About a month ago, a friend of mine took advantage of the enourmous discount Saab was offering (and still is, if you can find one) on the 9-2x aero. For those that don't know, it's essentially a rebadged Subaru WRX wagon. While it's a bit nicer looking on the inside and out, this psuedo-review will focus on what's most important... performance.
"I'm at 989." After what seemed like eternity, he was almost ready to see what this thing could actually do. At 1k miles and he could finally lay the hammer down. That day was today...
Impressions: Turbo appears to start spooling around 4k. Not only that, the tach took forever to get up there. While plodding along, I felt as if I was driving a far lesser vehicle. Compare that to what seems like 2k or so with the MSP and that translates into far too much Jeckyll and not enough Hyde. Once it finally kicked in I definitely felt some power... but for some reason, it just didn't feel nearly as fast as the WRX's I've driven. Today was an insanely humid day so that could've had something to do with it. That being said, after driving his, I quickly hopped in mine to do a little C&C. While I'm a bit biased, I can put that aside for matters like this... especially when I was considering getting one. Simply put, whether it truly is or not, my car FELT faster... a lot faster. The turbo just seemed to spool faster... none of that ridiculous turbo lag.
Cornering was also somewhat of a dissapointment. Granted, it's a bit unfair to compare ANY car (assuming it's not an exotic) to the MSP in this category... but I will anyway. The suspension was soft and the connection with the road just wasn't quite there. Everything was very solid... almost too solid. I didn't get the athletic feel of the MSP... more like a buick. albeit not nearly to that extreme.
In short, while I think this car offers maybe the best combo of practicality and sport ever... and at the price many were able to get it at during the past month or so, one of the best values imaginable. While it might have just been the A/T... this car just didn't impress nearly as much as the M/T WRX's I've driven. Fortuneatly for my friend... help is on the way. He's ordering an "access port"... something similar to the unichip. I'll hold my final judgement till then.
"I'm at 989." After what seemed like eternity, he was almost ready to see what this thing could actually do. At 1k miles and he could finally lay the hammer down. That day was today...
Impressions: Turbo appears to start spooling around 4k. Not only that, the tach took forever to get up there. While plodding along, I felt as if I was driving a far lesser vehicle. Compare that to what seems like 2k or so with the MSP and that translates into far too much Jeckyll and not enough Hyde. Once it finally kicked in I definitely felt some power... but for some reason, it just didn't feel nearly as fast as the WRX's I've driven. Today was an insanely humid day so that could've had something to do with it. That being said, after driving his, I quickly hopped in mine to do a little C&C. While I'm a bit biased, I can put that aside for matters like this... especially when I was considering getting one. Simply put, whether it truly is or not, my car FELT faster... a lot faster. The turbo just seemed to spool faster... none of that ridiculous turbo lag.
Cornering was also somewhat of a dissapointment. Granted, it's a bit unfair to compare ANY car (assuming it's not an exotic) to the MSP in this category... but I will anyway. The suspension was soft and the connection with the road just wasn't quite there. Everything was very solid... almost too solid. I didn't get the athletic feel of the MSP... more like a buick. albeit not nearly to that extreme.
In short, while I think this car offers maybe the best combo of practicality and sport ever... and at the price many were able to get it at during the past month or so, one of the best values imaginable. While it might have just been the A/T... this car just didn't impress nearly as much as the M/T WRX's I've driven. Fortuneatly for my friend... help is on the way. He's ordering an "access port"... something similar to the unichip. I'll hold my final judgement till then.
