dcn@ihuxl.UUCP (Dave Newkirk) (06/04/85)
This is a short review of my first two weeks with a new Saab Turbo, spent touring Europe with two friends. A separate posting describing our travel experiences is in net.travel. The car is now on its way to the USA via ship, and should arrive in a couple of weeks in New Jersey. I picked up the car in Gothenburg, Sweden at the new Saab International Delivery Center. I spent over an hour there going over the car and the paperwork. The car had temporary plates and a Swedish registration, and came with a voucher for a free tank of gas at the service station next door. We drove down the west coast of Sweden to Trelleborg and caught a ferry to Travemunde, West Germany. Then we drove through East Germany to Berlin, and south again to Regensburg and Munich. We went a little farther east to Salzburg, and along the German Alpine Road to Garmisch. Then we went through the Arlberg Tunnel to Switzerland, passing through Luzern and Bern. We took the French auto route to Paris, and farther north to Calais. Then a short detour east in to the Ardennes, and finally north to Amsterdam, where I left the car with the Saab export representative. We traveled 2700 miles in 12 days, averaging 26 mpg on leaded gas (and no catalytic converter). After the car was broken in, it exceeded 130 mph on the Munich-Salzburg autobahn. At lower speeds, it responded much like the 1980 Saab Turbo I drive now, but a little faster. Once the revs get past 2500, the engine really comes alive and it keeps going strong all the way to redline (6000 rpm). The engine feels much smoother and quieter than my '80, and if the catalytic converter had not been removed, it probably would have sounded quieter too. Without the additional muffling effect, it sounded as if we were driving a Saab bus instead of a car. The gearbox was a little stiff, especially the gate for first, and the first-second shift. I hope that it will improve with age. The ride and handling are about the same as my '80, and there are several minor improvements in the interior and engine layout. The tires are Michelin MXV's, which seem as good or better than the TRX tires I have now. The only problem I had was with the new electronic fuel injection. When the car got hot in city traffic, the engine would suddenly rev erratically and die. Attempts to restart failed, since the electronic controls ignored the accelerator position. After it cooled down, it started and ran normally. This happened once in Dunkirk, and again in Amsterdam just before I dropped the car off. Most of the time I drove at or below the speed limits, and until the car was broken in, I obeyed the suggested autobahn speed of 130 kph (about 80 mph). I was one of the few drivers which complied with these rules. Most of the drivers seemed to treat every road as an autobahn, going as fast as they pleased, even on wet roads and through small towns. Most of the fastest cars were BMW's and Mercedes, along with VW GTI's, Renault 25's and a few other rat racers. We saw very few Porsches, even in Germany. Saabs were also absent outside of Sweden. The drivers are very good, but they are also very aggressive. Having a BMW tailgate you at 80 mph waiting for you to pass a slower car is intimidating, and you try to stay out of the way as much as possible. In the cities, the traffic control is minimal and sometimes it's everyone for themselves. The worst city I drove in was Paris, although Munich is hard to get around just because the streets are a maze. The most law-abiding citizens were the Swiss, usually at or below the 130 kph limit of their motorways. There were many signs in Switzerland reminding you to use seatbelts, and to drive slower to save gas and reduce pollution. I guess that's enough for now. If anyone has specific questions, please reply by mail. -- Dave Newkirk, ihnp4!ihuxl!dcn