I've loaned the truck to a friend for the weekend, and as collateral, he's left me his Saab 9-3 2.0t. I can't help but think he got the bum end of this trade.
I think this is the first time I've driven a turbocharged car since I sold my Talon back in the day (i.e., over five years ago).
In contrast to the Talon, which involved lots of turbo-lag-induced whining and buildup to solid power, this Saab makes fatty torque in the midrange without nearly as much bravado. It also seems like much more of a handful, but I haven't had a chance to push the car to really figure that out (nor will I). This is the downside of putting all that power (210hp) through just the front wheels.
Turbocharged cars have always intrigued me, but now that I'm back to the all-motor club, I don't think I'm going to cross back over to the forced-induction dark side. Yet.
By "dark side" do you mean a 335i, or are you like me and willing to wait to try the 135 if/when it hits our shores?
Good question.
Everything I've heard about the 335i is that it's going to be a trivially tunable beast, but that it doesn't have the tossable character of the 3-Series of days gone by. So no, I'm not particularly interested in the 335i.
The 135i seems to be a beast of an entirely different nature, and I'm sure I'll finagle some seat time eventually—but I'm not really sure I'm ready to take the plunge into an off-the-lot-new vehicle (for my own) and especially one with first-year US emissions gear.
--Dan