SAAB C900i

[billyboy406v6]

Have you got pics of the incident ? Presume you took a few while the smoke cleared ??

[forddeliveryboy]

I have to ask; how the fuck do you spin a c900? They have to be one of the most safe and predictable handling cars of evah!

 

They've great handling which is safe and predictable, but not foolproof in the way modern stuff is. The rear axle can be a bit fishtaily if things are really provoked, but get to know the setup and they're grippy and neutral through fast corners in the way no modern modern self-steering rear axle fwd stuff is - much more on side if you overcook an unexpected corner in the cold and wet than if in something Peugeot-like.

 

I think the engineers set things up so the back axle can be swung out a bit if that's what you want for a fast journey on a snowy road.

[jonathan_dyane]

The only time I've had the back end on a C900 get lairy was heavy braking and swerve manoeuvre from high speed on a rain soaked motorway with borderline rear tyres but it was perfectly controllable. I love the way they handle.

[forddeliveryboy]

Yes, they're controllable and great - I love their abilities. The lack of anti-roll bars allows all four wheels to grip, rather than mostly the two outside ones, preventing the need for silly wide rubber which creates so many problems. Early 900s used 165x15s which today seems impossibly narrow for a family sized car. Yet they gripped hard no matter what the conditions.

 

Little beats front double wishbones with a solidly-located rear axle, for me. Most self-steering cars with a fetish for 'intelligent' rubber bushes (and the ubiquitous cheapo MacPherson strut at the front) can be bloody lethal if you're exploring the limits, unless they're brand new and shod with top-qual rubber. But of course they flatter the average driver who never dares learn how his car works in a bit of  emergency steering. Perfect for roundabouts and smooth surfaces, under 50mph.

[laser wheels]

Re: the spin. What happened was I was cruising down the dual carriageway at about 60 when I noticed the traffic was queuing so hit the brakes to scrub of some speed... and they locked up and I spun in cloud of smoke. Turns out the brakes are A LOT more effective than the Sierras where I have gotten used to hitting the anchors hard and early! No pictures I'm afraid as it was very busy and to be honest I felt like a right tit and just wanted to get out of there asap! As I say, I did have two lanes of traffic queuing up behind me and I was kind of getting in everyone's way...

 

I did notice on the rest of the trip home that it does pull to the right a bit under heavy braking which may explain the spin to a certain extent. I'll have a closer look in due course. However, as long as I take things easy no other problems so far.

 

As others have said, though, I have so far been very impressed with the handling. It's level of grip on fast roundabouts for example is excellent. In fact it feels more like a sporty hatch than a family saloon and you can chuck it about a fare old bit. Dare I say it it actually reminds me of my old MK2 Golf in some ways.

[forddeliveryboy]

Good 900s are built better than Merc 124s, I'd say - and they're three times less boring, but just as carefully and intelligently engineered. Best get the brakes sorted before you affect your NCB - Saab brakes should be superb. I think it was Richard Bremner who, back in the late 80s or early 90s wrote in CAR that he reckoned only Saabs, older Citroens and Alfas had properly decent brakes for the enthusiastic driver.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

They've great handling which is safe and predictable, but not foolproof in the way modern stuff is. The rear axle can be a bit fishtaily if things are really provoked, but get to know the setup and they're grippy and neutral through fast corners in the way no modern modern self-steering rear axle fwd stuff is - much more on side if you overcook an unexpected corner in the cold and wet than if in something Peugeot-like.

 

I think the engineers set things up so the back axle can be swung out a bit if that's what you want for a fast journey on a snowy road.

 

All sounds a bit 'Troy Queef'

[alfetta]

I had an old 99 that had been (wrongly) jacked on the axle, this gave it some camber and made it a little tail happy in the wet...

[laser wheels]

Spent a few quid on a jet wash yesterday.

 

 

 

 

The local indie garage I use said I can bring it in tomorrow morning and they'll stick it on the rolling road gratis to check the brakes for me.

[JohnK]

You using this as a daily now?

[laser wheels]

For now. Not sure what long term plans are yet.

[derskine]

It's a nice one, I'm glad someone on here got it.

[Jim Bell]

Looks canny now it's had a bit of soap and water dude. Not that it looked bad anyway.

[HMC]

These 2 door ones are suprisingly practical things. Despite no rear hatchback I managed to slot 2 internal house doors with the seats down and did a house move too. A agree with the handling being 'adjustable' lift off oversteer easy to encourage, sometimes when not wanted which (by my own stupidity) ended up with my going through a dry stone wall which was the last trip I made in C917NEW.

[Junkman]

If it's invoking itself controllable enough, I find lift off oversteer immensely reassuring.

Oversteer is when my passengers are scared. Understeer is when I am scared.

[Junkman]

I must say that I am not a very good driver to begin with and this holds especially true with FWD cars, so my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt, please. I never drove much with FWDs, so they are a bit of witchcraft for me. My father only ever drove FWDs (with a company Beetle and a Caprice in between being the only exceptions) and he actually can drive. The stuff he could do with his FWDs always amazed me.

[jonathan_dyane]

It's scrubbed up really well! Hope the brake problem is something easily rectified

[Junkman]

Well, if a car swings around under heavy braking, especially on a dry road, it usually means it is overbraking at the rear, i.e. the rear wheels lock up sooner than the front ones.

This in turn is usually due to the front caliper pistons needing freeing up, or a stuck proportioning valve, if it has one.

[laser wheels]

Thanks for the tip, Junkman. I shall know soon enough if that is indeed the issue.

 

Re: the boot. Although I have yet to take full advantage of it I can confirm it is indeed reassuringly mahoosive.

[laser wheels]

Just got back from the garage and they have confirmed all is well with the brakes. Not just that, but that they are working well in excess of legal requirements. In fact he reckoned that the SAAB gave superior readings to that which he would expect from a brand new car! I even have a nice little computer print out of all the readings which is nice.

 

Mechanic says that he can only assume that if one of the calipers has been sticking or something like that then I must have freed it off when I had my 'little moment'.

 

Result!

[Taff]

Spent a few quid on a jet wash yesterday.

 

IMAG0081_BURST003.jpg

 

IMAG0082.jpg

 

IMAG0083.jpg

 

The local indie garage I use said I can bring it in tomorrow morning and they'll stick it on the rolling road gratis to check the brakes for me.

 

That driveway needs weeding

[DodgyBastard]

Glad to see its still in one piece. I never had any issues with the brakes apart from the rust on the discs that cleared after a run. The only issue I had was the stuttering when it was low on fuel.

[forddeliveryboy]

Rear brakes could have grabbed, on the first heavy application for a bit. Well worth doing a progressively heavy brake with new acquisitions, rather than risk putting on a show for dashcamtube.

 

That's they've tested so well on the rolling road is testimony to the quality of these cars - most German stuff would have seized rear calipers and badly imbalanced fronts at this age (and twice the price).

[Mr_Bo11ox]

The handbrakes on these are fuppin shite mind you.

[Richard]

This one has a conventional rear disc handbrake.