Which Saab model should I buy? / Bringing the old car back to life

[nordwulf]

Saab + Snow tires = great winter car.

BMW rwd + Snow = great fun car.

[Dave T]

That looks like skidding fun! With my classic 900's, I used to skid. With the 9-3SS having traction control, it was possible to get the ESP warning light to go off but after replacing the stock Pirelli P6 Four Seasons with better tires, it was very difficult for me to get the warning light to go off and still drive with reasonable sanity.

Of course, I should listen to my better judgment. The OG 9-3 is to be the winter car. It only snows 1-3 times a year. Many people don't use snow tires, but I am not one of those people. The new-not-a-Saab is RWD.

What's the new-not-a-Saab car's tentative name? Nein.
You mean nine? Nein, "nein" (which sounds like "nine", which is German for "no". 9 also pays tribute to Saab)
Is it going to be the winter car? Nein.
You mean it IS going to be the winter car? No!


The next thing is to decide what snow tires to use. I have some really nice Michelin X-Ice Xi3, a new model, with about 850 miles of use. The trouble is that they are 215/55R16, the 9-3SS size, not 205/50R16, the OG 9-3 size. The bigger size is 0.7" bigger. The offset is a fine 41 mm, compared with the stock 49 mm. Of course, I could buy new snow tires. That would commit me to keeping the new-for-me Saab for 6-7 years to make full use of the snow tires.

In other news, I am getting a preliminary estimate for paintless dent removal (PDR) today. It's by e-mail and photos. PDR is very much a one man mobile service. Auto body shops tend not to do it. One recommended it but gave me a name of someone else to call.

[Dave T]

The car is getting in better shape. More work has been done. It's now clean. The air freshener smell is much weaker. A few stone chips have been fixed with primer and touch up paint. A dent has been repaired. Some maintenance work and repairs have been done. It's ready for a drive outside of the county.

I will soon test my 9-3SS spare tire since the compact spare is 15 years old. I might use my 9-3SS compact spare or the full sized spare tire. The full sized spare tire diameter is a bit big but the compact spare may be perfect. It is larger in diameter than the original compact spare but smaller than the regular tires. I presume that the size of the 9-3SS compact spare was not manufactured in 1999.

I try to learn my lesson so I bought a wheel chock. The picture also shows that there is no rust at the weld near the body side molding near the rear wheel.



The car was well equipped when it came out. It has ACC, power seats, moonroof, wood dash, 16" wheels, not 15", etc. The leather seats are in good condition. This is probably partly because the driver didn't weigh too much. It was a small man then a woman.

[Dave T]

For the past three weeks, I did something with the car almost every day but I think that is coming to a close. Some days, the task performed was very minor, like lubricating the hinges or using leather conditioner. Today, I put in my 2005 compact spare, taking out the 15 year old compact spare, which I deem as too old. My new compact spare is about the same diameter as the regular tire which now means the jack doesn't fit in the spare tire well. I should test it and put on the spare but I am too lazy. The bolt pattern is supposedly unchanged.