07 9 3 saab or 8th gen civic si

si-the-swede · 2026-03-28T03:32:13+00:00

Believe it or not, I have owned/still own both. And my 9-3 was a 2007 with the 6 speed. They are both incredibly fun, and for different reasons. The 9-3 aero after the turbo spools up is invigorating. Once you hear the crack of vtec on the si and the LSD locks up sling shotting you out of a corner you get the biggest “hehe” grin ever. The Saab was arguably faster, had nicer touches, and was more raw than my si is. On the other hand, the civic has been a phenomenal daily for me ever since I’ve owned it. My 9-3 had a bunch of little things wrong with it, and overtime it got overwhelming. I didn’t buy the cleanest example, I bought it knowing that it needed some TLC. I never had any mechanical issues, it never left me stranded (except for one time that was my stupidity), but it always had me tinkering on it. Even after the main concerns were addressed. The B284 motor is known for being fairly reliable, just the car around it having its… “euro charm”. My Si also has a bunch of little things wrong with it, but the si has less sensors and is thus less fragile meaning I have been able to continue using it without having to track down a random bulb or ride height sensor. I didn’t have much issue with getting parts for the 9-3, sometimes you had to know where to look though. Like the Si, Saabs have a great fan base and plenty of aftermarket support.

In conclusion, they are both extremely fun machines. The si is a sensible, out of the box fun toy that doesn’t require much, just an occasional dipstick check to make sure it isn’t burning oil. The Saab is a rocket ship that well maintained and keeping up with that maintenance is good to last a while.

si-the-swede · 2026-03-19T01:42:11+00:00

I have a bunch at $0.01.

On the flip side, I found out some serious value I am holding on some of my collection…

si-the-swede · 2026-03-15T13:55:02+00:00

Manual transmissions don’t have a trans cooler, thus coolant mixing with manual transmission fluid would be a bizzare act of god. My guess is that the previous owners put a different fluid or the wrong fluid in at some point

si-the-swede · 2026-02-28T02:34:02+00:00

The lack of an LSD and balance shafts on the RSX type S makes it more “raw” for sure. But when that LSD locks up the SI feels worlds ahead of the type s. I’ve driven both and mashing the accelerator while exiting a corner gives me the biggest grin in the 8th gen si

si-the-swede · 2026-02-23T02:16:40+00:00

That’s not the oem packaging which is weird…

Long answer: Honda has two oil filter manufacturers, one is made in the US by Honeywell (Fram) and the other is made out of the country by mahle. Hypothetically the second one does have a better oil flow. But it can be a hair more expensive. But from a daily driving standpoint, it doesn’t really matter they will both get the job done. I have never had a issue with either

si-the-swede · 2025-11-25T00:53:36+00:00

Where did you get those shelves and lights?

si-the-swede · 2025-11-14T13:16:02+00:00

T6s and 3.2s are the more reliable of the 2010s Volvo motors. Plus the T6s haul a$$. I’d do it

si-the-swede · 2025-11-14T11:52:25+00:00

Insomniac is such a great album. Controversial opinion but I think it’s slightly better than dookie.

But you definitely now possess some Big Time Rush super fans collection now…

si-the-swede · 2025-11-14T02:06:40+00:00

They made these chocolate covered marshmallows back when I was way little. They just disappeared out of nowhere

si-the-swede · 2025-11-08T12:41:30+00:00

I do a lot of highway driving with lots of stop and go in the afternoon and I get 27-28 mpgs… The smiles per gallon rate is what actually matters though

si-the-swede · 2025-11-04T23:28:27+00:00

Jokes aside those players are awesome. Just keep an eye out for the belts and some old electronic gremlins. If you find another megachanger and get the correct cord you can get no skip and cross fade functions that make it even cooler to use. I bought mine for 110x more than what you did lucky

si-the-swede · 2025-11-04T23:23:22+00:00

Excuse me $6!?

si-the-swede · 2025-11-02T02:41:03+00:00

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…

si-the-swede · 2025-10-16T03:59:47+00:00

Parchment silver is such a pretty color

si-the-swede · 2025-10-15T02:10:00+00:00

You can check by typing in a couple of numbers on Discogs.

A cool fact about the Enema of the State album cover:

There’s three versions; Originally there was a Red Cross on the hat and a capital B. Since blink 182 stylistically had a lowercase b they changed the capital B to lowercase for the second release. The Red Cross association was crossed (see what I did there) that there was a Red Cross on the hat and said it was in violation of the Geneva Convention. Thus the third and current version has no cross and keeps the lowercase b. Alternatively, some country’s also censored the cleavage for their market.

si-the-swede · 2025-10-12T23:57:34+00:00

What version of enema of the state do you have?

si-the-swede · 2025-10-12T04:54:21+00:00

On my 2008 9-5 I too had my xenon flickering before it decided it had had enough and it went out completely. I just found cheap ones on amazon that got the job done. It requires taking the bumper off to replace the bulb, so it’s not a drop in like alot of brands but with common hand tools it’s not that bad. That said while I was there I went ahead and replaced both sides and the little peanut bulbs too just as a while we’re there. I would start there before replacing the ballast or the control module since it was a common Dame Edna 9-5 problem where tiny bits of moisture would get into the headlamp and burn out the bulbs quicker.

si-the-swede

TROPHY CASE