Difference in ARC and AERO
eaglewing
questions.
My daughter likes the looks of the 9.3 convertible and wants me get her one
for her 16th birthday. I told her I would ask around about them. I'm
thinking of maybe the '03 to '05 models with low miles.
1. Is this is a mechanically stable car for a young girl to have or is
there is history of problems with this model?
2. What is the difference between the ARC and the AERO model?
Thanks for your help.
eaglewing
Fred W
Eagle,
The 9-3 received a major update in 2003 in the form of the 9-3 Sport
Sedan. The convertibles did not change to the newer platform until a
years later (MY2004).
The current incarnation is leaps and bounds better in all regards than
the prior version 9-3 and (same body) "New Generation" 900s.
1> Yes, it is a mechanically stable car. It is also very highly rated
from a safety standpoint, though the sedan certainly more so than the
convertible.
2> You can read up on the 2004 9-3's here:
http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/models/2004/
Bonus answer> Are you 100% certain that you want to hand over a ~$25k
car to a 16 year old? I certainly would not.
Or is this really just a troll?
--
-Fred W
eaglewing
Thanks for the reply and the link to saabnet. I can assure you that I'm not
a troll and my question was legitimate. I bought my older daughter a new
Toyota Corolla (2005 model) when she was 16 and my wife and I drove it for a
year before she we handed it over to her. We plan on doing the same with
this car with daughter number 2.
My insurance carrier advised if we had the car registered for at least one
year prior to giving to new drivers in the family, it would help our rates
go down, and its proven itself to be correct so that's what I'm doing here.
Daughter number 2 saw one of these cars at the beach a few weeks ago and
liked it so now I'm starting to look seriously at them and for them.
I'm going to go test drive an 04 AERO conv w/ 28k miles on it this weekend.
Thanks again for the reply.
eaglewing
"Fred W" <malt_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:KLednb9xA8AbBHDY...@comcast.com...
Paul Halliday
wrote on 06/03/2007 18:06:
> Thanks for the reply and the link to saabnet. I can assure you that I'm not
> a troll and my question was legitimate. I bought my older daughter a new
> Toyota Corolla (2005 model) when she was 16 and my wife and I drove it for a
> year before she we handed it over to her. We plan on doing the same with
> this car with daughter number 2.
While it is a very safe car, my concern would be giving a car that powerful
to a new/young driver. That said, with the right parental input, it'll make
a fantastic first car.
> My insurance carrier advised if we had the car registered for at least one
> year prior to giving to new drivers in the family, it would help our rates
> go down, and its proven itself to be correct so that's what I'm doing here.
> Daughter number 2 saw one of these cars at the beach a few weeks ago and
> liked it so now I'm starting to look seriously at them and for them.
>
> I'm going to go test drive an 04 AERO conv w/ 28k miles on it this weekend.
I don't think you'll be disappointed.
On the test drive, you'll find the power delivery to be very smooth, but do
try to find some hard corners and really put the power down _into_ the
corners - I bet you love how that feels :)
SAAB got the handling right again after many years!
You can be sure that dangerous understeer/oversteer situations for a young
driver are handled very well by this breed of car.
Paul
1989 900 Turbo S
http://saab.go.dyndns.org/
eaglewing
Good feedback. I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel and checking
it out first hand.
Eaglewing
"Paul Halliday" <pj...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:C2138C41.7ABF%pj...@blueyonder.co.uk...
eaglewing
Point well taken. I'm going to test drive one this week-end still but after
discussing further with our insurance carrier and daughter, we've come to
the conclusion that she's better suited for a VW bug or Chrysler Sebring
convertible, so that's where we will concentrate our efforts for her.
However, after driving the Aero this coming Saturday, I might choose to get
it for myself. Not sure yet but looking forward to it.
Thanks for the concern and input.
eaglewing
"- Bob -" <uctr...@ultranet.com> wrote in message
news:dojuu294vaqlb6nkp...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 6 Mar 2007 16:42:54 -0600, <eaglewing> wrote:
>
>>Thanks Paul,
>>Good feedback. I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel and
>>checking
>>it out first hand.
>>
>>Eaglewing
>
>
> I would not give a car this powerful and with the turbo whoosh to a 16
> yo. Turbos come on fast and somewhat unexpectedly. You need to be good
> with the throttle. They are also slow when pulling out into traffic or
> across a couple lanes unless you are good with the throttle and the
> clutch.
>
> It's not the kind of challenge I would give to a new driver. A car
> with a more traditional engine and more linear and predictable power
> would be much better.
>
> MHO,
> Bob
>
Fred W
> On Tue, 6 Mar 2007 16:42:54 -0600, <eaglewing> wrote:
>
>
>>Good feedback. I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel and checking
>>it out first hand.
>>
>>Eaglewing
>
>
>
> yo. Turbos come on fast and somewhat unexpectedly. You need to be good
> with the throttle. They are also slow when pulling out into traffic or
> across a couple lanes unless you are good with the throttle and the
> clutch.
>
> It's not the kind of challenge I would give to a new driver. A car
> with a more traditional engine and more linear and predictable power
> would be much better.
Have you drive one of these newer 9-3's Bob? The turbo lag is almost
not present (at least compared to prior models).
Being that the OP is writing from the Yoo Ess I'm guessing he would be
looking for only (steptronic) automatic equipped cars. With the auto
box it takes about 3 minutes to get used to the turbo lag.
--
-Fred W
Fred W
> Bob,
> Point well taken. I'm going to test drive one this week-end still but after
> discussing further with our insurance carrier and daughter, we've come to
> the conclusion that she's better suited for a VW bug or Chrysler Sebring
> convertible, so that's where we will concentrate our efforts for her.
Eagle,
you know the Chrysler makes a lot of sense to me. You will get the car
at a much better price point. Yes it is a ho-hum car, but that's a good
thing for a new driver. ;-)
>
> However, after driving the Aero this coming Saturday, I might choose to get
> it for myself. Not sure yet but looking forward to it.
>
>
I'd advise that you drive a sedan and skip the convertible. The sedan
is considerably lighter and better handling than the convertible. You
also get much better visibility (for safety). Oh and find one with a 6
speed if you can. That increases the fun quotient greatly, assuming
that you have a commute that would be conducive to a standard
transmission. If not, at least all the automatics have "steptronic",
which means that you can put it in a manually operated mode and choose
when it shifts (somewhat).
I have an '03 9-3 Vector with 6 speed manual. For one year (in '03)
they called their top of the line model Vector and then switched back to
the SAAB traditional "Aero" moniker. Something about a trademark violation?
Anyway, it is a seriously beautiful car for people that want to have
some fun, but are also fairly serious about their cars. It is the best
handling Front Wheel drive car that I've ever driven, bar none. Plenty
of pop with the high output turbo boost. And get this... you get 32-34
mpg on the highway running at ~ 75-80mph. Oh and if you decide that the
210Hp, 221 lb-ft. powerplant is not quite enough, there are chip
reprogramming devices out that can raise the power output to 245Hp &
288lb-ft with the push of a button. No other mods required.
Sporty, fun, serious...
--
-Fred W