Saab 9000 Aero Vs. Wyoming Weather (Saab Wins)

"Baskingshark" (BaskingsharkGTX) 05/04/2014 at 19:35 • Filed to: None

4

13

This is my new set of (SuperAero) wheels. It's a '95 in Le Mans blue with black interior. It ain't perfect, but it's relatively low mileage (137K when I bought it) and it is tough .

I went shopping for one of these and couldn't find a good one anywhere near me in CO. Then I found this one in Seattle. After corresponding with the seller for a couple of weeks, I flew out last weekend with cash in my pocket and one of two plans in mind - if the car was good, buying it and driving it the 1308 miles home or if it wasn't, a little sight-seeing and another flight home.

Turned out the car was nice, a deal was done and on Saturday morning, with the aid of a sat-nav I borrowed from my boss, I set off for home. Everything went great, right up until I hit Wyoming, where it got colder. And colder. And colder. And then snowier and snowier. Trucks went past and I was like "what is this crap they keep kicking up onto my windshield that won't come off with the wipers?" It was ice.

So about 170 miles from home, I head down out of the mountains and the weather clears up and I'm like "Man, glad that's over." It wasn't. 10 miles later it's about 100 times worse and the road is an ice rink. Everyone warned me about the TCS on these cars. Turns out mine works fine and good job I had it!

Then we hit Laramie, more snow and I-80 is now closed between there and the CO border. With about 5 miles of semis at a standstill between me and it. Stop and wait. Worry that the battery will die in the cold. Then a road services pickup goes by in the (empty) fast lane, helpfully pushing most of the snow out of the way. A guy behind me in a Chevy Beat pulls out and follows him. Where Chevy Beats can go, Saab 9000s can definitely go, so I follow and we borrow one of those little passageways things where you can make a U-Turn if you're an Authorized Vehicle, then head back the other way.

I do not know this area at all so, parked up in Walmart's car park, I try to persuade the Sat Nav to find me another way home. Eventually it decides there's another route I can take that means I have to start off going in the opposite direction. This, I think, must be good - after all, I am now going away from the very many semis.

For a very short distance, after which it takes me down an on-ramp right back to I-80 where I just came from.

So now, I'm stuck on the on-ramp with an Audi and another car in front of me and the line of semis blocking us from getting to the other side of the road to do another U-Turn. Behind me a Subaru Baja comes down the ramp, stops, reverses and drives down the little embankment at the side of the road onto the exit going the other way. Not seeing any point wasting gas sitting there, I do a 3-point turn on the ice-encrusted ramp, set the hazard flashers going and drive slowly back up the ramp the wrong way. I can't do what the Subaru did because best case scenario, I'll damage the front spoiler and worse case scenario, I'll get stuck, so I just continue up the on-ramp back to where I came from where I can get back on a piece of road that's designed for the direction of travel I'm going in.

Luckily it seems that the local cops treat driving snow days like school snow days - all regular bets are off, so I don't get pulled over.

The Sat Nav keeps demanding I make a U-Turn. It gets ignored as we drive about aimlessly for a bit, looking for something helpful. And then I see a sign for Route 287 to Denver so head down that. The Sat Nav continues to blather on about U-Turns for a bit, but then finally shuts up and plans a new route via the wildernesses of CO and we make it home, covered in road grime.

Through all of this, the car didn't miss a beat. The next day, I treat it to a car wash to make sure all the road salt is cleaned off it.

Unfortunately this also cleans all the paint off the Saab-Scania badge on the trunk. ARGH!

Dark pictures were taken at the parking garage at work. I meant to take some more today but forgot and only remembered after I put it away in the underground parking for the day!

190e30-Now with COSWORTH > Baskingshark 05/04/2014 at 19:55

1

Very nice car. Looks fantastic, low mileage for one of these, and sleeper of the century. The first time I drove my dad's, I accidentally smoked the tires in 2nd due to getting on boost whilst pulling away from a stoplight because I went straight from my 160 hp N/A Audi into this surprisingly savage sedan.

Enjoy your purchase!

-A3RO's brother

merkyg > Baskingshark 05/04/2014 at 20:03

1

Always good to hear someone appreciating the abilities of their Saab - of them all I think the 9000 was the nicest to be in comfort-wise, such a nice ride. Yeah, they are tough cars, except those badges. Our old 9-3 was the only one I've seen round here with an unscathed badge. I was about to change the ones on our 9-5 Vector for replacement black ones as a sign of mourning for Saab, then they rose from the dead again (though it remains to be seen if they'll still be worthy of the badge so it might still happen)

Nibbles > Baskingshark 05/04/2014 at 20:05

1

Nice! I've been looking for a set of Super Aeros and, like the car they came on, they're nearly extinct here in Colorado! About that badge; if you're in Denver hit me up. I have connections on Saab parts, and can also repaint it for you if you wanna go that route. SAABLYFE 4 EVA

Baskingshark > merkyg 05/04/2014 at 20:11

2

That's kind of the kicker - the rear badge on this one was almost perfect.

Operative word: was

The car did do its best to try and kill some of the car wash workers, mind you. One of the needs I knew it had was that the parking brake needed adjusting as it would sometimes let go without warning if you pulled it up too high. It did that at the car wash and aimed itself straight at a few of them, although they all managed to get out of the way and I hit the footbrake in time!

I've found repro badges are cheaper in England ($12 as opposed to $35) so I may get one sent to my mum and have her send it on to me.

Baskingshark > 190e30-Now with COSWORTH 05/04/2014 at 20:14

3

Thanks! It's not cosmetically as nice as your white one was - you can see in the pic that there's a patch of clear-coat peeling on the front of the hood and there's another on the fender, plus some stone chips, scratches etc and the front spoiler is far from perfect, but I can take care of most of that pretty easily.

And yes - I had four (I think) states to drive through before I got to Wyoming and as soon as I got on the freeway and hit the gas, I thought "hm yeah. So THAT'S what everyone's been raving about..."

Baskingshark > Nibbles 05/04/2014 at 20:39

0

Thanks! I'm in Boulder, so not far.

A3R0 > Baskingshark 05/04/2014 at 21:41

1

Congrats on a happy ending to your long journey. I just checked, our thread was almost 60 comments, and has been existing since 3-30-14. Enjoy the car and I hope to see some updates soon, too!

Someone Else's Projects > Baskingshark 05/06/2014 at 22:50

0

Yup, there's a reason the badge on my back is a sticker instead of a proper replacement badge. Is yours manual? I also have a '95 Aero with TCS, and it's really been flawless in the two years and 22k miles I've had it; it now has 227k miles and still runs like something with half the mileage. You'll have a lot of fun with yours.

Baskingshark > Someone Else's Projects 05/07/2014 at 13:00

0

Your car sounds great and yes - I think I'll try and stockpile an original badge but use a sticker for driving. I'm doing the same with perfect-paint rear and chin spoilers! This one is manual too, I much prefer manual and as I understand on these it's pretty much a must since the autos were detuned and the autoboxes are fragile.

Someone Else's Projects > Baskingshark 05/07/2014 at 14:08

0

Yeah, that front spoiler is a serious scrape magnet; I've taken out both of my fog lights just by curbing and/or running over things. Are you planning on doing any upgrades? I've installed a set of SAS 25mm antisway bars front and rear along with Bilstein HD shocks at all four corners, on top of the previous owner's Nordic stage 3 tune. The only one I regret is the Bilsteins; they are seriously stiff on these badly-maintained Boston roads, and they just serve to shake apart the interior even faster. In hindsight I'd just have put on some Sachs OEM replacements instead. The Stage 3 tune was a nice bonus but entirely unnecessary; stock boost is enough for cackles.

Baskingshark > Someone Else's Projects 05/07/2014 at 18:39

0

I have a few things to get fixed (nothing major) and a couple of clear coat patches and scratches to sort out, then I'll think about upgrades if I think it needs any (I should be more used to the car by then and have a better feel for it). My front spoiler is probably the weakest area of the car too! Do you think it's worth fitting antisway bars? Do they have a major effect on handling?

Someone Else's Projects > Baskingshark 05/07/2014 at 18:53

0

I would say that the antisway bars are the best modification that I have on the car at the moment. They drastically reduce body roll without a noticeable ride harshness penalty, which is more than I can say for the Bilsteins, which provide control but at a really high price. In the meantime, replacing rear sway bar bushings with polyurethane can get you partway there with less expense and hassle; I have a pair of those that were on for a brief period before I decided to go all-out and put in the full sways.

Baskingshark > Someone Else's Projects 05/08/2014 at 22:44

0

Thanks for the info. My rear sway bar bushings need replacing actually (they're among the bunch of little things that need fixing), so I'll make sure the new ones are polyurethane.