So I daily drive a 1988 saab 900, with very nice haptic controls. My engine blew up at the end of february. In the last 4 weeks I have been driving my wife's car, a 1990 Saab 9000. Automatic Climate Control is great. Last week I got the 900 back up and running and it's such a stunning difference between a car that was engineered originally in the 70's and one that was 'new' in the late 80s.
In my 900 there's basically 2 heat settings, ICE COLD and FIREY. It's best controlled by adjusting the return air flap / fan speed or cracking the windows. It's never right, it's always fiddly. I don't like it, except on very cold days it has no problem.
I notice that the 9000 I spend much less time fiddling with buttons, but when I do... it takes me longer. On my 900, I don't even think about it, like when you drive stick shift, you just shift, no mental thought. You think it and do it in one motion, like using vim hotkeys.
So - now I will be back to driving my 900 this week after I finish buttoning up the interior pieces, and I don't know if I like it more or less.
I'm somewhat interested in older cars, but a big deterrent for me has been safety. I guess this is just a risk in driving an older car. A lot of my driving is on the highway going 70+ MPH, so I suppose if my commute consisted of roads with half the speed limit or less then it'd be more of a consideration.
Agreed, though a saab 9000 is a far cry from the old X frame bel air. There's a serious amount of crash protection. The concept of crumple zones is alive and well in the car, we've just been refining it
"NORCROSS, Ga., Oct. 4 -- The real-world success of Saab's
safety engineering heritage is once again underscored by the latest
reports from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the
Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). According to the IIHS rating
system, the Saab 9000 had the lowest driver fatality rate among 153
1990-1994 passenger cars, wagons, trucks and sport utility
vehicles. As listed in the Insurance Institute's September, 1996
report, the Saab 9000 scored the lowest driver fatality average --
better than such safety stalwarts as Volvo. Saab's average score of 25
was well below scores posted by every competitor, including the Volvo
940/960 (45) and the BMW 5-series (52). (A score of 100 indicates 2
fatalities per 10,000 registered vehicle years.) Data on the
current-generation Saab 900, which debuted for the 1994 model year,
was not yet available.
"
Sorry I also found this:
Folksam Report 2017, the result:
Saab 9-5 I, 98 - 09. Good security. At least 20% better than the average
Saab 9-3 II, 03 - 12. Good security. At least 20% better than the average
Saab 9-3, 98 - 02. Good security. At least 20% better than the average
Saab 900 II, 94 - 98. Good security. At least 20% better than the average
Saab 9000, 85 - 98. Average security
Saab 900, 79 - 87. Below average. 20% worse than the average
In my 900 there's basically 2 heat settings, ICE COLD and FIREY. It's best controlled by adjusting the return air flap / fan speed or cracking the windows. It's never right, it's always fiddly. I don't like it, except on very cold days it has no problem.
I notice that the 9000 I spend much less time fiddling with buttons, but when I do... it takes me longer. On my 900, I don't even think about it, like when you drive stick shift, you just shift, no mental thought. You think it and do it in one motion, like using vim hotkeys.
So - now I will be back to driving my 900 this week after I finish buttoning up the interior pieces, and I don't know if I like it more or less.
not sure why I typed this, I like saab.