Yesterday was a tough day at work. I work outside, and it was up in the 90s and muggy. When I got done, I was feeling fatigued, but happy beacuse I had the next day (today) off. So I'm just cruising home the long way with the air conditioner cooling me off, and listening to tunes from my iPod I had connected to the stereo.

There was no traffic around me, but I could see some behind me in the rearview mirror. There was a white car driving aggressively, weaving in and out of traffic, hauling ***. He finally caught to me at red light, it was a Saab 9-3. It looked like it was in nice shape, but I don't know the year or model. I don't know the performance abilities of these cars, Saabs aren't really my thing, but they seem somewhat sporty.

I was in the right hand lane because I had a right turn to make a little ways up the road. He was to the left of me. I moved my left foot to the brake, and gave it a smidgen of gas, just to be ready if this guy wanted to have a go. Light turned green, he chirped his tires, I didn't chirp mine, I just matched his speed, and he quickly mashed on the gas. So did I. I probably put 2 lengths on him easily, and was briefly about 10+ mph over the speed limit. I saw him flash his headlights in the rearview mirror, not sure what that was all about. I slowed down to take my turn, and to let him drive by to see what kind of a car he had. It was nice to have a little fun at the end of a grueling work day.
That was my second ever run in with a Saab.

My first was also driving home from work a couple of years ago in my '05 4.0, it was a Saturday I think, so traffic was lighter. There were probably 3 or 4 cars dicing it out including me, but I didn't get involved too much, I got on the gas a bit here and there, I mostly just hung back and watched, they were being more aggressive than I wanted to mess with. Don't remember the other cars involved, but the dominant one was a black Saab something with a very loud performance exhaust. When we I got closer to home, the racing was mostly over, and there was a Y in the road where you could go left or right. The Saab was in the right lane, stuck behind traffic. I'm in the left lane, going to take the left split because I live up that way. I wanted to make the light, so I hit the gas as I was passing the Saab stuck in traffic. I wasn't trying to show him up, but he must have thought I was (my MRT exhaust was loud), so he peeled out aggressively from the right lane just to follow me. The new street we were on starts off as one lane, then opens to two lanes. So he is right on my bumper. But I don't want to race because there is a police station right up the street on the right, which is pretty much across the street from my house. So as soon as it opens to two lanes I slowly move to the right lane to let him go by on the left. He goes flying by me, probably hitting 70 in a 35. Then he sticks his left arm out the window and pumps his fist into the air like he just boat raced me. What a total douchebag! It would have been funny if a cop was coming out of the station, but no such luck. He probably didn't know about the police station there.

So I have two street kills with the new ride, a 9-3 and a Taurus (non-SHO), I know, whoppee! Most days nothing happens.

 

 

sounds like fun. good runs man.

 

The 2006 and newer Saab 9-3's were 250 hp 2.8 turbo V6's. The turbo only puts out like 5 psi. The cars are not really that fast, but with the Aero package they handle pretty nice and are fun to drive. They can be made pretty quick with a tune (as can most turbo cars). 300-320 hp (flywheel) is pretty easy. The cars are pretty heavy though. My dd is a 2007 Saab 9-3 Aero with a 6 speed manual. I love the car, but I don't think it could hang with a 2011 6'er, guys with tubes are running low 14's to high 13's but it is pretty rare to run into a tuned one because it costs around $700 to tune them.

 

It is no more silly than a guy with a 6'er putting performance exhaust in his car.

 

Yeah, it was something to break up the boredum of the usual drive to or from work. Most days I just stay in the same lane almost all the way home, just listening to the radio. It is fun when someone engages you into action, but it has been rare for me to have that happen.

Not sure if he had the turbo or not, but if I was still driving the '05 4.0, the result would have been much closer, and I may have lost. Thanks for the info, Saabs seem like nice cars.

 

My axle back MRT exhaust was quite a bit louder than stock on my '05 4.0, but it was much quieter than the exhaust on the Saab I was talking about from my earler encounter. That Saab sounded as loud as the racing exhausts on the Speed Touring cars I saw when I went to Mid-Ohio in the early 2000s.

 

I test drove a 06 Saab Arc last year. I believe it was a turbo 2.0 liter. To me, it felt pretty damn quick. It had a flat torque curve. I was impressed with the car and for the money you get tons of options. Their sketchy reliability reputation kept us away from it though. My biggest complaint with it was that it didn't have a limited slip diff, so it kept lighting up the inside tire every time I punched it while making a turn. I can definitely see someone making a nasty car out of one.

 

I need to make a correction. The 06 and up 9-3 Aeros had the 2.8 Turbo V6. The rest had a 2.0 turbo, but they still are easy to mod.


You are right that you get a lot for your money. The reliability thing is somewhat not deserved on the newer cars, still I would not own one without a warranty, but that goes any newer car that is a dd.

 

I disagree