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I was a die-hard manual guy myself before I bought my 2006 9-5. Every automatic tranny car that I had ever driven before the 9-5 always seemed to be either 1) ungodly boring or 2) always in the wrong gear and downshifting. Case in point, I had a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix rental car recently and that auto-box drove me crazy. The car seemed to have some power, but the autobox was constantly shifting up and down anytime you hit the gas. It drove me crazy...(well, besides the car being ungodly ugly, but that's another discussion).
When I was looking at my 9-5 I was ready to walk away from the deal if I wasn't happy with the auto. My initial preference was a manual, but there are very few '06s left with manual trannys. I'm eligible for the GM employee discount and I could only really afford the '06 with the added end of the year cash back incentives on top of the discount, so ordering an '07 with a manual from the factory wasn't an option. At the same time, the GM discount plus the incentives I was getting were about the same as the price of a CPO'd '05 Aero, or just a little bit more than a CPO'd '04, so I felt that the best deal was going with the newest car. So, I drove the auto, but asked if I could take the car for the whole afternoon to make sure that I would be happy with the tranny.
To make a long story short, I have to say that I am extremely impressed with the 9-5s auto - with the Sport mode engaged I honestly feel like the car is always in the right gear to get the most power out of the engine and I love the increased throttle response. For me, I do alot of driving around town and honestly with the manual I would get a bit sick of the first gear, second gear, stop, first gear, second gear, stop, bit over and over again. I can still use the steering wheel triggers when I want to around curves, etc., but I think that Saab/GM have done an amazing job with this auto tranny.
So, if you're a die-hard manual fan you should of course look at the 5-speeds and stick with that if it's what makes you happy. It's nice, though, that Saab offers an amazing automatic transmission for those that choose to go this route.
Just my $.02 (or maybe really $2!)
posted by 144.92.9...
, Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:38:26, Thu, 30 Nov 2006 14:29:15
, Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:24:05
, Tue, 28 Nov 2006 15:33:54, Wed, 29 Nov 2006 12:44:32, Wed, 29 Nov 2006 14:48:13, Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:59:59, Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:52:44, Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:27:41, Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:37:00
, Tue, 28 Nov 2006 13:27:27, Tue, 28 Nov 2006 13:27:59, Tue, 28 Nov 2006 07:37:53
, Tue, 28 Nov 2006 07:14:02
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