My 1994 SAAB 900SE Turbo - Oops! We Can't Be Right Every Time

My Alfa Romeo 164 3.0V6 Lusso was approaching 100,000 miles and my wife now had an Alfa 164 Twinspark as well. My 30,000 miles a year needed something reliable so at last, as there was a dealership near my office, maybe it was time to buy a SAAB. After all, the long in the tooth classic 900 had recently been replaced by the all new NG900 series.

I’d had the opportunity to drive a couple of ‘classic’ 900’s including a light pressure turbo convertible, which I’d enjoyed. It stood to logical Swedish reason that when the new NG series was launched it would represent a quantum leap forward, never mind that the platform was shared with the Vauxhall/Opel Cavalier and the Saturn L Series. How could it not move the great SAAB brand forward? It wasn’t difficult to convince myself that a SAAB was what I wanted.

Spoiler Alert: I probably should have bought my Alfa dealer’s Super 164 demonstrator.

First a confession, I loved my SAAB 900 SE Turbo so much I don’t have one single usable photo of it. It’s easy to source online pictures of the classic SAAB 900 and indeed the post ’98 SAAB 9-3 but when I’ve looked, images and brochures of the 1994-1998 NG series cars seem to be scarce. Perhaps that tells you how much regard the world has for this particular generation of what should have been Trollhatten’s finest?

First of all I needed something reliable. The Alfa had been exemplary but I was still doing big daily mileages. My business partner Simon and I had set up our new consultancy in Bedford in 1992 and it had been going well. His clients were mainly in a 30 mile radius of our office but mine were scattered around the Country – Britain was my hunting ground for new work instructions. 200 mile round trips to see clients or look at development opportunities could occur several times a week, even though by the time we reached 1995 we had expanded to take on our first junior staff members. Something spacious with a big hatchback was important too – our daughter was now three years old with all that entails for day trips and weekend visits.

The only question was whether to choose the traditional Turbo or the V6 that had been added to the range with the introduction of the new platform. After the creamy Busso V6 in my Alfa the temptation of six cylinders was strong. I did some research and spoke to some guys running a SAAB tuning business to help me make up my mind. They were adamant it should be a turbo or nothing. As they said, the V6 was just another bit of General Motors hardware – I think they were a bit less polite than that…

Turbo it was then… I read the Autocar&Motor road test too, dated 4 May 1994. They had tested the ‘Coupe’ version which was in effect identical, except it was three rather than five doors. The magazine concluded that the performance was strong (which was essential to me), there was loads of space in the back (important as a family hauler) and the fuel economy was good (great for my business, which paid the bills). They didn’t like the uninspiring handling saying that “no way could the SAAB’s handling be described as entertaining. It understeers doggedly and rolls too much through corners despite stiff suspension”. Its case was “not helped by a ride which is barely acceptable“. But I had convinced myself that I wanted a SAAB and, anyway, I bet they had never driven a Citroën Ami Super or a D Series: if they had, then they would know what understeer and roll was really like! What do journalists know anyway? Spoiler Alert: quite a lot really.

My local dealer hadn’t anything suitable so I searched the small ads in the back of Autocar&Motor and found just what I wanted at a large franchise in Surrey, 100 miles or so distant on the other side of London. I did a deal over the phone so first saw the car the day I went to collect it. M276 KPA was a 1994 car, 5 door in silver with the 3-spoke ‘turbo’ wheels and was an ex-demonstrator, just a few months old.

Lesson one was quickly learned. Whatever the brochure said, the only dialogue my car had with the road was expressed in profanities. The ride was truly atrocious. The commute to my office on the days I went there was cross country on fast minor roads which were far from smooth. There were times when I wanted to change gear but dared not let one hand off the steering wheel because the car was almost uncontrollable. The seat helped a little in straight line comfort (it was actually very comfortable providing the car was stationary) but even though it was in cloth rather than leather it completely lacked lateral support, so when you threw curves into the equation you needed to hold the wheel tight to prevent being slammed into the door pillar or flung across the passenger seat. I started driving home the long way, which at least involved some straight sections of dual carriageway.

There were some positives though. It was certainly a spacious car and it wasn’t long before our daughter would be getting a brother and all the paraphernalia a new-born requires. The heating and ventilation were first class and I liked the ‘night panel’ which allowed all the distracting dashboard lights and instrument displays to be silenced at night, leaving just you, the road and the speedo. That was calming for evening treks home after a long day out in the field with clients. The headlight wipers were a novelty to me and useful when I did take the cross country route which was often covered in farm dirt during winter.

During the day I liked watching the boost gauge needle. Turbos are the norm now but back then we forget how distinct a turbo motor could be. The SAAB turbo was pretty flexible but not entirely lag free – it taught you to anticipate. But it was the turbo that caused the problems. I thought SAAB’s had a bullet proof reputation? Not this one. I didn’t exactly have the dealership workshop on speed dial but the car went into ‘limp home’ mode more than once. In fairness it never prevented a journey but it was annoying. Then I tail-ended a Volvo.

The guy put his indicator on about 100m before a junction which I was also intending to take, but he stopped immediately because he’d had a puncture. I steered sharply but caught the passenger side front wing against his rear quarter. It was only 10 miles home and the car still drove albeit the infotainment display had reverted to Swedish…

It’s the only time I’ve ever hit anything – when my Citroën BX GTi got written off, I was stationary. I guess that clouds the memory but I wasn’t going to have good memories of this car anyway. Apart from the absence of photos I have no recollection or record of the mileage I racked up although it will have been another 80-90000 miles. In any event in due course I was happy to see it on its way at the earliest I could persuade Simon that I needed to delve into the Company piggy bank. Whatever was to replace the SAAB would need to be at least as practical now that there were two children in the household. The Citroën spell was long since over, so the field was wide open.