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"Handling and design" and "long term durability and build quality" are pretty orthogonal. The 900 and Volvo 240/7x0/9x0 were old designs by the '90s; a mechani
by linksnapzz 7y ago
"Handling and design" and "long term durability and build quality" are pretty orthogonal.
The 900 and Volvo 240/7x0/9x0 were old designs by the '90s; a mechanical refresh was neccesary even if the styling was to remain largely unchanged.
- bluetomcat 7y ago> a mechanical refresh was necessary even if the styling was to remain largely unchanged No, a mechanical refresh only would not be sufficient. At the time, the styling of a Saab 900 or a Volvo 850 would look hideously outdated next to more modern German contemporaries like the first Mercedes CLK or an E39 5-series. They needed to rethink and redesign the layout of the car for the new era, rather than come up with mechanically-revised 1970s throwbacks.
- linksnapzz 7y agoI'm sure that post '95 Saabs and Volvos also became more streamlined due to the demands of aerodynamic optimization. As for styling...de gustibus non est disputandum. I happen to like the squared-off Bruno Sacco era Mercedes look; it has the additional advantage of being a car that you can see out of. Many of the newer "modern, contemporary" European cars, to say nothing of the American ones, are claustrophobic rolling pillboxes in comparison.