Saab 900

[chrispmartha]

I'm handing my Polestar Lease car back - Im doing hardly any miles (4 or 5,000 per year tops)

I think Im going to take the opportunity to get anotherSaab 900 I bought a convertible 900i but this was just before Lockdown I then got the lease car after lockdown so didn't feel I did my time in the Saab justice, but I don't fancy another convertible

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/16862358

Any tips or thoughts on the above, unfortunately prices have risen since I bought my last one but still feel its an itch that I didn't fully get to scratch

[Andy665]

Would that only be 145bhp?

Looks very nice and a car that can probably cope comfortably with the mileage that you are doing and do it with a lot of character

[chrispmartha]

Andy665 said:

Would that only be 145bhp?

Looks very nice and a car that can probably cope comfortably with the mileage that you are doing and do it with a lot of character

Think so yes. My old 900 was the non turbo version and i found it kept up fine with modern traffic

[Dapster]

Andy665 said:

Would that only be 145bhp?

It should have 175 bhp, no? The 8v Turbo was c 150bhp but the 16v had more wellie. I remember driving a mate's T16 manual back in the mid 90's (it was 10 years old at the time) and it was hilariously laggy. Nothing...nothing....nothing....nothing....make a cup of tea....nothing...BANG! it was quick though - I had a mk2 GTI 16v Golf at the time and the Saab would eat it alive on the straights.

[chrispmartha]

Dapster said:

Andy665 said:

Would that only be 145bhp?

It should have 175 bhp, no? The 8v Turbo was c 150bhp but the 16v had more wellie. I remember driving a mate's T16 manual back in the mid 90's (it was 10 years old at the time) and it was hilariously laggy. Nothing...nothing....nothing....nothing....make a cup of tea....nothing...BANG! it was quick though - I had a mk2 GTI 16v Golf at the time and the Saab would eat it alive on the straights.

Think they did a low pressure turbo and a full pressure turbo versions?

[chrispmartha]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135119725114?mkcid=16&a...


Quite like this 8v limited edition

[Truckosaurus]

chrispmartha said:

Think they did a low pressure turbo and a full pressure turbo versions?

Yes, there was indeed an LPT version, as I had one back in the day.

They are built like tanks so should still be nice to this day, assuming parts supply is ok as SAAB have been defunct for a decade.

[chrispmartha]

Truckosaurus said:

chrispmartha said:

Think they did a low pressure turbo and a full pressure turbo versions?

Yes, there was indeed an LPT version, as I had one back in the day.

They are built like tanks so should still be nice to this day, assuming parts supply is ok as SAAB have been defunct for a decade.

I think theres a decent supply of parts and a few Saab specialists near me.

My 900 Convertible was indeed built like a tank, albeit a tank with a leaky roof! I just fancy a hatch this time

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

I think these are cool as fk. The sort of car that would be driven by an architect who wears a polo neck and thin glasses.

Sits at home on his Florence Knoll Sofa listening to Jazz on his Bang & Olufsen Beosystem stereo.

[williamp]

quirky but cool. I almost bought one. That shape in the late 80s were very great. But: 8v 16v, saloon or hatch, turbo or non turbo. The optioins were mind bodggling, and they all seem to be badged the same!

[Diderot]

I like these. Nearly bought one back in 1989.

[biggbn]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

I think these are cool as fk. The sort of car that would be driven by an architect who wears a polo neck and thin glasses.

Sits at home on his Florence Knoll Sofa listening to Jazz on his Bang & Olufsen Beosystem stereo.

This is bks, amusing bks, but another Clarkson created myth. Anyhow, the 900. Great cars, genuinely great cars. As a T16S that should have 175hp from memory and as another poster suggested you should be very disappointed by it when you put your foot down, and just be thinking 'well, this is a waste of ti.........' when the turbo spools right up and reallly wallops you in the middle of the back. You will then grab the gear stick and pick the next gear with a disbelieving anticipatory grin plastered on your face.

Turbo pipework can work loose, sometimes simply from the back of the gauge so if it feels flat, give everything a check.

Gearboxes can be weak make sure it goes into all gears, particularly first and reverse, hot and cold.

They can be a wee bit ticky from top end, make sure you hear it from stone cold.

Run finger along bottom of doors, brilliant design but they rust for fun there.

Floor pan around the driveshafts and front and rear inner arches can now rot, these are old cars. If the car has plastic arch lips, you know what to do, don't you?

Check headlining, these can be very saggy and held up by tacks or staples and you don't notice till you get home...ask me how I know...

I loved my t16s BUT the lower power ones are nicer to drive. A late 16v lpt is a wonderfully smooth drive but my favourite 900 owned, from maybe a dozen saabs or so, was an '84 two door 'coupe' with the 8v intercooled engine. Down on power for sure but power and torque everywhere, much tighter to drive than the hatches and susrpringly quick from a to b. Its the one I wish I'd kept despite its inability to pull more than 22mpg or so. It was a sunroof, steel wheels and wind up windaes car but it frightemed many a modern and passenger!! The 16v turbos are MUCH better on fuel!!

If its just a stylish modern classic you are after, don't dismiss the 16v n/a engined cars. Usually much nicer kept and owned for a long time by discerning owners. A 3 door 16v s is a nice left field GTi competitor. These cars are wonderful, there are few nicer feelings than jumping into your 900 on a cold, wintry, filthy night, feeling that door thud, your heated seats warming your bum and looking out that upright windscreen and just knowing you are safe and your drive home will be fun. These cars are nimble, well made and can still be dailied. We brought a load of flat pack back from IKEA in a five door lpt auto with the seats down. People couldn't believe the amount it swallowed.

There are still enough around for you to be picky, buy well and buy the best you can find. Sometimes you are lucky and they are still reasonably priced!

Owned...2 x Saab 96 V4, 95 V4 Estate, 99 two door, 900 five door 8v n/a x 3, 16v three door, 16v lpt five door and same car but auto, three door t16s aero, two door 8v intercooler, gm900 5 door 2 litre, gm900 convertible 2.3, 9000 lpt, 9-5 aero hot saloon auto, ng9-3 v6 turbo convertible manual and maybe some I've forgotten....I likes a saab me, ran saabs and volvos almost exclusively as a young man!!

Edited by biggbn on Tuesday 25th June 19:05

My Saab 'unicorn' now is the left field, unloved and rare gm900 three door v6 which I'd bet is still a lovely, smooth, lively car to drive. Thinking man's vr6?

Edited by biggbn on Tuesday 25th June 19:52

[chrispmartha]

biggbn said:

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

I think these are cool as fk. The sort of car that would be driven by an architect who wears a polo neck and thin glasses.

Sits at home on his Florence Knoll Sofa listening to Jazz on his Bang & Olufsen Beosystem stereo.

This is bks, amusing bks, but another Clarkson created myth. Anyhow, the 900. Great cars, genuinely great cars. As a T16S that should have 175hp from memory and as another poster suggested you should be very disappointed by it when you put your foot down, and just be thinking 'well, this is a waste of ti.........' when the turbo spools right up and reallly wallops you in the middle of the back. You will then grab the gear stick and pick the next gear with a disbelieving anticipatory grin plastered on your face.

Turbo pipework can work loose, sometimes simply from the back of the gauge so if it feels flat, give everything a check.

Gearboxes can be weak make sure it goes into all gears, particularly first and reverse, hot and cold.

They can be a wee bit ticky from top end, make sure you hear it from stone cold.

Run finger along bottom of doors, brilliant design but they rust for fun there.

Floor pan around the driveshafts and front and rear inner arches can now rot, these are old cars. If the car has plastic arch lips, you know what to do, don't you?

Check headlining, these can be very saggy and held up by tacks or staples and you don't notice till you get home...ask me how I know...

I loved my t16s BUT the lower power ones are nicer to drive. A late 16v lpt is a wonderfully smooth drive but my favourite 900 owned, from maybe a dozen saabs or so, was an '84 two door 'coupe' with the 8v intercooled engine. Down on power for sure but power and torque everywhere, much tighter to drive than the hatches and susrpringly quick from a to b. Its the one I wish I'd kept despite its inability to pull more than 22mpg or so. It was a sunroof, steel wheels and wind up windaes car but it frightemed many a modern and passenger!! The 16v turbos are MUCH better on fuel!!

If its just a stylish modern classic you are after, don't dismiss the 16v n/a engined cars. Usually much nicer kept and owned for a long time by discerning owners. A 3 door 16v s is a nice left field GTi competitor. These cars are wonderful, there are few nicer feelings than jumping into your 900 on a cold, wintry, filthy night, feeling that door thud, your heated seats warming your bum and looking out that upright windscreen and just knowing you are safe and your drive home will be fun. These cars are nimble, well made and can still be dailied. We brought a load of flat pack back from IKEA in a five door lpt auto with the seats down. People couldn't believe the amount it swallowed.

There are still enough around for you to be picky, buy well and buy the best you can find. Sometimes you are lucky and they are still reasonably priced!

Owned...2 x Saab 96 V4, 95 V4 Estate, 99 two door, 900 five door 8v n/a x 3, 16v three door, 16v lpt five door and same car but auto, three door t16s aero, two door 8v intercooler, gm900 5 door 2 litre, gm900 convertible 2.3, 9000 lpt, 9-5 aero hot saloon auto, ng9-3 v6 turbo convertible manual and maybe some I've forgotten....I likes a saab me, ran saabs and volvos almost exclusively as a young man!!

Edited by biggbn on Tuesday 25th June 19:05

My Saab 'unicorn' now is the left field, unloved and rare gm900 three door v6 which I'd bet is still a lovely, smooth, lively car to drive. Thinking man's vr6?

Edited by biggbn on Tuesday 25th June 19:52

Great post thank you

I did have s 16v non turbo convertible a few years back so have some experience, time to get some more :-)

I really like the look of that T8 Turbo special edition on ebay, I believe it was just a special to get rid of the last 8V cars but gave it loads of extras.

Is there a massive difference between the 8 and 16 valve versions?

[biggbn]

chrispmartha said:

biggbn said:

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

I think these are cool as fk. The sort of car that would be driven by an architect who wears a polo neck and thin glasses.

Sits at home on his Florence Knoll Sofa listening to Jazz on his Bang & Olufsen Beosystem stereo.

This is bks, amusing bks, but another Clarkson created myth. Anyhow, the 900. Great cars, genuinely great cars. As a T16S that should have 175hp from memory and as another poster suggested you should be very disappointed by it when you put your foot down, and just be thinking 'well, this is a waste of ti.........' when the turbo spools right up and reallly wallops you in the middle of the back. You will then grab the gear stick and pick the next gear with a disbelieving anticipatory grin plastered on your face.

Turbo pipework can work loose, sometimes simply from the back of the gauge so if it feels flat, give everything a check.

Gearboxes can be weak make sure it goes into all gears, particularly first and reverse, hot and cold.

They can be a wee bit ticky from top end, make sure you hear it from stone cold.

Run finger along bottom of doors, brilliant design but they rust for fun there.

Floor pan around the driveshafts and front and rear inner arches can now rot, these are old cars. If the car has plastic arch lips, you know what to do, don't you?

Check headlining, these can be very saggy and held up by tacks or staples and you don't notice till you get home...ask me how I know...

I loved my t16s BUT the lower power ones are nicer to drive. A late 16v lpt is a wonderfully smooth drive but my favourite 900 owned, from maybe a dozen saabs or so, was an '84 two door 'coupe' with the 8v intercooled engine. Down on power for sure but power and torque everywhere, much tighter to drive than the hatches and susrpringly quick from a to b. Its the one I wish I'd kept despite its inability to pull more than 22mpg or so. It was a sunroof, steel wheels and wind up windaes car but it frightemed many a modern and passenger!! The 16v turbos are MUCH better on fuel!!

If its just a stylish modern classic you are after, don't dismiss the 16v n/a engined cars. Usually much nicer kept and owned for a long time by discerning owners. A 3 door 16v s is a nice left field GTi competitor. These cars are wonderful, there are few nicer feelings than jumping into your 900 on a cold, wintry, filthy night, feeling that door thud, your heated seats warming your bum and looking out that upright windscreen and just knowing you are safe and your drive home will be fun. These cars are nimble, well made and can still be dailied. We brought a load of flat pack back from IKEA in a five door lpt auto with the seats down. People couldn't believe the amount it swallowed.

There are still enough around for you to be picky, buy well and buy the best you can find. Sometimes you are lucky and they are still reasonably priced!

Owned...2 x Saab 96 V4, 95 V4 Estate, 99 two door, 900 five door 8v n/a x 3, 16v three door, 16v lpt five door and same car but auto, three door t16s aero, two door 8v intercooler, gm900 5 door 2 litre, gm900 convertible 2.3, 9000 lpt, 9-5 aero hot saloon auto, ng9-3 v6 turbo convertible manual and maybe some I've forgotten....I likes a saab me, ran saabs and volvos almost exclusively as a young man!!

Edited by biggbn on Tuesday 25th June 19:05

My Saab 'unicorn' now is the left field, unloved and rare gm900 three door v6 which I'd bet is still a lovely, smooth, lively car to drive. Thinking man's vr6?

Edited by biggbn on Tuesday 25th June 19:52

Great post thank you

I did have s 16v non turbo convertible a few years back so have some experience, time to get some more :-)

I really like the look of that T8 Turbo special edition on ebay, I believe it was just a special to get rid of the last 8V cars but gave it loads of extras.

Is there a massive difference between the 8 and 16 valve versions?

For me, it's almost like the 8v golf gti v 16v golf gti argument from way back. The 16v was demonstrably the quicker car, but the 8v FELT quicker more of the time because the power and torque didn't have to be worked for. The 8v Intercooled car I mentioned rarely had to come out of top gear once on the go, it just seemed like a torque monster compared to the t16s, I'd be interested to see the figures actually. The 16v fpt felt properly quick once the revs and boost were up but the 8v felt more driveable and with plenty of usable performance. Guess it's what you want from the car? I'd not overlook a tidy two or three door 16v n/a either as I said earleir.

Wirh the turbo cars, the 16v definitely breathes better throughout the rev range as you would expect and has a great spread of power, there wasn't much need to rev the old 8v as it did its work early and turned in for the evening!! You could almost, almost compare the feel of the 8v turbo intercooler to a turbo diesel in that respect. Lots of relaxed, elastic oomph but no point in chasing revs...

Edit. Try UkSaabs forum, it was one of the best forums but does seem a little quiet now, but wow there are some knowledgeable fellas on there!!

Edited by biggbn on Tuesday 25th June 21:44

[CubanShirtEnthusiast]

chrispmartha said:

I'm handing my Polestar Lease car back - Im doing hardly any miles (4 or 5,000 per year tops)

I think Im going to take the opportunity to get anotherSaab 900 I bought a convertible 900i but this was just before Lockdown I then got the lease car after lockdown so didn't feel I did my time in the Saab justice, but I don't fancy another convertible

This looks glorious.

Personally I prefer the front end of the facelift 900s (1987 onwards) but this one still looks fantastic - it's in the best colour and on the best alloys.

I seem to remember the gearbox being the most troublesome thing on the classic 900s so keep an eye on that, as well as rust around the sills and the bottom of the doors - they had a typically Saabish design where the bottom edges wrapped around the underside to sit flush with the sills.

Good luck, and I hope it's as good as your last one was.

[chrispmartha]

CubanShirtEnthusiast said:

chrispmartha said:

I'm handing my Polestar Lease car back - Im doing hardly any miles (4 or 5,000 per year tops)

I think Im going to take the opportunity to get anotherSaab 900 I bought a convertible 900i but this was just before Lockdown I then got the lease car after lockdown so didn't feel I did my time in the Saab justice, but I don't fancy another convertible

This looks glorious.

Personally I prefer the front end of the facelift 900s (1987 onwards) but this one still looks fantastic - it's in the best colour and on the best alloys.

I seem to remember the gearbox being the most troublesome thing on the classic 900s so keep an eye on that, as well as rust around the sills and the bottom of the doors - they had a typically Saabish design where the bottom edges wrapped around the underside to sit flush with the sills.

Good luck, and I hope it's as good as your last one was.

The colour coded bumpers look odd on that red one which concerns me, shouldn’t they be black plastic?

[CubanShirtEnthusiast]

From memory, yeah, the bumpers are normally black plastic. I've seen a few floating around with colour-coded bumpers, but as I'm more knowledgeable on the GM-era cars, I don't know if that's an aftermarket mod or original fitment. Wouldn't be too concerned about it unless you look at the car and there are obvious signs of an accident repair.

They may have been going for a look similar to the 'Ruby' edition cars - these were run-out facelift models in gorgeous dark red paintwork which included colour-coded bumpers.

[williamp]

Old top gear review (new 9-3) andf buying guide (this shape 900)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMfoJkCnzkY

Watch those servicing costs: £40 for the 6k service

[biggbn]

CubanShirtEnthusiast said:

chrispmartha said:

I'm handing my Polestar Lease car back - Im doing hardly any miles (4 or 5,000 per year tops)

I think Im going to take the opportunity to get anotherSaab 900 I bought a convertible 900i but this was just before Lockdown I then got the lease car after lockdown so didn't feel I did my time in the Saab justice, but I don't fancy another convertible

This looks glorious.

Personally I prefer the front end of the facelift 900s (1987 onwards) but this one still looks fantastic - it's in the best colour and on the best alloys.

I seem to remember the gearbox being the most troublesome thing on the classic 900s so keep an eye on that, as well as rust around the sills and the bottom of the doors - they had a typically Saabish design where the bottom edges wrapped around the underside to sit flush with the sills.

Good luck, and I hope it's as good as your last one was.

I prefer the simplicity of the older flat front models but the one linked seems neither fish nor foul. I don't think it should have colour coded bumpers and aero kit. I think, as others have said, it is trying to look like a later model, maybe the eulogised Carlsson or Ruby, neither of which I particularly like. I do wonder if the colour coded thing was an option, despite my love of Saabs, I'm not enough of a SvenBeard to know either way

[Dapster]

chrispmartha said:

The colour coded bumpers look odd on that red one which concerns me, shouldn’t they be black plastic?

I thought the T16 had grey bumpers and only the Carlsson had the full colour coded body kit