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Hi everyone,
In the midst of LA's "Carmageddon" (which actually turned into the BEST weekend ever to drive around LA), I headed out to Saab of Beverly Hills, as their web site said they had one 6 cylinder 9-5 in stock. Turned out they had 11 9-5s...all 2.0Ts except for the one Turbo6 XWD (non-Aero). I drove out in my '03 9-5 Aero wagon (with new tires, and FINALLY, functioning A/C...turned out it was in fact a bad driver's side blend door motor after all) so that I could immediately compare.
I started in the Turbo6. Engine is super smooth at idle, but I was surprised at the somewhat less than linear throttle response. The car feels very heavy...you feel the 4300 lbs+ curb weight. The car only had 22 miles on it so I didn't beat on it that much. Standard suspension, which I thought was firm, but not harsh. Steering is a little light for my tastes. The '03 has a nicer, heavier weighted steering feel. Maybe cars with DriveSense have better feel?
I then drove a 2.0T right afterwards, and I came away preferring it. Much lighter, more nimble, felt sportier. The power band was more linear than the 2.8T, and I kept asking myself if I would be happy with this engine power wise. To be honest, it felt way more than adequate. Add three passengers and luggage, and it might be a different story. I've always been one for preferring the "bigger engine, more power" but in this case, the 2.0T would be my preference. I do have concerns how the wagon will perform with the 2.0T and XWD...I have visions of the family's old '98 Volvo V70R AWD that was a total slug off the line and you always felt it was underpowered.
Other comments:
Non-Aero seats lack side bolstering.I hope nicer Aero seats will come in the wagon.
The doors close with a very solid thunk. The car feels like it's built like a tank, which I like.
The sea of grey plastic on the dash desperately needs some sort of cover...carbon fiber, metallic finish, whatever...just get rid of the dull grey expanse! I believe it's coming anyway.
The non-Nav cars have a really cheap looking green radio screen. Saab should bite the bullet and at least do what VW does with its non-Nav cars and have a nice color screen interface. The Nav system on the other hand is fantastic...easy to use, touch screen worked well. Interestingly Saab went with an ABCDE linear letter guide on the screen instead of a QWERTY keyboard style. Wouldn't most people prefer a keyboard style these days? The car with Nav still had the green screen in gauge area, which was a bit of a downer. The color screen in the '10 Aeros I've seen is way nicer.
The back seat is just HUGE. Victor Muller should be marketing these cars to fleet/limo operations that will soon be losing their aging town cars. With rear seat room and trunk space like this, it's a PERFECT black Town car replacement. That would help increase sales too. Many fleets in LA are now using Bluetec diesel Mercedes R class cars. Black 2.0T 9-5s would be a nice relatively efficient complement to those.
More of my $0.02 on this Monday.
Paul H.
'03 9-5 Aero wagon
posted by 76.214...
, Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:40:05
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