Saab in winter - Practical experience

Finally winter, it storms and snows for a few days, and since today it is snowing really hard. This looks like a white Christmas! Here in the Ruhr area breaks out, unlike in the Alpine regions, quickly the chaos in the traffic. Whole bus lines collapse because the buses drive summer tires.

Saab 9-5 in winter operation. Image: Saab Automobile AB

Every year the railway reports trees in the track again, trucks fail on the smallest inclines and many frightened motorists move, if at all, only through the city at walking pace. Although the four-wheel drive drivers can get up almost everywhere, they do not dare to go down with their expensive sledges. After all, they brake and slide just like everyone else. In short: Almost all are slalom poles for Saabfahrer!

It's Friday night, I was just refueling with my 9-5 2.0t, I'm on my way home, looking forward to the weekend and the good winter characteristics of my new winter tire equipped Saab, when a good friend calls and asks me for help.

One week ago he bought a fancy E320CDI, the winter tires still have 4-5 mm profile, but like the car they are nine years old. Tomorrow morning he wants to go skiing with his family to Oberstaufen, and now he does not even get out of the garage backwards. The exit is moderately steep, but makes a slight turn and is quite overcast and smooth.

My snow chains do not fit his 17-inch model. His wife's Mini Cooper has good winter tires, but is much too small for 4 people and ski equipment. So we swap, I drive a mini and the Saab takes a trip to the Alps. The Benz has a break.

I look at my Saab shortly after the engine oil (almost no consumption), clear a few small things from the trunk in the mini (it is half full!), Open the hatch for the ski. We quickly load his luggage into the Saab and I say goodbye jokingly: "You can make a little trip to St. Gallen to Hirsch, a few more horsepower would not be bad."

After two weeks I get freshly washed and fully fueled by the grateful tourists in exchange for the mini back to my Saab.

They are full of praise: good comfort, plenty of space, good driving characteristics in the snow, reliable even in the lowest temperatures, good heating, heated seats also behind, economical. A diesel is out of the question.

Surprise: Thanks to new software (at a special price) with 155 KW instead of 150 PS! He was actually in St. Gallen (80 km)! A good exchange! A new driving experience! And so cheap!

Addendum: In the meantime, the taxi is uh .. my friend's Benz sold again, the family council has still decided on the return to change to a Saab 9-5. He will probably be "deceived" on the next ski holiday. Just for fun!

Also this Saab story of Jörg was fictitious. If you enjoy his Saab stories, which are all fictional, you will find more reading material here:

Saab - weekend meeting in Belgium

Saab in the alcohol business - practical experience

Saab in trailer operation - practical experience

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thylmuc
7 years earlier

Ah, because I use completely off Topic the inappropriate opportunity to ask in the round, whether a Qaife limited slip differential improves the properties on snow and eg when pulling on muddy meadows?

Edgar Neumann
Edgar Neumann
7 years earlier

I am looking forward to driving my SAAB to northern Sweden in the deepest snow

JonnyPeacer
JonnyPeacer
7 years earlier

I like it, even if “just” invented!

Herbert Hürsch
Herbert Hürsch
7 years earlier

A nice story! ! !

But in terms of consumption it is really very fictitious ...
But the 2,0t can not do anything that the calorific value of gasoline is now lower.

Diesel and gasoline are apples and pears.