Holy shit - Koenigsegg to buy SAAB! (1 Viewer)

[nonemoreblack]

I always thought Saabs were overpriced, overweight tanks with the cornering ability of shopping trolleys (but with nice interiors). Am I wrong?

 

[Stan Bowles]

Yep.

 

[MDR]

Picked up my Saab on Saturday - drive brilliantly. Handling is sublime, although ride is firm. Amazing nick for a 22-year old car with 185K on the clock. It's very, very fast when the turbo kicks in. It's 175bhp, but the classic car inspector I got to do a report on it reckons it has been tuned to about 200bhp.

 

[MDR]

Here, I'm reckoning on buying a car this summer.
Why should I buy a Saab instead of yer usual Toyota-style business.
Is it just cos they look deadly? Aren't they pricey tax-wise?

Depends on your budget and what you want from a car.

If the car you're buying is pre-2008 it will be taxed on engine size; 2008 onwards are priced based on emissions, in which case the 1.9 Saab diesel is very cheap to tax.

I reckon a 2004/2005 Saab 9-5 is a really good bargain these days - something like this:

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Saab/9-5/2.0t-STU/200912192198941/advert?channel=CARS

 

[flashback]

Picked up my Saab on Saturday - drive brilliantly. Handling is sublime, although ride is firm. Amazing nick for a 22-year old car with 185K on the clock. It's very, very fast when the turbo kicks in. It's 175bhp, but the classic car inspector I got to do a report on it reckons it has been tuned to about 200bhp.

is 200 hp a lot for a car then?
I've driven bikes with 140ish bhp, like, which realistically is a bit excessive. I thought that the Saab 900s would have a good bit more than that.

I see, so a Corolla develops 114 bhp. And a Porsche 911 345bhp.

So, ok, I suppose its pretty quick.
Here, how do Saab engines work? Are the V somethings or inline pistons?

I drove inline 4 bikes, and the engines deliver the power at insane levels when you get up into the high RPMs, but not very well low down. I prefer the V twins because the power comes on strong instantly, and climbs slowly. Its much easier to put power down onto the road without spinning up the back wheel coming out of corners and the like.
Is your yoke a V4 or V6?

edit... hmm, so I found the wiki page. Complicated shit.
The 900 seems to be a V4 I think? Right? An L 4 its saying, with a 45 degree turn. Which sound like a V 4 to me. Complicated sounding car.

 

[RED(tape)MENACE]

Jesus Ro, 200hp?
Pretty swish.

 

[old]

Depends on your budget and what you want from a car.

If the car you're buying is pre-2008 it will be taxed on engine size; 2008 onwards are priced based on emissions, in which case the 1.9 Saab diesel is very cheap to tax.

I reckon a 2004/2005 Saab 9-5 is a really good bargain these days - something like this:

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Saab/9-5/2.0t-STU/200912192198941/advert?channel=CARS

Budget is around 5 grand. If I can sell the current yoke.
That fella does look lovely, but one reason for selling the current one is cos €650 per year tax is a bit beyond me.
No Saabs for me so! Thanks!

 

[magnetize]

I reckon a 2004/2005 Saab 9-5 is a really good bargain these days - something like this:

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Saab/9-5/2.0t-STU/200912192198941/advert?channel=CARS

arent they post gm-buyout....mondeo chassis affair?

 

[MDR]

Nope - Saabs don't share platforms with Ford - the Mondeo shares its platform with the Jag x-type and mazda 6. Saabs of the current era use GM platform - the 9-3 shares with the Vectra.

Not that there's anything wrong with sharing a mondeo platform by the way - the mondeo is one of the best cars to drive on the road and pound-for-pound is one if the best value cars around.

 

[MDR]

Budget is around 5 grand. If I can sell the current yoke.
That fella does look lovely, but one reason for selling the current one is cos €650 per year tax is a bit beyond me.
No Saabs for me so! Thanks!

The Skoda Octavia is worth considering. 1.4l so low tax - has huge boot for hauling band gear and is good to drive, decently specced and ultra reliable. In the past three years in the JD Power driver survey it has polled 1st, 1st and 2nd. Here's one for €6K.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Octavia/1.4-Petr/200909191955054/advert?channel=CARS

 

[MDR]

is 200 hp a lot for a car then?
I've driven bikes with 140ish bhp, like, which realistically is a bit excessive. I thought that the Saab 900s would have a good bit more than that.

I see, so a Corolla develops 114 bhp. And a Porsche 911 345bhp.

So, ok, I suppose its pretty quick.
Here, how do Saab engines work? Are the V somethings or inline pistons?

I drove inline 4 bikes, and the engines deliver the power at insane levels when you get up into the high RPMs, but not very well low down. I prefer the V twins because the power comes on strong instantly, and climbs slowly. Its much easier to put power down onto the road without spinning up the back wheel coming out of corners and the like.
Is your yoke a V4 or V6?

edit... hmm, so I found the wiki page. Complicated shit.
The 900 seems to be a V4 I think? Right? An L 4 its saying, with a 45 degree turn. Which sound like a V 4 to me. Complicated sounding car.

Four cylinder in-line, although i can't claim to be an expert on technical stuff. The engine is mounted longitudinally which means when you open the bonnet the engine is at perpendicular as you look rather than facing you as would be usual. The old minis used the same system.

 

[flashback]

oh yeah?
Its an in-line 4? How did I manage to figure out it was a V4. Jaysus.


It might not be such a big deal with cars with the way the power comes on, since there is less power per weight, and there are two wheels being driven.


I hardly drive cars so I dont really know, but say if you are driving an in line four bike, and you want to drive out of a corner hard, you have to get your gear selection perfect into the bend going so you will be in the right RPM range to drive out.

On a V Twin, you can drop low and will have enough torque no matter what happens really. It just makes it easier to drive. Although you have to blip the throttle to spin up the engine so that when you drop the clutch the wheels dont lock up with engine brake. That's easy enough though.

I don't really like having to rev engines to get to the power, thus drawing attention to yourself. Much nicer to be able to pull hard low down nice and quietly.

 

[magicbastarder]

The Skoda Octavia is worth considering. 1.4l so low tax - has huge boot for hauling band gear and is good to drive, decently specced and ultra reliable. In the past three years in the JD Power driver survey it has polled 1st, 1st and 2nd. Here's one for €6K.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Octavia/1.4-Petr/200909191955054/advert?channel=CARS

my dad has a 2007 1.4l octavia - it's certainly not highly powered, though. bear in mind that the two 1.6l models have a stated identical (for the lower power one) and better (higher power one) fuel efficiency - depending on how much you drive, the difference on the higher power one could be cheaper to run.

it's a great car, anyway. it's his second. first one was replaced after five years - wheel bearings on one wheel had to be replaced after five years.
the newer one had a recent minor complaint - one of the nuts holding the alternator in place broke, which made the engine sound rough while cold. fixed under warranty (after the warranty had expired, but it qualified because the problem had been reported before the expiry) and is now back to normal.

 

[magnetize]

Nope - Saabs don't share platforms with Ford - the Mondeo shares its platform with the Jag x-type and mazda 6. Saabs of the current era use GM platform - the 9-3 shares with the Vectra.

Not that there's anything wrong with sharing a mondeo platform by the way - the mondeo is one of the best cars to drive on the road and pound-for-pound is one if the best value cars around.

ah, ok...was the 9-3/vectra i was thinking of. no problem with a mondeo either, just that saabs are a different beast nowdays compared to what you got.

did you have any other cars in mind or were you fixed on the 900? am considering getting something 'classic' myself ... <2k and easy to maintain are my very wide parameters so far.

 

[MDR]

I was only interested in the Saab 900. Generally with older cars it's best to spend more to get a good one than to buy a cheap one that costs a fortune to maintain.

Have a look at carandclassic.co.uk and see if anything catches your eye.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

Done deal

June 16, 2009
GM Says Reaches Deal to Sell Saab

By REUTERS
Filed at 4:40 a.m. ET
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - General Motors Europe said on Tuesday a preliminary agreement has been reached to sell the company's loss-making Swedish unit Saab to local sports carmaker Koenigsegg.
Koenigsegg, a small company with just 45 staff that makes only a handful of cars a year, came out of nowhere to emerge as a front-runner to buy Saab.
The deal would see Saab, which was put up for sale earlier this year, emerge from two decades under the umbrella of its U.S. parent which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.
Sale terms were not disclosed but the agreement includes expected financing to be guaranteed by Sweden.
"The sale, expected to close by the end of the third quarter of this year, includes an expected $600 million funding commitment from the European Investment Bank (EIB) guaranteed by the Swedish government," GM Europe said in a statement on its website.
Saab Automobile had been in talks with two or three bidders in recent weeks.
Saab, whose sales comprised just over 1 percent of GM's total sales volume last year, has been hit hard by the economic downturn that has savaged sales on both sides of the Atlantic.
The company, one of Sweden's best-known brands, has said it needs $1 billion of financing to help it overhaul production and launch new models while absorbing expected losses of about 3 billion Swedish crowns ($382 million) this year.

 

[old]

The Skoda Octavia is worth considering.
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Octavia/1.4-Petr/200909191955054/advert?channel=CARS

Thanks! Will have a go on one of those so. Might have a goo at a Focus too. Need hatching back for drumulars and that.

 

[ann post]

interesting (to me) story about the 306 this week. the central locking died, so i went googling to see if it could be easily sorted. they told me first that the unit was prone to short circuit and that it lived under the back seat. so i looked under there, and the whole place was soaking (dont even want to think why), so i left the seats up and let the sunshine dry it all out. it sort of works again. i'm considering being a mechanic.

 

[MDR]

Thanks! Will have a go on one of those so. Might have a goo at a Focus too. Need hatching back for drumulars and that.

I drive a 1.6L Focus as our family car: great to drive, reliable and affordable. Boot is small compared to Octavia (385L Vs 520L)

 

[krystal]

Thanks! Will have a go on one of those so. Might have a goo at a Focus too. Need hatching back for drumulars and that.

My da has one. We borrowed it for an IKEA run due to massivisation of boot and in fact when we bought the flat my dad drove me to Scotland in it for, eh, IKEA. In summary, it has a large trunk for junk