Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2000 19:12:21 -0500 From: Four Weis <mweinopsamcom> Subject: Re: Want to improve handling on 9-3
It seems the 9-3 does not give you the feedback that the 900 gave you in the turns. It would seem that stiffer shocks and springs would reduce body roll, but not in this case. A heavier set of sway bars would help. Perhaps others could answer if there was a change between the 1983 and the 1986 900 suspension. My 900 has power steering as well, so there seems to be some differences between your 83 and my 86 900. I ran Pirelli P600s and had Recaro seats in my Saab. The seats were necessary to keep me from sliding around the seat in the curves. I don't think I ever had the front wheels break loose in a turn with my 900. I have had the rear wheels pass me on snow, but that was when I learned the hard way about have all four tires with the same tread depth and make/model. Robert Brown wrote: > Good question, I'm not sure how to answer: > > I'd say the 9-3 we have gets through corners much more quickly than our 900 > does, so in that way of speaking it handles much better. But then the tyres on > this 9-3 are 2 cm wider than on the 900, the wheels are much lighter, and the > shocks and springs much stiffer. So the tyres grip well but the rest of the > car lurches around a bit so it's hard for me to sense where it's going to go > if I push it over the edge. > > Our 900 breaks grip on the front pretty easily (was worse until I had the > toe-in done) but I feel a lot more secure driving it because I can better > sense where the limits are. Not having power steering means that the hands get > a better idea of what's going on too. I'd say that our 900 handles worse than > the 9-3 but is more driveable, due to the above reasoning. > > I'm beginning to wonder if maybe a stiffer sway bar on the back of the 9-3 > would fix things. > > BTW is there anyone out there who has servo steering in their cars but wishes > they could take it out? Just to start a discussion ;-) //Robert > > Four Weis wrote: > > > I saw that you also own an 83 900. Are you saying the 9-3 handles worse > > than the 83 900? My 86 900 has the optional air suspension (big rubber > > bags inside the rear springs) and it handled the curves like it was on > > tracks with no body roll. > > > > Robert Brown wrote: > > > > > Hi, > > > > > > We have a 1999 9-3 SE 200. Reasonably powerful motor but we think the > > > car handles like a dog. Feels rather uncertain in corners, so we don't > > > really feel comfortable pushing it heavily. > > > > > > Problem could be partially due to servo steering that takes away a bit > > > of the road "feel". The body sways a bit more than I like but I can > > > almost put up with that. > > > > > > The real problem is that it's hard to feel the point at which it would > > > break grip, so it's hard to learn to develop confidence for the car when > > > cornering hard. > > > > > > Some background: normal suspension, no sport handling kit installed so > > > far, Michelin Pilot ZR 205/55(?) x 16 in summer (185/65 x 15 winter but > > > we'll forget that for now). Tyre pressure 2.6 kPa. Have not checked > > > front-end but the car has handled the same since it first turned a > > > wheel, so we'll assume the factory got the toe-in and camber right. > > > > > > Is this lack of feel to do mostly with the insensitivity that servo > > > steering brings to this particular model, or is it time to start > > > changing the springs (have heard talk about progressive rate springs, > > > where first centimetre is soft to take away ride harshness, but where > > > the rest of the travel is hard, to give stability). Or maybe we're > > > talking about a stiffer sway bar in the back, since we're definitely not > > > suffering from oversteer here. > > > > > > Have any of you suspension experts out there (with 9-3's) felt the need > > > to fit either Saab's own sport spring kit, or Abbott Racing or other > > > company's parts to cure similar trouble? Wouldn't mind hearing your > > > views if you have the time. Thanks for listening. > > > > > > Robert Brown > > > Gothenburg (1999 9-3, 1983 900)
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