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With my 08 Aero purchase I got my discount voucher for the Aero Academy and I just completed it this week. It fell on my birthday and now that the program is coming to and end I figured it would be a good time to go for it and make a mini vacation out of it at Chateau Elan. The class had about 15 attendees, more than I thought would be there in December (it was Cold). The group was comprised of both men and women with varied backgrounds and ages so it was pretty cool. It is seems to be up in the air for classes past December based on interest and as everyone knows definately gone forever after June or so next year.
All in all I was glad I went, I had a lot of fun. There is a lot of wheel time and you do learn a lot about the capabilities of these cars which is pretty incredible. There were a mix of 9-3's sedans and SCs and 95s. There was a manual shift 9-3 Sedan and 1 manual 9-3 SC which I tended to use but really doesn't make a lot of difference which you picked since everything is pretty much in 2nd gear. The instructors are good, perhaps a little to quick to praise in some cases. I would have preferred more exercises where the instructor rides along to get a better critique real time but for what the course is (was) I was pleased. One thing that did kind of let me down is that they didn't share the lap times from the day 1 initial times vs day 2 after we had the training - I don't know officially if my times improved or not....
Experience summary:
Class- fun, and worthwhile. You'll do things to these cars you'd never do to your own Saab and the instructors do know these cars very well. The lead instructor we had, Brian, has been with the program since 1999 when it was the Viggen Flight School so he knew the strengths and weaknesses of the Saabs as it relates to this kind of environment.
Group dinner - no matter where you stay make sure you go, you paid for it and the food and wine and the company were all good. Lots of different kinds of people buy Saabs, but all have something in common and love to talk about their cars and experiences. I do wish the instructors would have participated, however.
Chateau Elan - pricey but if you have the resources go for it. I do a lot of traveling and this place was much better than I thought it would be in all respects. Not run down or outdated. My girlfriend loved the Spa while I was in the class but if you go this route, look into a package deal, it may be a little cheaper than doing it all ala carte like I did.
Would I do it again? Yes, if they offered a next level class or in 3 or 4 years it'd be worth repeating this one. Too bad Saab is dropping it but obviously the Aero Academy's future is the least of their problems as Saab's future along with GM remains uncertain.
posted by 70.127.255...
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