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Saab auto excellent, why shift anymore?.... Posted by Mike Lynch [Email] (#81) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Mike Lynch) on Fri, 1 Nov 2002 16:22:16 In Reply to: Is the 9-3 auto trans. much better than the OG900 Auto?, Chad B, Thu, 31 Oct 2002 09:02:51 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
You feel like a lot of people. Automatics in an import was an invitation to a dull automobile. A perfectly good Saab was ruined by an old fashioned 3 speed auto. Then 4 speed autos came along, then lock up torque converters, then programmable automatics with sport settings, and around the same time horsepower and torque went way up, and now it's five speed autos with paddles!
Now you have to forget about those automatic stereotypes of the past. Newer automatics can be a blast! I guess '96 was the first year 9-3's came with the Asian-Werner automatic. 9-5's went to five speed autos in 2002. And the 9-3SS has a killer five speed auto with a manual shift gate called Sentronic. The 9-5 gets steering wheel paddles and retains the sport setting in drive, but the 9-3SS tranny really responds well and I don't miss the sport setting as much as I though I would.
As Saab's aren't great out of the hole cars anyway, a definite manual adavantage dumping the clutch and all that, a five speed auto in a new Saab will make you question why you need to shift, because if you want to you can anyway and there's no substitute for an automatic in traffic.
9-3's have the four speed, 2003 9-3SS has the five speed Sentronic. 9-3SS Linears have only the Sentronic shifting on the stick, Vectors (Arc's seem muddled) will have steering wheel buttons too. 9-5's had the four speed until 2001. 2002 9-5's had the five speed. 2003 9-5's have the same five speed, but now with steering wheel paddle controls.
As a counter point though, the new 9-3SS has an excellent new manual shift linkage.
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