Saab 9-3 Aero 1.9 TTiD Convertible

[Wardy]

I don't know... you posh convertible owners!  

 

Still reckon I'm quicker with two catches and my arm to push it back

[Phil-E]

Haha. Probably yes.

 

I like that all elements of the roof are completely hidden once it's down which makes it look very clean and neat.

 

I like being able to do it from the remote. Handy for getting the dog into the back seat and for putting the wind deflector in without having to get in and turn the ignition on etc.

 

Can also be put up/down while driving up to 20mph.

[Wardy]

Yep, a nice design. And extra points for remote hood operation

[KenONeill]

20 hours ago, Wardy said:

I don't know... you posh convertible owners!  

 

Still reckon I'm quicker with two catches and my arm to push it back

Even when you'd have had to get some clothes on and go outside first?

[Wardy]

Oh. Dear.

Thought clothes were optional. Ah well

[Phil-E]

Yes I have the luxury of being able to stand in the nude inside and lower my roof!

 

If you tried to lower yours in the nude you would likely be arrested! lol

 

I tend not to carry the car key around in my pocket in the house for fear of accidentally lowering the roof while it's raining!

 

The number of times I came out to the Octavia and all the windows were down because I had the remote in my pocket in the house.

[Phil-E]

Gave it a really good clean yesterday. Scrubbed the roof and re-fabsil'd it, did all the black plastics with autoglym bumper gel, gave the wheels a few goes with the wheel cleaner and used some hot wheels tyre stuff, cleaned under all the rubber seals etc and inside the window seals as they were really mucky and did the exhausts with the metal polish.

 

I also managed to cure the squeak when putting the roof down/up.

 

Looking good I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next job is to get a tow bar fitted as we have just bought a caravan!

[Phil-E]

So my towbar arrived today and I took some time out from work to get it fitted.

 

The car looked weird without the bumper:

 

 

Got it all bolted up which was the easy bit.

 

Then the wiring... Most of it was straight forward as I got the dedicated kit that literally just plugged into the rear electrics and a GM branded trailer control module to plug in.

 

I then had to wire up to a permanent live etc for the twin socket (that charges the caravan battery and runs the fridge - nice cold beers).

 

All sorted.

 

Just need to test the electrics with my multimeter then hopefully picking up the caravan at the weekend.

 

[KenONeill]

The only "real test" of trailer wiring requires a suitable trailer (been there, done that,  at the wiring back in the day). In this case you actually need a caravan!

[Phil-E]

Yes I know what you mean.

 

Hopefully at the very least all the lights will be working as this really was the plug and play bit. Literally plug the 12n socket in, ground the wire and wire up the pins in the plug so as long as I have the wires in the right places I should be OK! Famous last words!

[Phil-E]

Phew! I'm good to go.

 

Popped into a local electrician place nearby and they hooked up their lighting board for me and all is working!

 

I'm dead nervous about towing something though. I'm sure it will be fine. Caravan only weighs less than 1000kg and the car weighs over 1700kg.

[Wardy]

Sounds good Phil. Does this mean the motorhome is no longer required?

[PirateSyrett]

3 hours ago, Phil-E said:

I'm dead nervous about towing something though. I'm sure it will be fine. Caravan only weighs less than 1000kg and the car weighs over 1700kg.

 

Phil - just take it easy and don't feel under pressure to jump out of junctions or make turns whilst being pushed.

 

Take everything slow and wide and you'll have no problems. We regularly tow 2.5m wide boat trailers upto 12m in length and you just learn to take it at your pace. If you choose a sensible time of day, make your own space and ignore pressure from behind you'll be fine.

 

Just remember you're meant to be practicing for your holiday! Enjoy, M

[Phil-E]

On 30/03/2017 at 17:09, Wardy said:

Sounds good Phil. Does this mean the motorhome is no longer required?

 

The engine went on it unfortunately :( Snapped cambelt.

 

New engines are expensive and getting it out (due to the overhang of the double bed above the cab) is tricky.

 

So we have decided on a caravan as it doesn't require a second set of tax, insurance and MOT like a motorhome.

 

Also easier to share with the mother in law as they also have a car with a towbar.

 

I have driven busses in the past so used to driving long/wide vehicles but they didn't bend in the middle!

 

Will just take my time and like you say will try not to feel pressured. If i do i will pull over and let traffic past.

[Phil-E]

So in summary towing is... fine!

 

Pretty pleased at just how easy it was. Car felt weird setting off and wobbling around as the caravan went over bumps but really it was rock solid and felt totally stable round corners.

 

Accelerating and keeping up with traffic was a breeze (even got held up a few times myself by people driving slow and only overtaken once and I was doing 60mph on a national speed limit road!)

 

The only thing that annoyed me about the car was that it was reluctant to change up into 6th a lot of the time when left in D. 6th at 60mph is only around 1700rpm but putting it into manual mode and forcing it to 6th it was perfectly happy. Then I could plan ahead for going up/down hills and round bends and knock it down a gear or two. Then back to D for stopping/setting off at junctions etc.

 

The range on the trip computer with the miles already driven indicated we should manage about 400 miles from a tank which isn't half bad. The motorhome would only do about 300 tops and that had a much bigger tank and couldn't even maintain anything above 50mph up any sort of incline!

Edited 3 April, 2017 by Phil-E

[Phil-E]

Just a quick picture of the caravan on the back of the car.

 

Was pretty cool towing with the roof down. Especially with the weather we've had this weekend.

 

[KenONeill]

It's the best looking outfit I've seen since 2 that consisted of a Citroen DS Safari and CX Familaile, both with 18' vans.

[Phil-E]

We certainly got some looks. Don't see many convertibles towing caravans. All the other cars on our site were all big Kia Sorentos/Sportages and the likes and clearly bought purely for the purpose of towing. Then we just rocked up with the roof down in our "normal" car.

 

The good thing about convertibles (the larger ones at least) is they're heavy so actually have a decent towing weight.

 

Our friends recently bought a caravan and had to swap their Golf Convertible 1.6 TDI for a Vauxhall Antara to be able to tow it. I looked up the van weight and they were quite shocked when I said that our car could tow it.

 

I love seeing classic cars towing classic caravans. They look so cool and retro.

[Wardy]

Nicely done Phil. Stay classy ;-)

[boylers11]

Car/caravan combo looks good Phil.

I see your caravan is very clever too...

[Phil-E]

On 10/04/2017 at 20:13, boylers11 said:

Car/caravan combo looks good Phil.

I see your caravan is very clever too...

Haha. Yes it's extremely clever

 

It's Coachman Genius 460/2 SE.

 

We tried to find a silver caravan to match the car.

 

We were originally looking at much newer/more expensive vans but then this was offered to us through a business contact at a great price (£1,500.00). It's in very good nick for a 1999 and has recently fitted motor movers and a full awning (that doesn't even look like it's been out the bag!). These alone are worth well over £1000.

The layout is great for us too with a big end bathroom.

 

We then decided we would spend a little on some improvements:

 

Ceiling lights repainted white and LED bulbs installed

Reading lights upgraded to LED

Bathroom ceiling spotlights repainted white and upgraded to LED

Additional spotlight added to bathroom

Curtains bleached and dyed (pink was horrible!)

Re-silicone sealed shower

New chrome bathroom fixtures (were horrible cheap plastic caravan ones)

New chrome door handles on wardrobe and drawers in bathroom (again were cheap plastic caravan ones)

 

Still to do:

New carpet

Change carpet to lino in kitchen/entrance

New bathroom carpet or lino (still to decide)

Seat covers to be made (to get rid of the floraly pattern!)

Re-trim padded trim above curtains (also to get rid of the floraly pattern!)

TV to buy!

 

Luckily all the wood and walls are very light and modern looking and in great condition.

 

And the rest of the cash saved to be spent on getting away in it!

Edited 11 April, 2017 by Phil-E

[Phil-E]

P.s. had a moment of panic when our friends said "have you checked your license that you can tow?"

 

I have checked and the law is that the max permissable weights of the car and van cannot exceed 3500kg. We are at 3440kg so just under! Phew!

[boylers11]

Sounds like you've made some good improvements to the van.

The only thing you might want to invest in is a pair of digital tyre pressure monitors, especially with it being a single axle and you do longer trips with it...just a thought!

Also, a solar trickle charger might be a plan too

[KenONeill]

Actually, way back in the day, we used to carry a spare wheel and tyre for the caravan.

[Phil-E]

There is a spare wheel and tyre underneath the front of the caravan.

 

But good idea on the tyre pressure monitors!