Also a 1.8t Linear but from 2006. A bit of remapping may be on the cards.
When we first got my sister's one off a mate of mine, she had a Mondeo MkIII 1.8 hand-me-down with 325k from myself and my dad. She liked the car. However, this Saab came up so we took it.
Initially, she liked the roof, the interior etc. as well as the exclusivity. However, she didn't like
-The drive; It was lifeless compared to the Mondeo. The roadholding wasn't all that either
-The gearing. The 5th in that bar the E61 535d we had, was taller than the 6th gear in all other cars we've owned. 2nd gear is easy to stall the car in when crawling. My friend prior to this really struggled and would put the car into 1st and roundabouts to make it move. The Mondeo was closer stacked and was a much easier drive as a result.
-The power : It simply didn't want to go. It's OK on pace, but nothing great.
-Brakes : They've always been poor.
I would go on to do a few things to change that
-Tyres. People will bang on about Chinese/Mid-range tyres being no different. All I'll say is my sister is not a tyre snob (she gives me a car and I fix it, that simple). It had the following sets on during her time
:Set 1 : Kumho KU31 & Toyo CFIIs in 215/55R16
:Set 2 : Landsail LH388 & ContiSport 3s in 225/45R17
:Set 3 : Goodyear F1 A5s and ContiSport 3s in 225/45R17
While I suspected the roadholding was partially down to the tyres I didn't bank on how much of it was. I made her stick with Set 1 for 20k, as the 17s came up cheap ; Tyres are cheaper in this size as well. Things improved but not by alot. I honestly couldn't tell much difference on the front between the LH388s and the KU31s. The backend was a little livelier on the Toyos mind you if you threw it in hard. But you didn't take corners with much verve or confience.
With the Eagle F1s it changed that. Now you had a car that felt planted in the bends and surefooted straight away. Finally, my sister had a car that drove close to what the Mondeo did (That was on Michelins when we gave it to her). It did come at a cost fo £160 for 2 tyres. My sister could not understand why I made her go with the mid-range tyres (well, to wear them out first before buying other tyres) and let's just say I had this complaint for a month or so from her as she considered the cash pocket change for transforming the drive of the car
-Remap : NoobTune remapped it from 150BHP to 210BHP. That made a difference. A big difference!
From being lacklusture, it just wants to go and go now! It has true pace, enough to trouble my 217BHP 5 pot Mondeo. The 2nd gear issue? That's nowhere near as bad as well. The power does come in with a whack at 3000RPM, but, it's great! If the clutch is the factory clutch, it may slip however. These don't use a DMF which can make changes cheaper. A common upgrade is to use a Saab 9-5 Clutch with modified dowel pins. These can handle the power better. A fresh 1.8t clutch however also should be OK.
-Brakes. Ditched the Unipart parts, and fitted GM pads with new discs. I also changed the fluid. The pedal has improved but it's not what I'd call amazing. It does now however stop very well, and with more confidence.
We've had ours for 4 years now, and done 40k in that time. It's had a few bills now (brakes, backbox, and CarPlay conversion), but it's not bad for the timeframe
.
I spent ages looking for a 9-3 Aero wagon with the facelift/non fibre optic dash but sadly couldn't find a decent one for my budget. Lovely cars, still with that Saab quirkiness and
so comfy. If I saw one tomorrow at the right price I'd snap it up.
If you still want one but are open to a drop top, my sister's car may be available soon. It's a remapped 1.8t Linear.