Saabrina the 9-3 SportCombi

[andy9eleven]

Say hello to my silver Swede! Took a bit of a notion for something practical, relaxing, and more suited to family and dog life, plus general lumbering of stuff about whilst I renovate a house.

I like to be a little bit different so ruled out the obvious Audi and BMW options and unusually for me I pretty much just bought this car on a whim. I sat in a Cabrio for sale in Bangor and thought it was pretty smart inside. A few days later I'm on a plane to a Skoda dealer in Crewe to pick up a 44k mile 2.0T 9-3 Aero Estate. I hadn't even driven a 9-3 at this point!

Anyway, it's got all the kit, is virtually unmarked and looks to have been owned by an elderly garden centre type couple. I don't think anyone has ever sat in the back! Enginewise it's the larger turbo 210bhp petrol model and I have to say having torque is a huge novelty after owning Honda's for nearly 10 years. It also seemed to go a bit better after a good skelp up the road to Cairnryan...

Plans are to add a rear diffuser and twin exit exhaust (this model year had the exhaust hidden so it looked more eco friendly). I'd like bigger wheels but it is really comfy atm so will just wait until the tyres are done and see then.

In the meantime it'll be having a wee remap to 250bhp and then I'll just enjoy my bargain boost wagon

Check out the 3 washer jets!

Night Panel mode engaged. Turns off all non essentials and lets you pretend you're a pilot!!

Earning its keep from day 1!

I like the fact it's not a massive car but still holds a good amount of stuff.

The kids love being able to see out of the back now too so I think the Civic will have to go.

 

[J-VW]

That's really smart, health to pilot

 

[Woodcutter]

Very nice, so much car for the money!

Is the Type-R going?

 

[Geoff Campbell]

Do like Saabs and thats very tidy. Remap should warm things up nicely. HTD

 

[andy9eleven]

Yep Civic will have to go. Had it 6 years now from new, but when our 2 year old says " Daddy I love your new car, I see out now" there's no point in keeping it. I'll get the kit car finished one of these days for my kicks!

 

[Gavlar]

Love these

 

[ferrett]

health to drive andy . hope the ctr gets a good home

 

[pdargan22]

Go on Nigel get the civic bought! Loving the Saab Andy, health to drive

 

[Darren91]

Always had a soft spot for these and that one looks spot on, how's the auto?

 

[Ben]

Looks class, great looking wagon. I'm quite fond of Saabs in general, there is just something about them!

 

[andy9eleven]

Always had a soft spot for these and that one looks spot on, how's the auto?

The Autobox is grand. Very smooth and certainly as good as any I have ever driven as rental cars or my Dad's old E-Class Auto. You can push the lever to the side and click up and down manually or use the steering wheel buttons too, but tbh I just stick it in Drive and forget about it.

 

[cormac81]

Nice big bus! You have got me looking at the older model of these now, Do you know if the 2.0 turbo is related to vauxhall lump? or is it a Saab unit?

 

[andy9eleven]

The earlier square headlight cars are nice too and great value. Afaik the 2.0 is a Vauxhall engine technically though I believe that there is a reasonable amount of ancillaries that are unique to Saab. Also there's a big turbo and small turbo model fyi - 2.0T and 2.0t. If you check out UK Saab forum there's a chap Karl (noobtune) that will remap them for buttons.

Oh also the dash centre console on the early cars doesn't have the Vauxhall nav and heater knobs. It has proper cool Saab buttons but the wiring is fibre optic so it's hard/impossible to change the head unit if that's your thing.

Have a search on www.garaget.org and you'll find some really nice modified 9-3s.