"L'homme d'AstraVan" wrote in message
...
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.

*minor exaggeration for Usenet purposes.

A devastatingly effective minor exaggeration, I must admit.


But they do work ok - my mates dads Beemer we often borrow has it, and on a
long drive we spent a while fiddling with it to see how good it was - and I
could stick an arm out of my 'hot' side and feel how cool his 'cold' side
was hehe.

--
Dan
Clio R27 F1 #65

"DervMan" wrote in message
...
"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...


shrug Probably true, who concentrates hard at Saab adverts?

....don't answer that Dervy, you'll make me weep for you.

--
Dan
Clio R27 F1 #65

"Elder" wrote in message
...
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.


There was one at a rolling road day I went to, it had some racing 'headers'
and a full system and some other stuff. It was the earlier 5.7l VXR - and
it made about 419bhp iirc with an amazingly flat torque curve. Had about 5
people sat in the boot to help it get traction cos the wheels kept slipping
heh. Sounded fabulous at full chat and all the way up, really rough, rorty
sound, brillaint :-) It was even better on the road though, was a bit of
straight road as you pulled out of the place, and he gunned it - through the
revs on the road it sounded so epic.

--
Dan
Clio R27 F1 #65

DanB wrote:

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...


shrug Probably true, who concentrates hard at Saab adverts?

...don't answer that Dervy, you'll make me weep for you.

To be fair, the Saab 'Ecopower' thing is more about emissions than
economy.

--
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Ducati 750SS - Hongdou GY200
Alfa 75 TSpark - Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE

DanB wrote:

I assume you mean the Saab?

Indeed.


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

Hmmm, you've pointed out that you think the Vectra VXR is 'better' than
the 9-5 HOT, however, several reviews disagree.

Most criticism is centered around poor ride and handling and ****
interior......

At least with the 9-5 you get decent ride quality, handling is still
****, but the interior, despite being a tad dated, is well built.
--
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Ducati 750SS - Hongdou GY200
Alfa 75 TSpark - Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE

"Elder" wrote in message
t...
In article ,
says...
Elder gurgled happily, sounding much
like they were saying:

But they have been making 99 turbos since about 1974 I think.

'77 - last year was the 30th anniversary.

Sorry, I thought it was arround before that, I thought the 900 came out
in 79, can't believe it was only out 2 years before the 900.


Dudes, awesome anorak skills, the both of you :-)

--
Dan
Clio R27 F1 #65

"Elder" wrote in message
t...
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


It better be good, their 315bhp kit is £1900!!!! The remap and exhaust on
the Veccy, is about a grand. 345bhp you want? That'll £5,250 please
sir...

For £2k I can have the FMIC as well... And some other tweaks.

Their kit to get it to the same standard power as the Vectra is £1,100.

But seen as Steve is certainly not gonna be spending a couple of grand
ramping up the power and invalidating his Saab warranty, unless he pays ever
more to go for Hirsch maps. It was just an idle thought of mine regarding
tuning the Vectra heh :-)

--
Dan
Clio R27 F1 #65

DanB wrote:

But seen as Steve is certainly not gonna be spending a couple of grand
ramping up the power and invalidating his Saab warranty, unless he pays ever
more to go for Hirsch maps. It was just an idle thought of mine regarding
tuning the Vectra heh :-)

I may seek out a Hirsch from a Saab dealer, though.....

Still don't know what to have.

Love the S-Type, but it would be 7 years old when I'd finished with it,
an S60 would be newer, but T5 Autos are rare, the S80 is tempting, but
they're all diesels, I'd really like a 407 Coupe, but getting a metallic
black with red leather is a mission and I still worry about reliability,
which kind of leaves the Saab. Probably the cheapest way to get 280bhp
and under 3 years old...... but I don't really like the dash in the 9-5.
Strangely, the current 9-3 dash seems to be OK, though.

Suppose it'll all come down to what's available when the pressure is on
to buy, really - having 4 or 5 alternatives is a good thing under the
circumstances.

I've booked a lot of test drives over the next few weeks - the 9-5, S60,
S80 plus Alfa GT and 159. If I get on with the 159's clutch, I'll be
tempted, but even the few autos sold so far are dropping down to
affordable levels - would have to be a Lusso spec, though.
--
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Ducati 750SS - Hongdou GY200
Alfa 75 TSpark - Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE

"SteveH" wrote in message
...
DanB wrote:

I assume you mean the Saab?

Indeed.


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

Hmmm, you've pointed out that you think the Vectra VXR is 'better' than
the 9-5 HOT, however, several reviews disagree.

Most criticism is centered around poor ride and handling and ****
interior......

At least with the 9-5 you get decent ride quality, handling is still
****, but the interior, despite being a tad dated, is well built.


Faberoo.

I still think the Vectra is better :-) You've always done nothing but mock
Saab for all their "stupid gimmicks they throw at cars loading them up with
kit so people buy them, like the night instrument panel thing, the funny key
placement" - obviously that's not an exact quote, but I'm so not googling to
find quotes heh, I'll leave that to the stalkers.

This was of course, until a week ago when you realised they were good value
heh, which to be fair, is something I would do. I hated the Mk3 Clio and
the 197 when they came out, but they grew on me and I did a U-turn - nothing
wrong with that, just don't try and hide it by saying you still think
they're ****! That just makes you look weird, as what kinda dude buys a car
they think is **** heh :-)

But Saabs aside, you love your Passats! You loved the 1.8T and you've had
nothing but praise for this one, especially when compared to a Saab. It's
just baffling to me that you're not buying something you actually like, seen
as though you're using you own cash this time, and you get to keep it at the
end.

Although at the end of the day, I'd just take the Beemer, it's a nice spec,
there's no hassle, no worries, no unexpected costs - it's just the easy way
:-) Sure it should cost you a few more quid, but what if say, the turbo
goes on the Saab? That's a big repair, and what if they don't have a
courtesy car for you as well? Carnage could quickly ensue... I cerntainly
think having a turbo'd petrol motor for your company car, if you're buying
it, is a bit of a bad idea as from the experience of people I know, they do
seem to have proportionally more problems than the NA ones... That might be
just coincidence or something.

Random new thought, have you considered a new type Honda Accord? I got
taken in one of them from a half-upmarket pre-book taxi place, it was
organised by the hospital, and it was very, very nice. I sat in the front
and it was so comfy, and there appeared to be toys galore, and it was almost
like a spaceship! All very solid and well made, and you know it's a Honda,
so it'll be fine.

I know this kinda discussion is banned so I'll just add, the Accord can take
20" wheels easily.

--
Dan
Clio R27 F1 #65

"SteveH" wrote in message
. ..
DanB wrote:

But seen as Steve is certainly not gonna be spending a couple of grand
ramping up the power and invalidating his Saab warranty, unless he pays
ever
more to go for Hirsch maps. It was just an idle thought of mine
regarding
tuning the Vectra heh :-)

I may seek out a Hirsch from a Saab dealer, though.....


Read my post I just put up there somewhere ^^ New shape Accord? Everywhere
seems to agree they're awesome.

And extend what I said about turbo petrols, to be even more relevent to
tuned ones, although these dealer upgrades are no doubt well within max
stress levels on things.

Someone I know has recently just got a new Z4 3.0 heh, that's pretty cool,
black, red leather, optional bigger wheels, optional upgrade stereo (£800!),
and it sounds awesome too. It's really super comfy to sit in and looks cool
on the big wheels. I'd not be able to have a BMW Z4 though that wasn't a
Z4M coupe. Although a couple of places thing the 3.0 is the better of the
roadsters. But the Z4M Coupe just looks so flapping awesome...

--
Dan
Clio R27 F1 #65