9-5 aero estates - mpg? all weather ability? auto?

[marcevo1]

hi
looking to change the rather mental 530bhp supercharged hsv i have for a saab 9-5 estate (more child friendly!) - few questions

what sort of mpg on longish motorway and normal driving can i expect?

also how do they cope with bad weather - i know they are swedish but i dont intend on putting snow tyres on ;-)

the auto box - any good? bearing in mind i'm not looking for ultimate performance - just general use and a blast past caravans on a country road etc.

I have considered the TID's but the 2.2 is a bit of a dog and the fiat 1.9 is expensive in comparison to a s/h aero in both 2.0 and 2.3 - so the price difference makes up for the extra mpg

[ledger]

marcevo1 said:

hi
looking to change the rather mental 530bhp supercharged hsv i have for a saab 9-5 estate (more child friendly!) - few questions

what sort of mpg on longish motorway and normal driving can i expect?

also how do they cope with bad weather - i know they are swedish but i dont intend on putting snow tyres on ;-)

the auto box - any good? bearing in mind i'm not looking for ultimate performance - just general use and a blast past caravans on a country road etc.

I have considered the TID's but the 2.2 is a bit of a dog and the fiat 1.9 is expensive in comparison to a s/h aero in both 2.0 and 2.3 - so the price difference makes up for the extra mpg

I had a 2001 aero estate auto, not sure which model you are looking at or therefore how relevant my comments will be.

It was quite thirsty, but then again I never took it out of sport mode and didn't spare the horses when I drove it. Can't actually provide mpg I'm afraid

It was the only auto I've ever had, so no framework in which to measure it, but I was quite happy with it.

The Aeros do struggle to get their power down in the wet, but with traction control it never really caused me any problems, never drove it in the snow.

All in all I loved the car, enormous load space, quick, well spec'd and great seats (I have a bad back). Also great in crashes, mine was written off when a people carrier ploughed into the side of it at 40 with me still in it. I was completeley unhurt, aswell as a top ncap rating I can vouch for it's real world safety features, which may be important if its a work horse for ferrying the little ones about.

Try www.uksaabs.co.uk for more help.

[Nick_F]

Aero auto's will give just over 30mpg on a long run, a little less day-to-day. Winter performance is going to depend on tyres, but the traction control is pretty sophisticated, so the end result will be as good as any other front-driver for a given set of rubber.

Better safety, more space and way more bang for your buck than the equivalent 5 series or A6.

[aeropilot]

marcevo1 said:

hi
looking to change the rather mental 530bhp supercharged hsv i have for a saab 9-5 estate (more child friendly!) - few questions

what sort of mpg on longish motorway and normal driving can i expect?

also how do they cope with bad weather - i know they are swedish but i dont intend on putting snow tyres on ;-)

the auto box - any good? bearing in mind i'm not looking for ultimate performance - just general use and a blast past caravans on a country road etc.

I have considered the TID's but the 2.2 is a bit of a dog and the fiat 1.9 is expensive in comparison to a s/h aero in both 2.0 and 2.3 - so the price difference makes up for the extra mpg

I have a MY04 Aero auto, and I'd definately recommend the auto over the manual. From MY03 onwards you get the falppy paddle shift on the 5-speed auto's which although not of VAG DSG sophistication, is a reasonable compromise between a conventional auto and a manual gearbox.

Around town (my daily commute in within the boundary of the M25) I average 23-26mpg and can easily get 35 on a run if you keep it below 100mph

Up to the end of MY04 the auto's had a winter setting on the box (box doesnt use 1st or 2nd for pull away) which was deleted from MY05 onwards, as all auto's having the flappy paddle manual mode meant that GM thought it could save at least 50p per car by deleting it as you could switch to manual mode and select 3rd to pull away in yourself

I've had no problem with driving in snow/ice...does depend on what tyres you have though.......

Mid range grunt for overtaking is probably it's best point along with the aforementioned comfort and safety.

Standard suspension isn't fantastic, and although expensive at around a grand fitted the dealer fit Hirsch suspension is fantastic and totally transforms both the ride and handling, and dramatically increases tyre life as a bonus as well.

[JWB]

[quote=ledger]

Also great in crashes, mine was written off when a people carrier ploughed into the side of it at 40 with me still in it. I was completeley unhurt, aswell as a top ncap rating I can vouch for it's real world safety features, which may be important if its a work horse for ferrying the little ones about.

quote]

Saab are very good for real world safety. Their cars arnt just designed to score highly in Euro Ncap tests.......

[marcevo1]

cheers for the info