Click Banner for Details on this Saabnet.com Classified
Site News - 7/11: No New News Today | 5/10: Members: Log In to See Fewer Ads!
[General | Members | C900 | 9000 | NG900 & OG93 | 93 | 95 | NG95 | 99 | Sonett | Vintage Models | Clubs | Other Cars | FAQs | Gifts | Member Photo Galleries | Member Directory | Classifieds | Manuals | *Buddy Registry | *Mileage Registry | Polls | What's New | Raffle | Photo of the Month | Sponsors]

9000 Bulletin Board
1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest]
(Search Author's Posts: e.g. Keyword:username)*Members Only

[Main 9000 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
CSE 2.0 LPT - an Aero owner's opinion (long - as usual)
Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board
Posted by BillJ (more from BillJ) on Sat, 13 Jul 2002 16:59:08 Share Post by Email
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

This won't help you fix a broken Saab or get more MPG, MPH or restful nights. However, I've surprised myself so much in the last 24 hours that I thought others might be interested to hear.

As many of you know, I drive a lovely (I think) silver manual '96 Aero in a pretty high state of tune (both power and handling). It sacrifices some refinement, and that isn't for everyone, but it's one of the fastest cars I've come across and it handles as if it's on rails.

While looking for a CSE 2.0 LPT auto for my father (still not got one), I came across an advert for a silver (the colour I was looking for) CSE 2.0 LPT. '95 (turned out to be late '94) with 136K miles. New transmission at 135K miles (sounded good). Well, I rang to see if it was an auto and the seller apologetically told me it was a manual. Later that night I saw an advert for a *manual* car, other details exactly the same, but £200 (US$300) less. I rang and it was the same seller and same car - he'd decided to avoid confusion over the transmission and to drop the price. I had been thinking of getting a spare car to drive while I undertook major projects on my Aero, and to take on long boring motorway journeys when the Aero's power and handling are of little benefit and the noise and firmness of the tyres/suspension, along with the sensitive steering, are just a drag.

I looked at it, took it for a long drive, checked the service record (complete Saab dealer service history) and left a deposit. Yesterday, around 7pm in a railway station car park (Sound dodgy? Not really, it was just convenient for him and his wife to meet me at the station as I couldn't drive there and drive two cars back) I bought my first 2.0 LPT.

It appears very well-maintained mechanically and lovely inside (cloth, not leather, and with a very good Kenwood sound system and the obligatory CSE wooden dash), but parts of the outside need a little attention. Hence I got it for £1700 (US$2500). I can see a project brewing for the web site. This car will remain standard, so hopefully some useful articles will come from it.

Anyway, I insured it temporarily for a few days and since I'm still looking for an auto for my dad, I have a lot of driving to do. Today, I spent hours battling through London traffic (my own stupid fault - I could have saved ages by using the M25) and let me say that this car is an absolute breeze to drive in traffic! I know the Aero would have felt heavy and cumbersome in that sort of traffic, maybe in part to do with the suspension upgrades, but it's even sluggish off the line due to the very tall gearing. The CSE drove like a small car, and I've actually started to think of it as being smaller than the Aero. In fact, it feels like a "girlie" car. It's quick off the line, easy to steer due to the tall 15" tyres and the gear ratios are very useful. I can drive in 4th gear at 30mph and in 5th at 40, which I never realistically could do in the Aero.

This car is just so smooth. Much smoother than the Aero was, even before I started modifying it. It's quiet (quiet enough to hear the dash rattling...) and has that nice torquey "pull" on the motorway (or elsewhere) when you need it. While it's the lowest-powered 9000 I've ever owned (it's my fourth), and can't compare in acceleration to the Aero, it's in no way slow and I've already demonstrated this fact to one or two other "enthusiastic" drivers.

In all, I was amazed by how this little (OK, I know...) car has already wormed its way into my affections. I think I'll be dividing my driving between the CSE and the Aero a bit more evenly than I thouhgt I might.

Hope this didn't bore you too much,

BillJ,

'96 Aero manual (rather non-standard)
'95 (sorry, '94) CSE 2.0 LPT manual

... both in a lovely matching Silver colour.

posted by 62.253....
Posts in this Thread:
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Post a Followup

No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.

Name: Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
E-Mail: (Optional)
Re-Enter E-Mail: (Confidential & Secure - Not revealed to other users!)
Note: Please check your spam folder for BB responses.

Subject:

Posting rules are simple - No for sale/wanted ads may be posted here - use the site classifieds.
You may not cross-post your message to multiple BBs.
Not permitted: political/religious topics and being disrespectful (personal attacks, insults, etc...).
 Site Members do not see any red text, inline ad links, bottom of page anchor ads, box ads, or anti-spam check.

Message: (please no for sale/wanted classifieds - post those in the Saabnet.com Classifieds)
Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).

Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post above, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).
Optional Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/)
Link Title: (Optional)
Optional Photo/Image Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/img.jpg)
Photo/Image to Upload: (Please be patient while file uploads)



StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2025 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]

Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)
This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous. Site Contact | Site Donations | Other Sites by SP - Poverty2Prosperity.org | Run Club Menlo Park | ScreenBot


Site Members do not see red text instructions, bottom of the page anchor ads, or box ads.
Click here to see all the Site Membership Benefits!