Date: Fri, 03 Nov 00 22:15:10 GMT From: amesnopsamrak.demon.co.uk (Andrew Stephenson) Subject: Doubts about the 9-3's "nervousness"
Today I handed back a 9-3, borrowed from my local dealer for a 24-hour test. And I really don't know what to make of it. There is so much to like. Design attitude. Care over ergonomics and safety. Performance. Etc. But there were features I could not live with -- and I'd like to know if these are typical of the model, or just easily-fixed aberrations. The specification was almost what I was interested in, relevant parts being: 2001 9-3 Coupe LPT SE. But it had 17" wheels, not the standard 16" size. What ground down my happiness was what I call the "nervousness" of the ride. With SAAB being a mid-to-high performance marque, one must accept the suspension will be lively. It needs to be, for good road-holding. OTOH, each bump came straight through, unmuffled by the seating; the car jittered restlessly; and it occurred to me that any passengers would surely become sea-sick. This BTW was on well maintained but narrow winding rural English roads. I was getting around 38 MP(UK)G, at an average of 35 MPH in the course of one hour on the home stretch. Ie: little wild acceleration, just reasonable progress for the route, allowing for slow tail-backs, some town driving towards the end and that only a fool would exceed 60 on most of _those_ lanes. The car wasn't exactly being thrashed or thrown about. I could probably get used to: * the controls crammed into the gap between the front seats and having to fight my jacket to reach them and the ignition key; * and the struggle to deploy the seat belt (remember, this was a Coupe, on which the wider door's rear edge is extra-far back); * and the teensy storage bins; * and let's not start _another_ thread on cup holders <g>; * and odd stuff like that. But the decidedly un-restful ride would kill the deal. What I need to know is: how right was the salesman, when he said that probably the standard 16" wheels would smooth out the ride? Do they make much of a difference in the car, as specified above, compared with the 17" ones? Thoughts appreciated. Do keep in mind: I wanted to like the car. -- Andrew Stephenson
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