In today’s snippets entry – How do you know what tyres are good at what things? Sniff Petrol does Anders Breivik. Don’t eat the mother-cake! And how small an accident does it take to write off a Saab Turbo X?
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Pierre, over at the CRS Blog, has just fitted some new tyres to his 1992 Saab 900, choosing to go for comfort instead of his usual search for all-out grip. The improved ride has given him a renewed appreciation for his classic Swede.
A question that I’ve always had but never researched: How does one know which tyres are better suited to one or the other – grip or comfort?
Personally, my knowledge is restricted to what the man in the store tells me. That’s a flawed situation, of course, because the man in the store quite likely makes a better margin on one tyre compared to another.
I might have to tap Pierre for the answer, or simply get off my arse and do some research myself.
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Sniff Petrol tackles Bernie Ecclestone’s ambivalence to the situation in Bahrain in it’s usual, confronting style.
Perhaps this is where Jeremy Clarkson gets some of his more controversial lines from? Sniff is, after all, written by Richard Porter, who’s name you’ll see in the credits for Top Gear every week. He’s the script editor.
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Porter is also one third of the team that supplies the Gareth Jones on Speed podcast every few weeks. It’s well worth a listen, especially if you’re into Formula 1. And there just happens to be a new episode out today.
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Fans of all things Swedish will get a laugh out of this: Nine things that don’t translate so well from Swedish to English.
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A quick, personal update on Targa Tasmania – I just found out yesterday that the guy who now owns my Saab 9-3 Viggen is competing this year. He’s not driving the Viggen, however. Wayne has a fleet of vehicles and he’s driving a Porsche 911 in Targa this year.
Will try and catch up with him when the race finishes in Hobart tomorrow.
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And speaking of my Viggen…….
When I bought it back in 2005, it had been repaired after a small front-end accident. The accident really was a minor one – I saw the photos – but the relative rarity of Saab parts caused the insurance company to put it in the too-hard basket and they declared the vehicle to be a write off (which it obviously wasn’t as it’s still running beautifully to this day, even after I had a major accident in it).
I received some photos during the week of a Saab 9-3 Turbo X that appears to have been in an even smaller accident than the one that first wrote off my Viggen. The owner is a guy in the US, a reader from the TS and SU days whose car featured on those pages some time back.
His website seems to be hanging as I write this so I can’t get on there to extract some images right now. From what I remember from a few days ago, it looks like he’ll need a new front bumper, grille and headlamps.
I was going to cover this accident as an exercise in seeing how long it would take for Saab Parts to supply the necessary bits to his repairer. As it turns out, that won’t be necessary. As with my Viggen, the insurance company has deemed the repairs significant enough to classify the Turbo X as a write-off.
I’m amazed. Here in Australia, the Turbo X is still a $40,000 vehicle. That such a fine car can be considered a write-off after such a small bingle is a real head-scratcher for me.
I’ll update with photos when his website is back online and yo’ll be able to see for yourself. And if anyone’s interested in buying the ‘wreck’ from the insurance company, I can put you in touch with owner.