Back with the Diesel
4 June 2006, 59,824
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I |
was without a diesel
daily driver for one thousand, six hundred and seventy three days. Most of these with the Ka and had the accident not happened, we’d still
have the Ka. And now
for something very different, a diesel Saab 9-3.
I’ve driven and fiddled about with Saabs in the past,
enough to know that they’re like a faithful friend if one has to cover a large
distance in comfort. In the detailing,
well, I have much to learn.
My initial impressions of the 9-3
TiD were that it’s a lovely colour (dark metallic blue) but to drive, very
much a classic front wheel drive turbodiesel.
There’s noise, vibration and a shortage of pull
at either end of what feels like a narrow power band, especially after moving
from the VTEC Accord. Cold
starting is accompanied by a loud diesel rattle in June, and I’m
thinking that in the winter when the air is still and cold, we’ll be rattling
windows.
Excellent.
That’s just how I like it then.
Straight from the Honda, the Saab couldn’t be more different.
The gearing is materially taller.
Rather than 20 mph / 1,000 rpm in top, it’s 28
mph / 1,000 rpm. Just like the Accord,
trying to accelerate outside the power band results in tumbleweeds rolling
past.
Like many turbodiesels these
deficiencies are masked when driving on the motorway, where at the speed limit
the engine is in the meaty bit of the power band and as I’m
discovering, it’s capable of respectable fuel consumption. The book reckons on forty
five to the gallon so fifty ought to be within my grasp.
The 2·2 TiD is basically a Saab-tweaked Isuzu 2·2 Ecotec DTi engine
as used in Opel and Vauxhalls, such as the Vectra. Saab introduced a diesel with the first
generation 9-3 because their parent company, General Motors, insisted: company
car drivers are switching from petrol to diesel engines. The Isuzu unit was picked
simply because General Motors have control over Isuzu.
However, legend has it that when
General Motors introduced the (Isuzu)
DTi engine to Saab, Saab’s board pretty much said, “ew ratty noisy
diesel.” General Motors replied with,
“tough, make it work.” So they did.
In terms of technology, the TiD sits some way behind
the modern common rail engines. The
early generation TiD uses a conventional turbocharger and wastegate arrangement, the later engines used a variable geometry set
up. At first the 9-3 felt sluggish but
my suspicion that it was the air mass meter needing replacing was spot on.
Otherwise, enjoying the car as it
is, it has certain strengths and weaknesses.
At idle, it’s a noisy, rough, clattery
diesel. You’d
not mistake it for anything else. However as soon as the engine speed is over the 900 rpm idle things
smooth down.
As with many similar generation
turbodiesels, a cold re-start can produce a lovely patch of soot on the road!
The major controls are easy enough
to work with. Naturally
it has power assisted steering, which doesn’t feel overly light. The gear shift is
precise enough, the clutch isn’t too heavy and the brake pedal works as it
should. The seats have manual adjustment
and the steering wheel can also be moved. Oh and writing of the steering wheel, the 9-3
SE benefits from a leather wheel and gearknob.
Now the reasons why I wanted a
diesel are two fold. Mmmm okay three,
then. Perhaps four. First is the way that they drive. Don’t get me wrong,
the Honda’s F-series SOHC VTEC engine is a remarkably smooth and quiet piece of
kit, which performs admirably providing you keep the engine on the boil. But despite being
geared to 20 mph / 1,000 rpm in top (compared
with 28 mph / 1,000 rpm for the 9-3) it isn’t anywhere near as pokey as the
Saab on the motorway in top gear at the speed limit.
The second and main reason has got to be the fuel consumption. The book says that the 9-3 TiD has a combined
cycle figure of 45·6 to the gallon. This compares with 33·6
to the gallon from the Accord, 41·5 from the Ka and thinking back in time, 44·6
for the Mondeo TD.
So it should more economical than my last three
machines. I don’t
quite do the mileage to justify
running a turbodiesel but it feels better to only have to fill up every
fortnight, even if most of the difference is psychological.
The third reason is the noise,
which I just prefer. Yeah that makes me
weird but I’m really not bothered!
Finally, the smell, especially
when you splash it onto your shoes, hands or trousers. If liking the noise makes me weird I don’t know what sniffing the fuel filler makes me...
But it didn’t have that aggressive pull that I was hoping
for…