Author Topic: Greetings old SAAB friends!  (Read 2612 times)

Max Headroom

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Greetings old SAAB friends!
« on: 04 March 2020, 07:16:37 PM »
Its been a long time since dropping in here to write anything, but I do pop in for a nose occasionally. I hope you are all well and keeping your feet dry in this unprecidented weather!

I'm still driving the Suzuki Jimny which is huge fun with its rigid axles (this is what I switched to from the  SAAB vert) I even took it off-roading at Aldermaston last year which turned out to be  the biggest gathering of Suzuki Jimnys the UK has seen so far. It was so successful another even bigger event has been organised for the humble little Jimny later this year in Yorks
Offroading is immense fun, but when its your daily driver great care needs to be taken! I was utterly astonished at what these vehicles can do in their standard form

Everywhere I look I still see lovely SAABs and it makes me miss mine a lot.

Progress on the vintage MG (J2 Midget) continues with the engine almost ready, the trim all done (apart from the seats) and a gearbox on the way to being finished too.

The modern Midget that I owned from almost new until 1999 ...and bought back 3 years ago will get its original (matching numbers engine) renovated and reunited with the car in April (I put a tuned unit in it during the 90s but it was never very successful) - luckily the spare 'original' engine remained with the car until I reunited myself with it three years ago

Very Best Wishes to you all!
« Last Edit: 04 March 2020, 07:34:02 PM by Max Headroom »

sgould

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Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!
« Reply #1 on: 04 March 2020, 08:51:04 PM »
Are these the vehicles that are now difficult to find?  And prices going through the roof?
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Max Headroom

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Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!
« Reply #2 on: 05 March 2020, 09:52:23 AM »
Hello Will

Yes, thats the new model with its very boxy retro appearance.  Underneath however, it's still very similar to the previous model - the chassis is virtually the same.

The reason for the Jimny's popularity is that it has a dedicated following of people that need small practical cheap vehicles which Landrovers arent.
Suzuki launched the new model across the world but got caught out with the slightly unexpected demand for them, and the other issue is that Europe has also now limited it because of its higher emissions comared to other similar sized cars. Everyone is a bit surprised that Suzuki didn't see that one coming.
Apparently Suzuki will get around this for a short while, by producing a 2 seat commercial 'van' version, not subject to the same controls as the car version - this will be available with the option to buy a set of rear seats! Allegedly this will buy the manufacturer some time to sort out an alternative engine without the emmisions restrictions.

Many Jimny's become very modified for purely off-road use but in it's standard form its an incredibly capable vehicle that surprises a lot of people. Take a look at this very unklikely comparison...

Unlikely comparison
Standard V Modified

Also - I dont know if you saw it just the other week, but Top Gear had one that they were messing around with and were very impressed by its performance

So in short, the prices are being artificially hiked by supply and demand, and some unscrupulous dealers.

sgould

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Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!
« Reply #3 on: 05 March 2020, 10:47:38 AM »
Looks to be good fun. :)

I'm too old to need a car to go off road. The Carlsson with 4 wheel drive and winter tyres gets me up our hill in the snow!

Try this from my dash cam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRnAdYHaDYc
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Max Headroom

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Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!
« Reply #4 on: 05 March 2020, 05:32:03 PM »


Wow  - that was indeed impressive! Full winter tyres - or all-season? I no longer have the space to keep spare wheels since re-acquisitioning my old MG Midget so the Jimny uses an All-Season compromise.

I'm not much into the off-roading scene particularly, but I'm interested to learn, and its a completely different form of driving that I have had no previous experience of. I'm utterly astonished at just where some vehicles can go!

sgould

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Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!
« Reply #5 on: 05 March 2020, 06:56:54 PM »
A Mix of the Nokian A3 & A4 winter tyres.  But the writing on the side says "All Weather Plus" :)

In the video you can see all the cars that got to the bottom of the hill and couldn't get back up.  :o
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Max Headroom

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Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!
« Reply #6 on: 05 March 2020, 09:00:01 PM »


In the video you can see all the cars that got to the bottom of the hill and couldn't get back up.  :o

Yes I thought they looked stuck :)

Any discussion going on here about THIS yet? There's quite a lot of consternation and dismay about it

sgould

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Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!
« Reply #7 on: 05 March 2020, 09:07:01 PM »
There's been some discussion on other forums.  The general feeling is that all Saabs since 1979 are Ok with E10.    There was a time when the French brought in E10 only and 98 octane was hard to find. That's changed over there now.   I used the E10 in the Hirsched 9-5 for two or three years with no issues, but I use the 98 now.
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Max Headroom

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Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!
« Reply #8 on: 08 March 2020, 09:47:45 PM »


Sounds reassuring Will. The Jimny crowd looked at the inside  fuel filler cap which lists both E5 and E10 - some comfort - but I own a couple of old sports cars as you know so will be watching other forums too