wrote in message
...
On 24 Jul, 21:40, (SteveH) wrote:
Adrian wrote:
(SteveH) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they
were saying:

We're all petrolheads, but I can guarantee that the average bloke in
the
street places Saab pretty much up there with the other prestige
brands -
and streets ahead of Vauxhall.

The average bloke in the street is well aware that recent Saabs are
just
tarted-up Vectras.

I'd disagree - people may know they're owned by the same company that
makes Vectras, but I don't think many are all that aware of the platform
sharing.

Having looked one over at the County Show I went to a couple of weeks
ago, I wouldn't touch one with yours.

Aside from them being a bit ****e and likely to depreciate like
buggery, any company that tries to market their cars as 'Eco
Power' (IIRC), when they're just as ****e on fuel as anything else,
sucks.


LOL! Good point, but misses the mark a little. Saab coined Ecopower when
carbon dioxide wasn't the only pollutant to emerge from exhaust pipes. Do
you remember when Saab demonstrated that the 9000's radiator cleaned
London's air, and how the air coming out of the exhaust was also cleaner
than when it went in?

--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com

gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying:

only today I was out in the
Astra at work and noted it really does have a cracking chassis...

That'd explain the torque-steer. Still, I'm sure it can be welded up.

"DanB" wrote in message
...
"Douglas Payne" wrote in message
...
wrote of Saabs:

Aside from them being a bit ****e and likely to depreciate like
buggery, any company that tries to market their cars as 'Eco
Power' (IIRC), when they're just as ****e on fuel as anything else,
sucks.

Yeah, I mean 'Ecotec' was a much cleverer marketing ploy, wasn't it?


Yea but there was never really an advertising campaign saying "We have
Ecotec engines, they're well economical!" like Saab are doing with these
Ecopower things. You know, the advert with the guy that over takes a
truck and it's banging out about big engine power, from a smalll engine
with small engine costs.


The one where you have bigger engine power for overtaking and smaller
engines for economy? You've added a slight twist on words though...

Their point is valid though; it's one reason why turbocharging is common.
Throw in weight and space concerns and some clever software to help smooth
boost, wheelspin, so on and so forth... oh and also turbocharging recycles
some energy that is otherwise chucked out of the back and it can help reduce
emissions other than carbon dioxide, should the Government decide that there
are other pollutants too...

My lardy comfortable four door barge has the low pressure 2.0 turbo donk,
badged 1.8t; not very fast (150 bhp, 177 lbsft) but so far has been
economical (~39 so far). By all accounts, having it Hirsch'd or buying a
higher power model makes almost no difference to fuel consumption. Hirsch
is 195 bhp / 229 lbsft, Aero is 210 / 221.

I have the poor cousin of the 2.0 turbos in the 9-3 range. Good excuse to
Hirsch upgrade*.

*Saab's official consumption figures show the Hirsch uses less fuel on the
Government tests than the vanilla engine.

--
The DervMan
www.dervman.com

On 25 Jul, 07:16, Adrian wrote:
gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying:

only today I was out in the
Astra at work and noted it really does have a cracking chassis...

That'd explain the torque-steer. Still, I'm sure it can be welded up.

Very good... slow handclap ;-)

--
JackH

In article ,
says...
The end being the people at the back. Some systems work remarkably well. I
like it icy cold, Charlie likes it furnace hot* and the 9-3 works well in
this respects.

It really does work nicely though doesn't it.
--
Carl Robson
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In article ,
says...
Then of course the Vectra would require the old stage 3, big FMIC, full
Miltek inc pre-cat removal and sports cat (or is it cats?) and remap -
rumoured to show 330bhp+ and similar amounts of lbs/ft. Although to be
honest, I wouldn't bother with the FMIC, just the Miltek and remap for
320bhp(ish).

One word. Maptun
Stage 3 Pah, for children that is.
http://www.maptun.com/cars_list.php?car=Saab%209-5
--
Carl Robson
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In article ,
says...
We're all petrolheads, but I can guarantee that the average bloke in the
street places Saab pretty much up there with the other prestige brands -
and streets ahead of Vauxhall.

That is the way it used to be. A Saab was a thinking man's BMW. But GM
have failed to maintain that.

Doctors, Lawyer, teachers, pilots, people who required precission and
standards along with performance and longevity would buy Saab Turbos.

Now it's all bloody reps in their 1.9Tids
--
Carl Robson
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In article f44da250-c647-4a1c-96bc-
,
says...
Aside from them being a bit ****e and likely to depreciate like
buggery, any company that tries to market their cars as 'Eco
Power' (IIRC), when they're just as ****e on fuel as anything else,
sucks.


Ecopower cars are less ****e than fullpower cars, and a lot lot less
****e than HOT power cars.

The idea was with the 2.0 and 2.3 low blow units you got economy of a
2litre most of the time, and the grunt of a 3 litre+ when you needed it,
pitching it against the middle and upper beemers of the time.
--
Carl Robson
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In article ,
says...
wrote in message
...
On 25 Jul, 00:26, "DanB" wrote:
wrote in message

...





On 24 Jul, 21:40, (SteveH) wrote:
Adrian wrote:
(SteveH) gurgled happily, sounding much like
they
were saying:

We're all petrolheads, but I can guarantee that the average bloke
in
the
street places Saab pretty much up there with the other prestige
brands -
and streets ahead of Vauxhall.

The average bloke in the street is well aware that recent Saabs are
just
tarted-up Vectras.

I'd disagree - people may know they're owned by the same company that
makes Vectras, but I don't think many are all that aware of the
platform
sharing.

Having looked one over at the County Show I went to a couple of weeks
ago, I wouldn't touch one with yours.

Aside from them being a bit ****e and likely to depreciate like
buggery, any company that tries to market their cars as 'Eco
Power' (IIRC), when they're just as ****e on fuel as anything else,
sucks.

I assume you mean the Saab?

Indeed.


You're a bit of a Vx man iirc? What are your thoughts on the Vectra VXR?


Dunno about current Vectras, but saw a Monaro the other day.
Added to the list of cars to own when they become ****e old retros and
"future classics", and they find a new cheap patch of compressed
dinosaur to bring down the price.
--
Carl Robson
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In article ,
says...
This thing was a 9-3 estate IIRC, with 'ECO POWER!' in huge letters up
the bottom of the doors.

Was it set to run on Ethanol or something? Saab have been into that for
ages too. I remember reading that they were developing a variable
compression engine that moved the cylinder head depending on the boost
and demand for power. It sounded kind of cool.

That is the Biopower, not the Ecopower.
Ecopower is just an LPT, Biopower is E85, unleaded, or if you get it
fitted, LPG.

You can mix any percentage of E85, unleaded and superunleaded in the
aero models and the ecu recalculates.
--
Carl Robson
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