Date: Sun, 05 Nov 2000 22:45:57 GMT From: "Keith Grider" <nospamnopsamdnet.att.net> Subject: Re: 2001 9-3 cup holder
To Jack and Tony, It is true that I am a bit miffed about my '96 900SET (transmission input shaft leak, vibration under accel). This has colored my glasses for now. There are some things which I did not notice on the '96 until I had lived with it a while. I think that the older Saabs designed before GM had a lot of facets which were 'finished'. By this I mean that the cars were reasonably easy to maintain for the 150-200kmi expected life. A lot of engineering attention to detail all around the car. As the design aged, every year there were improvements. If it was a glaring fault, it was fixed next model year or even mid year. The NG900 has many known faults and it seems very few of the majors were dealt with in its tenure. It seems that some of the majors were dealt with in the 9-3, but I have not evaluated one to see if the ones I have found are 'fixed'. It seems what Saab currently does is provide an interior and some body panels for the opel Vectra. The cabin is very quiet (assuming you do not have the clunking front end 'feature'). The seats are very supportive and comfortable. GM bought Saab because it wanted another high line car manufacturer (good profit margins) and possibly a supply of engine technology. They also wanted to increase Saab sales to enhance bottom line. These are fine goals and are in line with what any manufacturer would want. Their market research pointed to the fact that Saab sales were middling in the US and also worldwide. To inprove sales, they needed to make it less 'niche' and give iot a broader appeal. The newer bodystyles are much more similar to the current US and Japanese cars to my eye. This has gained them significant market share. What we have lost is the 'different' in the Saab. I think we will see more 'adaptation' of the Saabs to the US market as time progresses. Possibly even better beverage holders which function as designed will appear. If Saab engineers can make a chain driven transmission work, they can do pretty much anything. GM put a v6 in the 900 because the market research said that people wanted a v6 in a 30k+ car. I am sure the Saab engineers were quite upset as 185HP - 225HP from teh current 2.0 and 2.3L was enough and the torque from the T4 was very adequate. Honda did the same in the accord even though the performance and fuel mileage were worse! I think a balance can be struck between different and sales success. I am not sure that GM is capable of orchestrating it. Maybe i am a bit of an elitist. ;-o My opinions, Keith Grider "Tony" <NOSPAMtshiminopsam.com> wrote in message news:3A057D87.EE665CA4nopsam.com... > > > Keith Grider wrote: > > > > market. Better cup holders are only a matter of time. This is GM and will > > continue until it looks and acts like a Lexus. > > > > Keith Grider > > > Do you really mean this last statement or are you just upset!. > > Regards, > -- > Remove "NOSPAM" from address for direct e-mail > ####### > # #### # # # # > # # # ## # # # > # # # # # # # > # # # # # # # > # # # # ## # > # #### # # #
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