1995 Saab 900 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Updated: 2012, July 7th Let me tell you right out that this car is all about two things: being a convertible and that great engine! POWER: 4/5 What an engine! It's a 2 liter, 185 hp beast of a thing with plenty of torque. The best way to describe it is saying that it's an old-school turbo. This may sound rather like a cliche but that's exactly what it feels like. There's plenty of turbo-lag, as you'd expect, but that can actually make for some very entertaining moments once you learn how to use its power band. Also, the turbo sometimes seems to hesitate while getting into action. I do not know whether this is its natural behavior or whether the turbo is giving up the ghost - any comments 900 Turbo owners? Performance is, overall, pretty good. Acceleration is quite good when the turbo kicks in, and it can easily cruise at high speeds. FUEL ECONOMY: 1/5 Fuel consumption hardly ever goes below 10 l/100km unless you make a really great effort, which means forgetting about having any fun with your right foot. From what I've seen from other 900 Turbo owners, 10,5 seems to be the average number for anyone using this car frequently. Have some liberty with the gas pedal and that number will easily go up to about 13,5 or higher. When you're not pushing it to the max it makes you drive quite differently from most other cars. It invites you to take things easy and relax. That's actually the only way of keeping that thirsty engine away from fuel stations. GEARBOX: 2/5 The 5 speed manual isn't that great. Gear changes aren't that slick and the clutch pedal is a bit heavy. HANDLING: 3/5 It sometimes feels a bit wobbly on twisty roads and understeers. Being a front- wheel driven machine with 185 hp it's no surprise that it suffers from torque steer galore, and it's easy to provoke the traction control. Handling isn't exactly great and that power steering does sometimes feel a bit like it came from another Saab product: a Scania truck. It provides absolutely no feedback whatsoever and keep you from being confident in the car's abilities. BRAKES: 3/5 The brakes (with ABS) are up to job but could do with a bit more bite and feel to them. LOOKS/STYLE: 3/5 It isn't exactly a looker but it certainly isn't ugly either. It lacks the charisma of the previous (original) Saab 900 which I would love to own. Having said that, it is an elegant, understated and discrete convertible - doesn't make you feel like a gigolo as so many other convertibles of this type and age do. And with the roof down, it really is quite more elegant than with it up. CONVERTIBLE: 3/5 Talking about it being a convertible, it makes for a great open top motoring experience. But that roof has a few problem of its own: . Wind roar is a bit annoying with the roof closed - sealing probably isn't like it must have been when new. . The electric roof motor mechanism (tonneau) has given us quite a lot of trouble when we got the car, often not opening or closing completely. After a few too many visits to a friendly and patient mechanic it seems to be fine now. CHASSIS: 2/5 A consequence of it being a convertible is the lack of chassis rigidity that can sometimes clearly be felt, particularly when going over bumps and potholes. Just to give you another example, the last time this car was put on a lift to get the tires changed, I could not open its doors due to the amount of chassis flexing. This ailment is, however, not exclusive to this car, and is even nowadays a problem with some convertibles. But being this old, and because of that chassis flexing, this means there's more cabin scuttle, squeaks and rattles than one would like. Having said that, most interior plastics and materials are still in excellent condition. PARKING: 1/5 VISIBILITY: 2/5 Parking this car, or even doing simple maneuvers in short spaces, is a real nightmare, partly because you can't really see where the front and the rear of the car is, and partly because of those huge bumpers. Even after having installed rear-bumper parking sensors, it's still a nightmare. With the roof up it's even worse, making rear visibility is terrible. Other than that, and because it has no B-pillars and the A-pillars are thin, all round visibility isn't bad. However, the front screen is a bit low, which means that if you're tall (which I'm not) you might end up facing straight into the upper beam of the front screen. SEATS: 4/5 Leather seats are quite comfortable and ergonomic. Driving position is good and easily adjustable. The rear seats are exclusively for two passengers and can be quite claustrophobic when the roof is up. Access to those seats isn't bad but not great. Also, beware not to trip on the hanging front seat-belts. CARGO CAPACITY: 3/5 Not big but not that bad, at least with the roof up. And it's relatively easy to use the available space. EQUIPMENT: 3/5 Cruise control which works pretty well. On-board computer (SID as Saab call it) which tells: . Average fuel consumption . Autonomy . Outside temperature A common problem with Saab's SID is for some of the screen's pixels to go out, which has already happened to ours. Strangely, they're all working again now! Stereo system with CD changer/tape player. Alarm (after market). Rear-parking sensors (after market). You desperately need these because of that protruding bumper and terrible visibility.Jun 20, 2011