track - it's a little slow for autox but perfect at track speeds. And in terms of that discussion about torque. If you have driven the M3 with its super smooth straight six. You will change your mind. It's easily the most responsive engine there is out there and it delivers power in a very linear way which makes it really easy and intuitive to control the power. And on the track, you usually have your engine revving above 4000RPM which is where the sweet spot of the engine is. The non-M3 variants might be somewhat lesser, but they are by a significant extent the best in class. It's amazing to some extent how much better they manage to do it vs. the competition (namely the Audi 30V V6). Overall, both the M3 and the Saab suffer in terms of delivering the greatest fun factor in the same way - they have to double up as luxury cars and thus filter out some of the sensations that make track driving enjoyable. The Saab, especially, felt more laid back. I was probably driving more aggressively than the car would have indicated to me. That's why I think it's still a good idea to go out and get a pure sports car, one that has a real stiff suspension and direct feel. Meanwhile, the first thing I'm going to do is to add a thicker rear sway bar. And then I'm going to look for the conversion from the LPT to FPT and then dealing with even more turbo lag. I'm suffering a serious case of horsepower handicap. I kinda regret not going for the 5-speed. Riff wrote in message <370BDB6E.1E301611nopsamsouth.net>... >The 9000 2.3L turbo is a big car to be swinging around the track! >against a 3 series!!! but your Turbo has gobs more torque than most all >3 series ever made!! > > >Mark >Jan Soderberg wrote: >> >> ---- >> I saw one TV commercial with a BMW without their traction >> >controll sliding its way around a slushy course and barely >> >managing to hold on while being followed by an identical car >> >with the electronic traction control looking like it was ready >> >to jump on the trunk of the lead car and eat it for lunch. Front >> >or rear drive, computers will make us all better drivers. >> >> There is always a limitation in the extent a computer can save you. Systems >> like the one BMW (or M-B) uses prevents you from building up potentially >> dangerous speed/yaw rate situation, but if you suddenly run into a situation >> like that, like an ice-spot or a snow-string the computerized control system >> woun't be able to help you. >> >> - Then you'd be lucky to drive a Saab! (or any other FWD or AWD car for that >> matter) >> >> BTW I'we once raced against a tuned BMW 325 on a track, using a standard 2.3 >> T Saab. >> Had some problems in getting the power to the ground in sharp bends (burnt a >> lot of rubber) , where I lost distance to the BMW, but the situation was the >> opposite on the straights! Overall the Saab was the fastest. >> (I still don't judge my Saab as a performance car in the regular sense, but >> for everyday use, and especially in situations like passing a long truck in >> a snow storm, there is not much competition) >> >> / Jan Soderberg >> (... BMW 520, BMW 520 Wagon, Saab 9000 CS 2.3 T)
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