2004 9-3 aero bad in snow

It's like night an day. A 9-3 is actually a pretty good car to drive in the snow. But you absolutely *have* to get winter tires.

That goes for any car. I'll bet the escort had snows on?

-Fred W

That's good to hear. Any particular recommendations? I'm guessing my choices for these specific rims will be fairly limited.

I suspect so, but it drove by fairly quick...and that lettering on the tires was just way too small for me to read from afar ;-)

- tex

Nokian snowtires are made in Finland - they know a lot about snow up there. I've been driving on them for years and wouldn't consider anything else now.

Don't stick with those rims. They usually recommend taller/skinnier profile for snow tires, and anyway it's a lot simpler and cheaper to swap in your winter wheels than to put the snows on & off the rims every year.

Maybe try some 16" Gislaveds, or Nokian Hakkapelittas. Or check into the Green Diamond tires -- recycled rubber (eco-friendly, but not retreads), embedded carbide crystals give great traction on ice.

I used Nokian NRW on my '97 900, which were marketed as aggressive all season/snow tires for performance vehicles. I was really happy with it. This model was discontinued, but there are good replacements.

I am actually interested to pursue this thread further, but I will re-start it under a different subject.

-Dima

I had the same problem with my 9-3. The Pirelli PZero Rossos are, obviously, terrible in the snow. I shopped around for tires and ended up getting the winter tire package that my dealer had. The package is four

I was looking at getting a set Nokians and keeping my 17x7" wheels, but the price of the tires (225/45-R17), mounting and balancing, and installation would have been around $800. You could get a set of cheap steel wheels and save some money, but I wanted something a little nicer. I figured for 200 bucks more I should just get the package, get a nice set of dedicated winter wheels, and save myself the hassle of having to remount the tires twice a year.

The Goodyears are decent tires. I can't compare them to anything else (besides the PZero Rossos) because they're the only tires I've used. They are mud and snow tires (M+S) and have the snowflake on the mountain symbol. I can get up my driveway, stop safely at intersections, and kick up nice rooster tails, so I'm happy with them.

Oh yes!! I took a trip to the French Alps to deliver a tape a few weeks ago. I hadn't intended to stay long!

Everyone else was zipping around and I couldn't even drive over a 3 inch ridge of ice/snow to start out the next morning! I had to walk into the nearest town, buy some chains and "re-adapt" them for the wheels, just so I could drive 3kms back down the mountain and below the snow line.

It was so embarrassing but at least it looked the dog's bollocks, gleaming laser red in the white snow as I swore and cursed getting the chains on!

I'll fly next time.

SP.

The Pirellis are high performance summer tires! Get some Nokian winter tires. With ESP and good snow tires the car is great in the snow.

Definitely get 16" wheels whether steel or alloy. You SAAB dealer might cut you a good deal on 16" Winter Alloys and Winter Tires. Mine did (Borbet and Nokian Hak). Don't trash your 17" wheels in the winter!

___________________________

As previously mentioned the winter tires need to be less wider (=higher profile) than summer tires - I'd go to 15" rims and probably 60 or 65 / max 185...

In snow & ice conditions narrower has actually more friction and tire doesn't start to act as a pair of skies in slush.

You got already good suggestions for brand,,, they do constantly produce good winter tires in my neighbouring town...

Been driving on snow & ice every winter for 20 years,,,

-SuoTimo ____________________________

Being an Aero, I seem to recall that he may not be able to fit the brakes into a 15" rim. In any case, use the smallest rim diameter you can and get a narrowest tire patch (as advised) for best snow performance. If you want to compromise between best snow performance and not completely screweing up your dry road performance between snowstorms, go with something in between. The key is getting the winter tires on there...

-Fred W

Amen. Both the 9-3 and 9-5 drive INFINITELY better in the winter time with winter gear on the wheels. I even noticed a substantial difference when switching off my P6 OEM all seasons from my 9-5 this season.

I have used Michelin Pilot Alpins on my Saabs for six years now, and have no complaints; they wear well, and grip well. They are, however, pretty expensive and that would've bothered me if they didn't seem to be so long-lived.

I've heard really good things about Nokian tires, but a lot of the models are studded, and thus not usable in the province where I live (Ontario) as far as I know (afaik, we're a "salt" province, not a "studs" province, pfeh); accordingly, finding a local Nokian dealer was not easy... there's only one place in the area that I know of that sells them, and I know nothing about them. Accordingly, I stuck with the place I knew, and the Michelins.

According to the manual, acceptable winter tire sizes for the Aero are

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I contacted the dealer , and they offer a set of wheels...alloys + the goodyear ultra grips, you mentioned. My salesman said he could get me a price of $900 installed.

- tex

That's a darn good deal considering Saab charges $222 each for those Arc wheels. You just got a nice set of snow tires for 12 bucks.

That's a fine deal. I'd go for it in a minute. You could get a steel wheel package cheaper, but it's well worth the extra $$ for the alloys, as long as you don't go banging any curbs with them.

-Fred W

Snow tires make all the difference. I "amazed" the owner of a four wheel drive Jeep when I drove up his driveway one winter. I thought he was being nice by parking his Jeep on the road. It turns out he could not get up his driveway. I had dedicated snow tires on my Saab :-)

The real reason you use four snow tires is not so you can go - stopping and steering are far more important than being able to go. My 1986 900 with the 8 valve engine was the best snow car I ever had. It was underpowered and had a manual transmission, which made it perfect for the snow. It was perfectly controllable and lots of fun in the snow and ice :-) I miss that car :-(

I had to smile yesterday! A local news report here in the UK was reporting how disruptive and terrible our "big freeze" was i.e. 6 inches of snow over 3 days. Lughable in itself BUT then it showed a queue of stationary traffic with a not so stationary car heading for the rear of the queue, sliding out of control. It narrowly misses.

No prizes for guessing what the car was. A 2004 9-3 Aero! The next morning, I left the Saab in the drive and took my Vectra instead!

SP.

Hard to know whether to laugh or cry over the total incompetence of the people who think that wide summer tyres on 17 in. rims are something to use when the temperature is under +3C, let alone snow and ice. Unfortunately these kind of idiots don't just harm themselves. Many bad accidents, many deaths, until winter tyres became law here (Sweden).

But maybe British drivers are better snow-and-ice drivers on summer tyres, than their Swedish counterparts?

It is not the car which is at fault. The latest Saab 9-3 is an excellent winter car (as are so many other cars, including my 2WD Audi A4), on the condition that proper winter tyres (preferably narrow, high-profile ones) are fitted to all 4 wheels.

In many places, snowfall and freezing conditions are so infrequent that they don't merit buying a set of winter roadwheels. But then the car should be left in the driveway until the snow clears.

And for those who have AWD cars - just because you can accelerate better with AWD and traction control, doesn't mean that you can stop any better than a 2WD car.

/Robert