Saab Handling

Introduction

Saabs have a reputation for handling: understeer and brilliance in the snow. The two are linked. This reputation has been carefully honed over several generations of cars with one notable exception, the GM900 or 900NG model. Indeed, of the many changes Saab made to the GM900 to produce the 9-3, refining the chassis and suspension to Saab-ify it features high up on the list.

Understeery Handling?

As you can read here, understeer is a form of skid whereby the car does not turn as tightly as the steered wheels wish it to. All cars will understeer, some will only understeer under exceptional circumstances. Many rear wheel drive cars will understeer at high speed and oversteer at lower speeds.

For Saabs, though, understeer has become an art. However, it's not just that the car understeers, it's how the car behaves when the driver attempts to counter the understeer.

I remember my first drive in the new 900 Turbo. Back in the day, one hundred and fifty brake horsepower (or just under) in the Saab was something to shout about. The 900 Turbo felt rapid. Throw the car into a corner at too high a speed and the front would indeed wash out wide. Lifting off would cause the nose to tuck in without so much of a jiggle from the back. If you were going far too fast, a quick dab on the brakes was enough to bring the nose back in line. All without any untoward moment from the back.

Saab engineered out lift off oversteer, something I came to enjoy in the Ka.

In some respects, I miss the lift off oversteer. Sure, it took practice, a few half spins, some silly grins, but it was the lift off oversteer that made the Ka such a hoot. Barrel into a roundabout at speed, turn in, lift off for a moment then back on the power to catch the tail. Not a recommended roundabout technique but perfect for encouraging a tailgater to give you more space...

Try the above in my 9-3 and when you lift off, the nose tucks in and the understeer stops. The tail remains planted on the road. The Michelin Energy tyres I'm using as I write this article do shriek their protest at hard cornering loads but it's always the fronts that howl.

The Snow

So, on normal roads, the Saab will understeer and then stop understeering on demand. Hardly exciting stuff, really, but at least it's predictable.

On the white stuff, the car behaves the same way. Give it too much power and it understeers. Shut down the power mid way around a corner and... the understeer is reduced. If you're going fast enough it probably won't stop understeering unless you reduce the steering input too.