saablog

I took two clients for lunch yesterday in the 900, on my final day of a 6-day project in Burlington, of which I commuted 5 days in the 900. One of those clients drives a 2-passenger early ’90s Ford Ranger. The other drives a 1991 Nissan 240 SX with a speaker box where the back seat should be.  So the 900 was really the only choice.

As we were getting in to the car, they were joking that the guy with the 240SX should put a stripe on his car. They said that the orange stripe really did look good on my 900. They were impressed by the story I told them about buying the car for $800 and autocrossing it. I explained that I’ve been driving it to Burlington so that it can “earn” money for upgrades. They thought it was a reasonable thing to do.

The new rear shocks kept the rear from sagging so much with 3 adults in the car; previously the exhaust would rattle pretty badly agains the rear suspension when the car was loaded.

On Wednesday I didn’t go to Burlington, and I discovered two new puddles under the 900. Coolant was leaking in two places from hose fittings. The hose clamps were very loose. I tightened them and have not seen any more coolant leaking. I imagine that the coolant hoses (and everything else) is getting more “stressed” my my 60-mile highway trips to Burlington than by the occasional around-town trips the car normally takes.

As I was on my back under the car, I was able to see that the power steering fluid leak has really gotten out of hand. I’ve ordered a new $29 hose to replace the likely culprit. It’s going to be a horrible mess to replace it. Everything in the lower right-rear part of the engine covered in power steering fluid. I see oily hands, tools, clothes and garage floor in my future.

 I filled up with gas at Costco in Burlington yesterday before I left to drive home. Regular gas there is $2.159/gal, whereas the Costco gas in Shoreline is $3.339 for regular… I don’t know why there is such a difference in price, as I would expect Costco to have equal pricing at all locations. In any case, the calculated economy over 360 miles between Shoreline and Burlington was 28.4 MPG. I was really impressed, as the 1992 Saab advertising poster in my garage shows that my 900 is rated 26 MPG highway. It’s not quite as good as the 31 MPG the 9-5 can get, but it’s still pretty impressive in my opinion.

Here’s a photo of the 900 I took yesterday, driving through the beautiful Skagit Valley the scenic route instead of on I-5 for a bit of the drive home from Burlington. Enjoy. Thanks for reading the Saablog! Leave me a comment to help  me feel fulfilled!