ST220 Gone - Grandad Q-Car In

[philmots]

So, the other night I said goodbye to the ST220. It's been good, a really nice car and i'm glad I had one...

Good points, it sounded fantastic, looked nice and went well when revved.

Bad points, it was terrible on fuel and it still attracted the wrong sort of attention even though it was in black.

So when I got an offer for more than I paid for it 7ish months ago I couldn't say no.

Last pic...

In it's place, I got this...

It's basically a Vectra in drag. I like the look of them a lot, and it goes un-noticed (which is one of the main reasons for getting one) by pretty much everyone apart from some other Saab drivers!

The benifits of it being based on a Vectra are it's engine.. Straight out of the original Vectra VXR so it's a 2.8 V6 Turbo, 250hp / 270lbft. Remap is on the cards, it will get a safe 290hp and 360lbft... 6 speed manual.

As it is it's hugely fast, have just been up to Whitby at the weekend and overtaking is effortless, probably similar to my S1 mapped Megane was. So I can't imagine what it'll be like post map!

Build quality is a bit crap in places but it's very comfy and very quiet. Ideally I'd of had a darker interior but this has really grown on me since having it. It was also the only black saloon for sale in manual with these wheels. This was a must have as the std 17" ones look crap.

Extras from new are the leccy memory seats, the wheels, bluetooth and parking sensors.. Would of been the wrong side of 30k 5 years ago! Xenons and a decent hifi are standard.

Oh, and it's got into the cheaper tax bracket by 20 days.! Not sure I could stump up 455 quid a year.

That's it. Flame suit is on.

 

[andywa]

Looks Like a tidy car. Best colour as well.

 

[TaMrLb]

i like it

didn't jeremy clarkson say these were quicker 40-70 than a 911? or am i being a bit thick

 

[Matt Cup]

Nice sleeper!

 

[Scoot]

I never understand it when people say 'attracts the wrong sort of attention' do you meen people damaging it etc?

 

[Philip.]

That does actually look nice!

I'm getting into Saabs more and more these days...but still wouldnt own one

 

[daveski]

I really like these 93s. Probably wont be as good in the corners as the ST though

 

[Sanders]

Nice cruiser

 

[philmots]

Looks Like a tidy car. Best colour as well.

Yeah. Love black cars.

i like it

didn't jeremy clarkson say these were quicker 40-70 than a 911? or am i being a bit thick

Think he was on about the 9-5, which has similar std specs to this.. Maybe true if the 911 was in the wrong gear!

Nice sleeper!

Cheers

I never understand it when people say 'attracts the wrong sort of attention' do you meen people damaging it etc?

More people on the road, van drivers/reps up your ass trying to hurry you up etc when i'm just on a normal drive... My lass drives it a lot and she don't need that.

That does actually look nice!

I'm getting into Saabs more and more these days...but still wouldnt own one

:-D

I really like these 93s. Probably wont be as good in the corners as the ST though

It's not, it grips well but there's no feel as to what's going on, really... but i'm not too bothered these days.

 

[Coby.]

I love the exterior and 90% of the interior but that middle instrument panel needs some attention by the designers.... Too many plain square buttons for me

 

[ABOO]

Quite like that mate! Didn't realise what these had under the bonnet....

If ST220 was heavy on fuel, what's a mapped 2.8 turbo gonna be??

 

[Wick]

Like Nicer than the oval badged one in my opinion!!

 

[Daniel]

Saabs are quicker 40-70 than a 911. (Not all models obviously)

They used to say that in their adverts years ago.

Nice cars, my Dad has a 210hp Aero and its served him well!

 

[Goodj]

Awesome vehicles.
Can't see you using less fuel with it, but as you've noticed, SAAB's don't get baited

Night Panel is for winners

 

[philmots]

I didn't get rid of the ST because of the fuel, it was just very bad for the power. My old 330 auto averaged better mpg!

On the Whitby run after a mpg reset the ST220 averaged 26mpg ish, this has done 31mpg so a fair improvment.. A map could improve consumption depending on how much right foot you give it.

Aboo... They ain't all got this under the bonet, most Aero's that look like this at this age are the 210's, 2.0T 4cyl which is still a bloody good engine, all on chains so no cambelt worries. The only thing that gives the 2.8T is the 2nd exhaust pipe and the wheels. The std 2.0T Aero wheels look better than the std 2.8T Aero wheels! ...hence why finding one with these rims was a must.

Just pulled some figures off the Maptun site. pre and post map, seems to make a fair improvment.

Wouldn't copy and paste so linky.... http://www.maptun.se/tuningGuide.php?kategori=668&produkt=3792&model=3793&listorder=116

 

[Goodj]

Abbott should be your new friends, they know what to do with SAABs better than SAAB do!



Enjoy her anyway.

 

[Matt W]

Stunning!

*looks through the PH classifieds*

 

[Dean.]

Awesome cars

 

[Englebert]

Always have thought these look great.

 

[Ian_182]

I like them and there much better than a vectra...

 

[_Tom]

Im a fan.

 

[Hixle]

Like that a lot! Nice buy mate.

 

[JD]

Craigus?

 

[Goodj]

Craigus?

Conspicuous absense of CS's #1 SAAB fanboy.

 

[Gally]

Lols.

Anyway epic car sold and fantatic car in it's place. Great choice mate. Not much of a bad word to say about them really.

Does what it needs to do. Pretty nice place to be inside imo.

 

[philmots]

I'm really suprised by the positive comments tbh... Does exactly what I want from a car at the moment!

Been out in it today, gave a 225 TT the shock of its life on a sliproad!

 

[Goodj]

A lot of things will be embarrased by that little number.

You could always ramp up the boooost too, unless it's the auto

 

[FlashBastd]

May be a dumb question, but 2 or 4WD?

Looks very nice BTW, is it much smaller than the ST220?

I used to have a Mk3 2.5 Zetec-S, always wanted a 220. The Mondeos are just so useable, and the hatch makes a great van when it is needed.

 

[trailerparktrev]

Lovely motor. Nearly bought one a year ago, but the Saab dealership only offered me £8k for my R27, so I ended up with a 6 month old 200 as the Renault dealership offered me a grand more.
That went after nine months and I bought a S2000 which was first registered 28 days AFTER the tax band went to £400+ a year.

 

[Goodj]

V6 Aero's are XWD... or they were for a while anyway.

 

[philmots]

A lot of things will be embarrased by that little number.

You could always ramp up the boooost too, unless it's the auto

I'll be ramping the boost up at some point It's manual, does the auto not take the extra grunt too well?

May be a dumb question, but 2 or 4WD?

Looks very nice BTW, is it much smaller than the ST220?

I used to have a Mk3 2.5 Zetec-S, always wanted a 220. The Mondeos are just so useable, and the hatch makes a great van when it is needed.

It's 2wd, FWD. All the 2.8T V6 were till around July 08 when they did an Aero XWD and a Turbo X as well as the FWD.

It's a lot smaller than the ST220, more e46 3er size, seems about the same as my old one. The ST was huge, though. It was handy for the dog, he has to go on the back seat in this!

 

[Goodj]

Wasn't the ST220 a Hatrchback, The 9-3 is a saloon.

So unless locking the dog in a dark boot, that was always going to be the case

The auto would just waste all the extra torque and probably wouldn't thank you for it in the process. But that isn't your problem. If you go for a big-gain remap you may want to consider clutches though. Check these guys out

http://www.abbottracing.net/

 

[TimR26]

My Dad has had Saab 9-3s for his last two cars, really good if you do a lot of mileage.