So since getting the chains done on the Aero, I thought I'd use it for work for a few days, now that I don't feel concerned about chains breaking etc.
So this evening I popped out to my ukulele class (no, seriously!!), and afterwards took a long round trip home, taking in country roads, a bit of the M40 and so on....well sometimes you just have to!!!
Since having this 9-3ss, there is always the temptation to compare it to the 9-5 I had years ago, and which I sadly traded in around about the time this beast was about to hit the road for the first time with owner number 1 in Scotland!!
I've always felt the 9-5 was the better car, more solid, smoother comfortable ride, great cruiser and suitably fast, even though it was just a 150bhp Ecopower with velour seats. That's not to say I didn't like this 9-3 - it is just a different beast, and different experience.
So let's have look into this a bit more:
9-5 the better car? Well, maybe overall, but it's a bigger, more expensive car, probably aimed at a different sort of buyer, so they are not going to be the same.
9-5 is more solid? Well, maybe, but let's not forget, I had my 9-5 from when it was 3 years old to when it was 6 years old, and I was only the second owner. The car did from 51,000 miles to around 75,000 during the time I had it. Now this 9-3 has had a life!!! It is 13 years old, had 4 owners before me, and now had 96,000 on the clock. It's a much older car than my 9-5 was when I had it, so there will be more rattles and knocks etc, but actually, it's not doing too bad!!!!
9-5 was a smoother, more comfortable ride? Well again, maybe. But my 9-5 had 16" wheels with bigger tyres for a softer ride. It also had what must be the equivalent of Linear/Arc suspension rather than Aero, so more softly sprung. This 9-3 is the Aero, and has the stiffer sports suspension. And thanks to a previous owner, 18" wheels rather than the standard 17". So the ride might not be as soft, but crusing on the motorway or A roads, it's still very comfortable.
9-5 was suitably fast? Yes it was. I didn't rag it, but I knew that if I wanted to overtake something I could, comfortably. The power was in reserve, but I used it when I needed to. This Aero though, is a very different beast - much faster and more responsive, even without a Stage 1 remap (which I do still hope to do at some point). Again, I don't rag it or abuse it, but I can drive it more spiritedly than I do our other cars, because it is fast, and faster and lighter than my 9-5.
And as the 9-3 is not my main daily driver, when I do choose to take if for a blast, it's because I actually enjoy driving it, and look forward to driving it!!!! I have been amassing bits and pieces to improve the car - front splitter, folding wing mirrors, 314mm front brake upgrade (discs, back plate, refurbed bigger calipers), front wing to replace the one with the poor paint finish etc. As well as the remap, I hope to get a bodyshop to sort those rear arches out (which I have temporarily halted the rust with the application of some Hydrate80 just before Christmas). Now that the chains have been done, this project Aero has only just begun!!!
Is this a mid life crisis car? Mmmmm, I leave that for you to decide
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But it is the fastest car I've ever owned....and it's a Saab, which takes me back to when I bought my 9-5, because it had a sort of exclusivity about it