on a side note.. any idea what the connector behind the ashtray is for?

 

The one behind the ashtray is where the OBDII connector plugs in on 96 and up, trust me, I own 2 of them and have an OBDII scan tool.

 

We like it a lot. The hatchback looks cooler than a wagon, but it's still good for carrying stuff. The 9.5 is too big for me, but that's just up to you. The turbo goes pretty good; 2.0 liter, wayyy faster than our 4-cyl '03 Accord. The 2003+ 9.3 is a lot different from ours; no hatchback any more

 

i actually like the 03 trim over the previous hatchback styling(no offense) do you think the 4cyl(albeit turbo) does the luxury car justice? does it leave you wanting more power? anything done to your 9.3? no complaints about the car? i've been lurking around the saab forums and couldn't find much about the longevity of the cars with moderate beating any ideas? forgive me for picking your mind
vern

 

I'll say the '03+ is prettier, but we like the hatch for carrying stuff. YMMV...

We've got the base car, with the least powerful engine (but 5-spd). I'm not into 'luxury' cars, so I'm not sure about your question. It's smoother than my GSR, its faster then either of our Accords. Saab goes back to about '75 with turbos, so they've got a few years of experience. It's a pretty sophisticated control system & a very refined engine. I'd ALWAYS take more power, but we didn't buy the car for that. If it were mine, I'd want to stiffen up the suspension before adding more power. I think they've done a lot of that for '03+.

The '03+ is TOTALLY different, including the engine architecture. So this doesn't count if you're looking at that. Imagine asking a 6th gen owner how they like their F23, and then getting a K24 accord...