Discussion
What!?
I looked at a Ruby about 2 and a half years ago. The guy wanted 4500 for it, 90k on it, usual Ruby refinements (air con, zegna wool/leather interior, 185bhp red box APC). Great cars, but this one felt dodgy. 7 or 8 owners, and a bit tatty (several dents, bumper covers very tatty). Got a ropey AA inspection (should have got a Saab Indy one though), so walked away.
TBH, looking back I am glad I left it. I know they are supposed to be the pinnacle of c900s, but I would rather have a nice Carlsson or T16S. Not nuts about the colour to be honest, and I always preferred the look of the Aero trim to the rubbing strips.
I looked at a Ruby about 2 and a half years ago. The guy wanted 4500 for it, 90k on it, usual Ruby refinements (air con, zegna wool/leather interior, 185bhp red box APC). Great cars, but this one felt dodgy. 7 or 8 owners, and a bit tatty (several dents, bumper covers very tatty). Got a ropey AA inspection (should have got a Saab Indy one though), so walked away.
TBH, looking back I am glad I left it. I know they are supposed to be the pinnacle of c900s, but I would rather have a nice Carlsson or T16S. Not nuts about the colour to be honest, and I always preferred the look of the Aero trim to the rubbing strips.
NiceCupOfTea said:
What!?
I looked at a Ruby about 2 and a half years ago. The guy wanted 4500 for it, 90k on it, usual Ruby refinements (air con, zegna wool/leather interior, 185bhp red box APC). Great cars, but this one felt dodgy. 7 or 8 owners, and a bit tatty (several dents, bumper covers very tatty). Got a ropey AA inspection (should have got a Saab Indy one though), so walked away.
TBH, looking back I am glad I left it. I know they are supposed to be the pinnacle of c900s, but I would rather have a nice Carlsson or T16S. Not nuts about the colour to be honest, and I always preferred the look of the Aero trim to the rubbing strips.
So where is the ruby referred to in the thread title? I can't find it on here? I may sell my ruby and it's quite nice. It seems pointless having cars that aren't being used. I also prefer the aero trim to the rubbing stripes.
Boosted.
Calm Down Chaps!
It was I who started the thread, but a quick check on HPi revealed it not quite such a bargain, as its CAT C recorded, hence my deletion
HTH
On Autotrader...
1992SAAB 900 2.0 16v Turbo
Ruby Edition, L reg. 97000 miles, leather interior, full electrics, 11 months MOT, 4 months Tax, excellent condition. £950. (07968) 183481.
Tel: (0121) 7862032
It was I who started the thread, but a quick check on HPi revealed it not quite such a bargain, as its CAT C recorded, hence my deletion
HTH
On Autotrader...
1992SAAB 900 2.0 16v Turbo
Ruby Edition, L reg. 97000 miles, leather interior, full electrics, 11 months MOT, 4 months Tax, excellent condition. £950. (07968) 183481.
Tel: (0121) 7862032
If it's in excellent condition indeed, I wouldn't care whether it's recorded as cat C at that price. let's face it, at an insurance value of about 2.5K (if that) it takes a fairly innocent knock for the adjuster to total it. And if that happened to *my* car, I'd buy it back and have it repaired - doing so, if anything, is an indication it's basically a goodún that the owner didn't want seeing scrapped. At this level, I doubt there'd be any traders who'd bother doing a bodge job for a quick profit - there's far 'interesting' cars out there for that.
Firmer than the standard suspension? 
Mine has new suspension on that is firmer than the standard "T16-S" suspension, (although far from track spec, call it "fast road" - kilen springs and bilstein shocks, -25mm).
Definitely wouldn't want to go firmer, although it is very well sorted and handles like a dream on decent roads its a bit skittish on badly broken surfaces - and the ride on bad surfaces is not good! One of the criticisms of the standard c900 IIRC was the hard ride!
Mine has new suspension on that is firmer than the standard "T16-S" suspension, (although far from track spec, call it "fast road" - kilen springs and bilstein shocks, -25mm).
Definitely wouldn't want to go firmer, although it is very well sorted and handles like a dream on decent roads its a bit skittish on badly broken surfaces - and the ride on bad surfaces is not good! One of the criticisms of the standard c900 IIRC was the hard ride!
More the low speed ride on broken surfaces et cetera - most car hacks found it fine when speeding up a bit.
It's the old body control vs. wheel control debate - and the c900 needs lots of the former with its heavy front end and not being *that* low. That, and the original 900T did without lateral torsion bars, so spring and damper rates needed to be that muh higher (I still think the c900 should have no torsion bar at the front for ultimate handling potential). The torsion bars on the T16S were introduced in a bit to get good transient handling characteristics whilst still being able to get away with softer springs/dampers in order to lessen the 'low speed ride'criticism - remember that before the 9000 cam, the top end 900 models had to double as a sporting model as well as an executive car.
Stiff damping means wheels not being able to follow the road that well on high frequency movement - I reckon Koni's Frequency Selective Damping would be fantastic as you can optimise both parameters independantly - I intend to look at the possibility of custom fitting FSD by a shop in The Netherlands that's been appointed to do all custom work for Koni not so long ago.
It's the old body control vs. wheel control debate - and the c900 needs lots of the former with its heavy front end and not being *that* low. That, and the original 900T did without lateral torsion bars, so spring and damper rates needed to be that muh higher (I still think the c900 should have no torsion bar at the front for ultimate handling potential). The torsion bars on the T16S were introduced in a bit to get good transient handling characteristics whilst still being able to get away with softer springs/dampers in order to lessen the 'low speed ride'criticism - remember that before the 9000 cam, the top end 900 models had to double as a sporting model as well as an executive car.
Stiff damping means wheels not being able to follow the road that well on high frequency movement - I reckon Koni's Frequency Selective Damping would be fantastic as you can optimise both parameters independantly - I intend to look at the possibility of custom fitting FSD by a shop in The Netherlands that's been appointed to do all custom work for Koni not so long ago.
NiceCupOfTea said:
I hear you. Getting very tired of having to crawl over speed bumps 
Combination of a low slung exhaust, low suspension, big front/rear overhangs, and the front box on the exhaust being just behind the front wheels, hitting the bump as the suspension compresses going over the bump...
Yep, there's always a bang from the back but apart from that the damping is like an RST, firm.
Boosted.
NiceCupOfTea said:
, and the front box on the exhaust being just behind the front wheels, hitting the bump as the suspension compresses going over the bump...
Remove front box in favour of custom downpipe meeting the rear half of the exhaust at a slight angle (therefore eliminating two sharp bends around the transmission in order to create longitudinal space for a front box/catalyst). Better sound, best possible flow, no grounding on speed bumps. Everyone happy.
Gassing Station | Saab | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff