Having taken the 9-3 Aero from field to road in such a short space of time, I’d envisioned numerous teething problems before it settled down to be a trusted companion and that’s currently what’s happening.
We’ve changed a crank sensor to elevate a hot starting problem and had another remap done to ensure the ECU aligns with the performance parts correctly, but a few issues still remain unsolved. It has a flat spot under extreme acceleration, at around 5000 rpm it holds back a little, not much but it is there, it also holds the revs when I take my foot off the accelerator, so both of these will need to be addressed.
I also gave it a nice roof down 200 mile road trip to London last night for a quick bowl of pasta and pizza at one of my favourite haunts, and noticed it slipped out of 5th gear twice, a little unnerving when overtaking on the M1 so a few issues still to be sorted. A final and far less important issue is the subtle smell of mould, the entire interior has been stripped and cleaned, but there’s still a slight odour, especially when the car has been in the sun, roof down and this soon vanishes, but it’d be nice to clear completely.
Of course, I’m picking on details now, overall the transformation from a field find to an iconic, modern classic with undeniable road presence has been ridiculously rewarding, the Bilstein B8 setup has given it the final stance and handling it deserved again and the Turbo X 18’s are just perfection.
I happened to ask a question over on Twitter at the weekend “Still one of the most beautiful and timeless convertibles ever created, Y or N?” and had resounding agreement, although some still consider the Saab 900 to be the ultimate convertible, having owned both, I personally still believe this is more timeless, i’d give a joint first for beauty.
