Well, this afternoon I had a 30 minute drive in the new 9-3.<\/p>\n
The version I drove was the 2.0t ARC model. It’s 175bhp, that’s 25bhp more than my current, old model 9-3 SE 2.0 light pressure turbo.<\/p>\n
My impression was that the new model is very nice, it’s more comfortable, has better brakes, definitely better suspention and steering. However, in spite of the 25bhp greater power, it seemed SLOWER than my current car with far less “woosh!” The engine is far too sanitised and just doesn’t have any real punch. Admittedly the car I drove only had about 400 miles on the clock so the engine was still quite tight. However, my car had more “woosh” when it had 12 miles on the clock, the day I picked it up.<\/p>\n
The new car does seem more cosetting.. which for a sports saloon is not necessarily a good thing as it take you away from the driving experience somewhat.<\/p>\n
Anyway, it’s not as if I’ll be buying a new car soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well, this afternoon I had a 30 minute drive in the new 9-3. The version I drove was the 2.0t ARC model. It’s 175bhp, that’s 25bhp more than my current, old model 9-3 SE 2.0 light pressure turbo. My impression … Continue reading