Tough Choice-9-5 Aero or 9-3 Viggen?

I would go for the Aero. The road handling is much better. The Viggen is a over power car. It goes fast in a strait line but it have alot of torqsteer (?)

So again go for the Aero

Tore

I am seriously underwhelmed by my '02 9-5 Aero. It has the most horrific turbo lag I've ever seen. EVERY time you start accelerating -

- including EVERY shift -- there is a 1.5-2.0 second delay before the power kicks in. When it kicks in the torque increases hugely, making it very difficult to accellerate smoothly, and by that time you're practically ready to shift again. So with any kind of aggressive accelleration, you keep switching between "not enough power" and "almost too much power compared to what I had half a second ago." It's possible to accelerate fairly smoothly if you don't push the turbo very far into the yellow region. But if you drive it that gently, any soccer mom in a minivan can pass you, so what's the point of having the Aero!?

The flat power curves Saab claims in their brochures may be accurate for a car on a dyno, where you can hold the same power level for several seconds, but in real-life driving the long underpowered delay and the sudden huge increase in torque makes it a pain to drive.

It's also not very roomy for a "large" car. My old 9000 had significantly more interior room.

Gary

Stop short shifting the car. Let the rpms spin up and you'll see far less turbo lag.

-Fred W

Apples and Oranges. Do you want a sporty rocket or a luxurious sport sedan? Both cars will fill their intended niche well.

How will you be using the car? Mostly back roads? Go Viggen Lot's of highway driving? Go Aero

-Fred W

"Fred W." skrev i en meddelelse news: snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.com...

My thoughts exactly. :o)

Cheers!

Spin up how far?? I see nearly the same amount of lag if I run it up to 4000-5000rpm before shifting. Winding it up like that is reasonable when you're flooring it on a highway entrance ramp, but less so for aggressive in-town driving (which is where I do most of my driving).

This is my 3rd Saab turbo (900, 9000, 9-5 Aero) and I've driven 6-7 others as well. And the Aero (mine and several others I've tried) has FAR FAR more lag than any other Saab I've driven.

It also has very anemic low-end power. I have never once "squealed" the tires on this car -- because it CAN'T. Unless you rev the engine and pop the clutch (which I'm not about to do!), the car has so little power at start-up that it tends to "choke" rather than acting like a powerful high-end car. I'm probably wearing the clutch excessively because you have to let the clutch out so gradually to avoid almost killing the silly thing. By comparison I test-drove a used 2003 9-3 (normal turbo, not Viggen) a few months ago, and I chirped the tires several times without intending to -- it had far more low-end torque "off the line" than my Aero.

Gary

"Gary Fritz" skrev i en meddelelse news:Xns95195C896B822fritzfriicom@216.17.128.40...

Not doubt that your car has a fault somewhere. About wheelspin - have you tried to turn off the TCS?

Cheers!

I took it to the dealership and they said nothing was wrong. I tried driving another Aero and it acted the same.

No, this is not a case of the TCS cutting off power. This is a case of the engine not HAVING power. The TCS indicator never lights, and the engine is struggling to get the car moving. That's why I have to let the clutch out so gradually, and why it often "chokes" (hesitates, suddenly dies out some because it's overloaded) when starting out.

I suspect automatic transmissions (with their inherent slip &etc) may handle this a lot better. But with a manual it's a pain.

We currently have essentially both of the cars you are talking about at the moment (9-5 aero estate and 9-3 convertible, 229 bhp conversion with suspension, brake and wheel upgrade) and I'd agree with Fred that they are very different and will give you totally different experience depending on your use.

As for turbo lag in the 9-5 just make sure you drive the car before you buy it. I test drove three before deciding on a 50000 miler and none of them had any noticable lag - and you very much CAN have fun in a 9-5 aero on the back roads. I'd also happily take the 9-3 from one end of the M4 to the other without a thought.

They are both fantastic cars, I'm sure you won't be disappointed either way.

Oh, once the turbo kicks in, it's got LOTS of power. Going up a hill, where you've got plenty of time for the turbo to wind up and keep it in the power curve, my car goes like a banshee too. It's the 1.5-2.0 sec delay BEFORE the turbo winds up that annoys me. Especially since it does it after EVERY shift.

Then there's the very anemic torque off the line. I have never once "burned rubber" with my Aero, because it CAN'T. There's barely enough torque there to get it going (aggressively) without choking, let alone spin the tires. If you start out slowly it won't choke on you, but what's the fun in that?

I test drove a plain old non-Aero/non-Viggen 2002 9-3 and

*accidentally* chirped the tires several times, without trying at all -

- because it had so much more low-end torque than what I was used to.

Gary

"Gary Fritz" skrev i en meddelelse news:Xns95426CA1325E5fritzfriicom@216.17.128.40...

Does the car have the original Blow-off valve? Have you checked if it's defect?

Cheers!

I assume it does. I haven't had anything replaced. I did try replacing the diverter valve (is that the same thing?) with a Hyperboost

and that didn't change anything. I replaced the original diverter valve and returned the Hyperboost.

If you're talking about the diverter valve, then yes, I'd say I checked it by replacing it with the Hyperboost.

Gary