9-3 Aero Or 9-5 Hot?
Discussion
Hey up folks. I'm a Saab noob and I'm looking for some advice for my next car. I currently own a 1998 Jaguar XJR which will be up for sale soon as I need to start being sensible and cut down on my outgoings.
I've been looking at either a Saab 9-3 Aero or a 9-5 Hot as a replacement car but I can't decide between the two. My budget is whatever the XJR sells for, I'm hoping for it to be around £2500.
I prefer the looks of the 9-3, the 9-5 looks a little old man-ish but then again the Jag looks grandad-ish in comparison! Looking at the auto versions of both cars. 2004-2007 9-3's seem to be thin on the ground in my budget whereas the 9-5's are a lot more common. Is there anything I should look out for on either of the two?
I've been looking at either a Saab 9-3 Aero or a 9-5 Hot as a replacement car but I can't decide between the two. My budget is whatever the XJR sells for, I'm hoping for it to be around £2500.
I prefer the looks of the 9-3, the 9-5 looks a little old man-ish but then again the Jag looks grandad-ish in comparison! Looking at the auto versions of both cars. 2004-2007 9-3's seem to be thin on the ground in my budget whereas the 9-5's are a lot more common. Is there anything I should look out for on either of the two?
IMO the 9-5 while perhaps more dated in the style department is the better built & and more powerful (faster) car. In terms of handling etc, the 9-5 rides better but both are wallowy and non-informative when hitting the country roads. I've never ran a 9-3 Aero, so can't comment on the mpg, but the two 9-5's i've had have returned 20ish through town and 35-40 on a run at legal speeds.
giblet said:
Thanks for the reply. I'll be listing my XJR up in the next few days so will have a look to see if there are any local 9-5's that I can test drive.
P.s. I thought I recognised your username, checked your garage and I remember your posts over on CVR4
P.s. I thought I recognised your username, checked your garage and I remember your posts over on CVR4
I still pop on CVR4 occasionally, trying to shift a VR4 at the minute actually. Got no takers though. If you're any where near Leicester you're welcome to have a sniff around my Saab.If you can live with the crappy mpg but want more tuning potential then take a look at the 9-3 v6 Aero.
Stick a stage 1 map on there and it turns it into a bit of an animal with a smidge over 300bhp & 400ft/lbs (they're not that quick standard imo but go very well after a cheeky remap)
Stick a stage 1 map on there and it turns it into a bit of an animal with a smidge over 300bhp & 400ft/lbs (they're not that quick standard imo but go very well after a cheeky remap)
WildCards said:
Emailed you.
Cheers, might give you a shout once the XJR has sold although I'm still not 100% on what I want to get next.What are the 3.0t V6's like? Part of me wants to spend less than a grand on something big and comfy with heated seats just to get me through winter, something like this http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
giblet said:
What are the 3.0t V6's like?
Avoid! Get the Aero instead, you can pick up a decent stage 3 car for not a lot of cash now. I was very tempted myself but is 9-3 came available so had to have it! I still fancy a nice black Facelift Aero but won't be for a few years yet. Having too much fun with this v6!!!I had the 9-5 Griffin for around 18 months or so which also had the v6 lump (pic at the bottom of the page
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Much better off with the Aero if your edging more towards a 9-5. The griffin was great on the motorway, very comfy especialy with the vented seats, decent (ish) Harmon Kardon system and all the toys so not a bad drive on a long journey, also gave a nice raspy sound with the v6 but that's about it, wasn't slow with 200bhp and has a nice bit of low down torque.....but nothing special either. I really should have spent a little bit more and got the Aero....
I had a few issues with mine like the cps failing, one of the DI's went and a couple other things (electrical mainly)
There's also not a lot of tuning bits out there for the 3.0 v6 if you plan on anything over 240odd bhp, they can take a remap but that's about it. The turbos also a funny set up on these so pretty much impossible to upgrade iirc, not sure on the downpipe but I think that's also a no no? When I had mine the only tuner was Nordic, but maybe Karl (Saabnoob) can remap these as I'm sure they're T7? (I'd also go to Karl for a remap if you get the 9-5 or 9-3 Aero....I wouldn't get a pro tune, its not worth it imo)
Also torque steered like nothing I've driven before or since!!!.....it torque steered worst than my old 450+bhp 9k Aero! I think I had the TCS off once or twice then left it on as it was so annoying!
Keep an eye on the classifieds on www.uksaabs.co.uk as there's usually a couple nice 9-5 Aero's for sale there
Well I got a 9-3 in the end. Viewed one this morning, and the test drive sold me. It's a lot quicker than I thought it would be, was worried it would feel slow after my XJR (370bhp 0-60 in 5.3) vs the 210bhp and 0-60 in 8.3 of the Saab.
Full stamped history with receipts of the last few services. It had a major service in April so the minor one should be due next April I guess? Service indicator shows 60% with 557 days. It had new tyres on the front last month and the rears are in good condition, Michelin Primacy 3's all round. My only annoyances are that it has the boggo stereo which sucks and no heated seats. Need to look into retrofitting heated seats before winter and then possibly a decent double din and some speakers.
A few niggles, the wheels could do with a refurb and the passengers side window doesn't work. Also needs a new bonnet badge but thats about it. Will be contacting Karl for a stage one in a few months, need to get used to the current power and then the remap will feel even more affective.
Full stamped history with receipts of the last few services. It had a major service in April so the minor one should be due next April I guess? Service indicator shows 60% with 557 days. It had new tyres on the front last month and the rears are in good condition, Michelin Primacy 3's all round. My only annoyances are that it has the boggo stereo which sucks and no heated seats. Need to look into retrofitting heated seats before winter and then possibly a decent double din and some speakers.
A few niggles, the wheels could do with a refurb and the passengers side window doesn't work. Also needs a new bonnet badge but thats about it. Will be contacting Karl for a stage one in a few months, need to get used to the current power and then the remap will feel even more affective.
king speakers!!!!!!basically you cannot upgrade the standard system without getting into a whole world of problems, upto 2007 Saab used a fibre optic system which means you cannot remove the origanol head unit as it controls everything, there are ways around it but as Dai(or Dave i think) has discovered, its not easy (and i think he has a good grasp of car audio so a mere beginner like me would have no chance)
loko said:
basically you cannot upgrade the standard system without getting into a whole world of problems, upto 2007 Saab used a fibre optic system which means you cannot remove the origanol head unit as it controls everything, there are ways around it but as Dai(or Dave i think) has discovered, its not easy (and i think he has a good grasp of car audio so a mere beginner like me would have no chance)
Yup, was reading up on it over on UKSaabs last night and today. Rather annoyed by it as I assumed it would be easily to upgrade. I don't like the idea of having a seperate single din stereo in the space where the cd slot is currently. Is the upgrade to the factory 7 or 13 speaker setup with the nav not worth the hassle?
giblet said:
What are you upgrading to and what set up did you have before? My last car had an updated Harman Kardon system and this 4 speaker setup sounds like a tinny pos in comparison.
I'm pretty much replacing everything with decent kit, I'm leaving things like the 2 amps, shelf speakers and EHU fitted though but have by passed the CD player and the new head units now there. So it'll be an independant system and completely separate from the Saab one. That will still function as normal though but not really used, with the radio/aux in but only have sound from the rear shelf as the fronts will be 2 or 3 way components running off the new amp/HU. I'm fitting the following (cars interior has also been stripped out and sound deadened to get the most out of the system, just need to do the roof and boot then it's done!)
Head Unit- Pioneer DEH-80PRS
Front door- Sinfoni S165W 6.5" mids
Front dash- Sinfoni S25T tweeters (also have some Sinfoni 4" mids to fit later on when I upgrade the Headunit again)
Subs- 2x Morel Elate SW 9
Amps- 1x Genesis Four Channel (fronts) 1x Genesis Dual Mono (subs)
Currently the cars got the 13 speaker system with ICM2 and sounds bloody terrible! 5 up front and 6 in the shelf, my 6x9's have been disconnected again and it looks like one door speaker has either blown or the connectors come off, sounds even worst! The door mids do make a massive difference when I was fading from left to right you can see how dreadful the system is.
If you scroll half way down the link blew it shows how I bypassed the CD player, someone in the states has cut the EHU and wired in the new CD player this way which works but I think he's lost some functions from the EHU like indicators not working (not sure exactly what's not working)
http://uksaabs.co.uk/UKS/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=...
What I've done is get a harness for the telephone kit and solder on an old ISO connector and plugged this into the new head units harness, seems to have done the trick but you will lose the car phone doing this. Doesn't bother me as I've never really needed it plus the head unit has Bluetooth so it's not an issue.
http://uksaabs.co.uk/UKS/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=...
Basically....its a right pita to get a decent system fitted
griffin dai said:
Basically....its a right pita to get a decent system fitted
Certainly looks like it going by the pics and write up on that thread! I'm happy with the headunit staying as I will be playing the music on my phone via the aux socket. I just want some better sound from the ruddy speakers. Is it possible to just upgrade the speakers and stick an amp in somewhere whilst still retaining the stock stereo?Upon closer inspection I appear to have speakers in the dash plus the front doors and the parcel shelf. Is there any way of just upgrading the speakers and keeping the standard headunit? My 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable arrived today but annoyingly the aux input doesn't seem to have been activated. Guessing that's a dealer/specialist job?
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