The barrier rises and I wind my along
the exit ramp of the Newcastle Central Station Long Stay Car Park on
a chilly June evening. As I edge out of the side road into the
traffic on Neville Street, I overhear a passing reveller comment to
his companions “I've always wanted one of those”. “Me too” I
smile to myself as I pick my way through the madness that is
Newcastle Upon Tyne city centre on a lively Saturday night. Unlike
most all of the cars I hope to write about in the future, I actually
own this one and have done since May 2010. I needed a car that I
could use to get around in and take the odd long journey to visit
family. This 3 door Saab had a big boot, was comfortable, went like
stink thanks to its 185bhp engine, and at £900 with some semblance
of a service history, it seemed to be quite a bargain.
The new gen 900 inherits some quirky
good looks from the classic Saab 900. The upsweep of the rear
pillars, the steep angle of the front screen, the way the indicators
cut into the wings, the cliff face dash, and the slim front seats
with the wrap around headrest all make for an unique looking car.
The overall look is quite discrete, thanks in part to the black paint
and family hatch shape. The lack of attention this car normally gets
took a little getting use to after previously having two rather
conspicuous cars (a Peugeot 205 GTi and a Porsche 944 Lux), although
I'm quite happy to slip home unnoticed after a long days work.
Picking my way through the jostling
taxis and their drunken clients the steering is never very
communicative but it normally seems accurate enough and is reasonably
well weighted. Cruising down the A1058 the slight lack of body
control can be felt over the bigger undulations. The drivers seat is
a very comfortable place to be, that slab-faced centre console is
well organised with large buttoned that are easy to identify and use.
The dials and buttons are all labelled with a simple font
that glows green at night, with the
dash gauge needles and centre console display panels glowing in a
gentle orange. Even though the steering wheel only adjusts
for reach, a good driving position can be found, and the prospect of
driving for hours is un-daunting.
There are some unusual features in
amongst all the gear, some clever, some plain odd. The cleverer ones
include a single button press that de-mists the whole car including
the rear screen, and a stereo that turns itself up and down as the
road noise varies. Not very special in 2012 but quite good for 900
quid. The odd ones include the infamous 'Black Panel' button that
kills all interior illumination except for the speedo and any warning
notifications. Useful as you're approach the Arctic Circle maybe,
but not so much on the Billy Mill Roundabout. Also, some of the
on-board computer functions are a little weird like the alarm clock
(in a car?), or the one that allows you to enter a mileage (the
distance to your destination say) and your hoped for average speed,
and it will calculate an estimated arrival time for you, somewhat
outdated in this age of Sat Nav.
Away from late night commuter duties,
out on a quiet B road, a few more weaknesses start to show
themselves. The heavy nose makes the front end wash out in corners a
little earlier than you'd expect. Keeping your foot in or lifting
off both seem to result in the same amount of tail movement. Hard
acceleration reveals a tendency to spin up the front wheels. The
fact that these antics are worse in the wet and can be set off by the
slightest change in road surface make me wonder how much the cheap budget tyres are to blame. Maybe better tyres would help improve
things, but basically the new gen 900 was always a little flawed.
Not that I don't enjoy threading this
car along the Beehive. As the revs reach 3000 RPM the turbo spools
up and suddenly its time to brake for that corner which has suddenly
gotten really close. Slow down a little more than seems reasonable
for that corner and the car turns into the apex well enough, at which
point you can gently feed in the power, the turbo spooling back up
and the whole shebang starts again. The slight lack of body control
doesn't hinder too much and the comfortable ride helps on bumpy road
surfaces. You might have to constantly adjust your line the torque
steer and manage the throttle inputs carefully, but rapid cross
country progress is there for the taking.
A contemporary BMW 318iS Coupe might be
a dynamic masterpiece in comparison, but it wouldn't have the space
or pace of my Svart. And I'd probably have to pay at least twice as
much for a 328i Touring that would match it for practically and
performance. Some cars leave you feeling that you could get more out
of them, if you just had a little more skill, a little more
knowledge, but this Saab isn't one of them. There's something oddly
comforting about running a car that isn't perfect, that isn't a
mechanical tour de force. It should feel like a bad thing, but its
doesn't, you end up feeling like you and the car can work together
around your combined weaknesses to achieve results that you can feel
some ownership in. So my car is flawed, quirky and practical, not
perfect, but not hopeless – a bit like me then.
ⓒ Dan
Ewing 2012
