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<\/a><\/p>\nOtherwise, the 9-3 of the second generation is a more or less typical representative of cars on the GM Epsilon I platform. The body is almost completely steel, only the hood is aluminum. The engine is transverse in front, the units have a row-linear arrangement. The basic drive is front-wheel drive, but there are also all-wheel drive modifications with a Haldex clutch. Body sedan, station wagon and convertible. The latter was assembled separately at the Finnish Valmet plant, and not on the main conveyor. Suspension – front MacPherson strut, rear multi-link suspension is quite a simple scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The motors in this generation are all jointly developed with Opel, nothing has been preserved from the old line. But it was Saab specialists who were the developers of the turbocharging system for 2.0 and 2.8 engines, so the “stuffing” is not entirely alien. Completely “non-Saab” are only diesel engines and naturally aspirated engine 1.8.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gearboxes are also from the set of GM units: mechanical 5-speed F23, 6-speed F40, and automatic transmission – Aisin 5-speed AW55-50 (51) SN and 6-speed TF-81SC.<\/p>\n
Timeline<\/h3>\n
September 2002<\/strong> The model is presented in Europe. 2.0T motors in power options of 150, 175 and 210 hp. with 5-speed manual and automatic transmissions. Engine 150 hp design<\/a>ated as 1.8T, but the working volume is a full 2 \u200b\u200bliters. A 2.2 125 hp diesel is also available. with MCP.<\/p>\n August 2003<\/strong> Convertible exit.<\/p>\n January 2004<\/strong> The appearance in the lineup of the weakest motor – Opel atmospheric 1.8, only with a manual gearbox.<\/p>\n September 2004<\/strong> Updating the line of diesel engines: 2.2 is no longer available, it is being replaced by 1.9 turbodiesels developed jointly with FIAT – 1.9 8V 120 hp. and 1.9 16V 150 HP A more powerful variant is available with a 6-speed automatic transmission.<\/p>\n March 2005<\/strong> A variant with a station wagon body is proposed. Interior and electronics upgrades. There is a new 250 hp V6 2.8T engine available with a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission.<\/p>\n October 2007<\/strong> Model restyling. Changes to the interior and exterior of the car.<\/p>\n December 2007<\/strong> The advent of the all-wheel drive Turbo-X, it is available with a 2.0 210 hp engine. and with an updated unit 2.8 255 hp<\/p>\n January 2011<\/strong> Second update. Motors Euro-5. BioPower 2.0 gasoline engines with direct injection from the same range of engines in 163, 175, 200 and 220 hp versions. Diesel engines 1.9 were updated and received a pressurization system with two turbines and three power gradations, 130, 160 and 180 hp. Atmospheric 1.8 and 2.8T are no longer available.<\/p>\n Mid 2011.<\/strong> Stop production and start the bankruptcy of the SAAB brand.<\/p>\n September 18, 2013.<\/strong> Resumption of production in Trollh\u00e4ttan.<\/p>\n Mid 2014.<\/strong> Final stop of production.<\/p>\n After 2014,<\/strong> NEVS produced small pilot batches of an electric car based on the 9-3's body and design, but lost the ability to use the brand, and that's a completely different story.<\/p>\n The bodywork of Swedish cars has been made of galvanized steel and carefully protected against corrosion since time immemorial, and the second generation 9-3 was no exception. But the quality of the coloring was far from ideal. The paintwork in this generation is quite delicate, prone to chipping, and in the first years of production it also loses its shine over time, requiring polishing and applying a new layer of varnish on some color options.\u00a0<\/p>\n Closer to restyling, the quality of painting has become more stable, but in most cases, one can only hope for a native paintwork without touch-ups and in good condition by choosing cars of 2008-2011. Older cars have near-zero chances of this, unless it's a time capsule with garage storage and hundreds of thousands of miles. Very late cars of the bankruptcy period are unpredictable – they spent many months in a semi-assembled state, and the technological chains were broken randomly.<\/p>\n The main sore point of the body is the rear body arches and the rear wing at the junction with the bumper. Thresholds suffer mainly due to a puncture with a fastening of the lining in the opening of the driver's and passenger's doors, rotting under the plastic from above. At the bottom of the threshold, corrosion mainly develops under the plastic lining in the back near the rear arch when it is depressurized. The front arches are usually intact, and small chips and corrosion are invisible from the outside. On the leading edge of the roof, rust crawls under the upper windshield molding and spreads from there.\u00a0<\/p>\n The trunk lid rusts slowly and to a greater extent on sedans. But the rear panel under it suffers greatly due to the unsuccessful design of the trunk opening seal. Under the seal, the metal rusts in the lower part and little by little rust creeps out, just in the area of \u200b\u200bu200bu200bthe castle.\u00a0<\/p>\n Doors suffer mainly from chips, but the bottom seam sometimes also blooms. But the most common problem, which manifests itself even on cars after restyling, is the corrosion of the internal reinforcement of the upper moldings of window openings – they are bursting, and they leave rusty streaks on the body. On cars before restyling, there are also lower moldings, their attachment points are also a problem area. Chips and scratches are not uncommon around the handles, but usually there is no rust.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Outwardly, even inexpensive cars look good, the main thing is that the rear arches should not be fashioned from putty, and corrosion at problem points should be localized at least by a banal cleaning and touch-up. It is difficult to find a really dead copy, there are not so many of these cars lately, but there are still enough spare parts, including body parts, with a margin.<\/p>\n A closer inspection on the lift is unlikely to give much cause for concern. The main part of the bottom is well covered with a layer of mastic, and there is no rust on it, except that the edges of the plugs may already begin to rust. There is surface rust on the sides of the gas tank – there is a small indentation that has not been treated with mastic from the factory, and a bunch of tubes and indentations for the mounting brackets for the trailing arm of the rear suspension and subframe. As a result, ventilation is poorer and there is no protection, so surface rust is usually present, but perforation is rare. Even in the rear arches, the seams and holes are usually intact.<\/p>\n The main problem is the seam between the wing and the inner arch, it rusts from the edge and from the inside due to poor ventilation of the narrow cavity to the threshold (if it is not regularly shed with anticorrosive), and the front wall of the arch. The seams of the rear panel of the body rot around the perimeter – not terrible, but unpleasant.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among the cars of the first releases, you can already find instances in which you can see the ground from the trunk. About the rzhu under the internal seal of the trunk opening, I have already said above, inside the trunk the problem is presented much more noticeably and wider. If on the outside it is a small drip and swelling of the paint, then from the inside there are already loose growths over most of the length of the lower joint of the panels under the seal. The side niches of the trunk also rust, but there are almost no serious problems, unless there is water here due to damage to the seals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In the front arches, as well as outside, there is usually order, except that the inner edge of the wing is gradually corroding due to the features of the locker attachment, and the mud pocket in the mudguard area collects dirt, but there is usually no rust even on cars before restyling, if only from non-factory mudguard fasteners.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the engine compartment, everything is usually fine, even the cheapest cars have glasses intact, their seams should be factory, a little surface rust on the shelves of the mudguards, where dirt collects, and on the beam under the bumper. There may be surface pitting on the inside of the suspension cup and spar – in a good way, it needs to be anticorrosive, although a car with such problems will most likely drive for another fifteen years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The appearance of the Saab 9-3 is usually not spoiled by corrosion, but by broken small things. For example, mirror brackets peel off and leave streaks on doors, door handles break, moldings swell, headlight plastic turns yellow and cloudy (typical for dorestyle), paintwork on bumpers peels off (found on specimens before 2008)… Bumper grilles fall out due to unreliable fasteners so often that there is already a shortage of both new and used parts.\u00a0<\/p>\n The wiper trapezoid with runs of 250+ is prone to wedging, the resource of door locks is about the same – usually due to non-working contacts inside the mechanism, the doors are blocked and unlocked “at will”. Door opening limiters break at much lower mileage – the design itself is rather weak, and therefore the owners either change the assembly mechanism regularly, or put bushings, or simply listen to “three clicks” when opening. Window regulator failures are usually associated with a break in the drive cable and skewed glass. Fortunately, everything is sorted out here quickly and conveniently – maintainability turned out to be higher than that of Vectra C.\u00a0<\/p>\nBody<\/h2>\n
External panels<\/h3>\n
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