Wind deflector installation in Saab 9-3 cabrio

Wind deflector minimises the effect of wind in convertibles while the roof is down. If you drive without it, it's OK. But if you try it, you will want to buy it. It's not cheap at all (300-500€). But it brings the value and funcionality.

You get a strange thing packed in average sized case.

It is very clear on which target group this product is focused :

But c'mon Saab, we're not stupid. Joke ? OK. And if this is the result of someone suing the deflector maker because of destroying it with beer, than sorry.

Now you have to unpack it. Unzip the thing and take the contents carefully out. You'll get the "compact sized" wind deflector folded together :

You have to unfold it. You can look into the manual, which says it a bit complicated or find by yourself. It's not a rocket science, but manipulate carefully. Look on the edges, there are knuckles and a safety catch, which will "tell" you, how to open it.

The form you want to achieve is this :

One detail. In order to manipulate the holder, you have to push the yellow part and than you can pull the black part. After this you can move the holder to the best position to fit into the hole. Learn that before installing the wind deflector, so you dont loose time speculating and standing in the car like a fool :)
Detail here :

Once you have the deflector opened and know how to move the holder, do the following :
1. pull down the roof - in case you didn't do it before
2. push both front seats as if you would like to step in to the back seats and step inside
3. pull the back head restraints UP
4. insert the appropriate part of the wind deflector
5. pull the head restraints DOWN

Steps 3-5 you see in the picture :

Once you have this, you are close to the end. Now try to insert the holders into the holes in the sides of the interior of the car. Remember how you learned to push the yellow thing and pull the black one.

 

Do it on both sides and that's it. Make a quick check if all 4 places where it is mounted to the chassis are somehow stable. Be carefull with the power you manipulate it. It's still kind of plastic thing. 

The result : 

On the picture you see the mounted position. Now you can enjoy the ride :) If you want to have the roof up, it is not obligatory to unmount the whole deflector or fold the upper half. It's up to you. I have it constant on and the upper half is folded for better visibility through the rearview mirror.

The effect of the wind deflector.

As said at the start : if you drive without it, it's OK, but once you try it, you will want to buy it. Without the deflector you feel the wind from the back side, at the scruff of the neck and head in general. As a smoker, you have a bit problem, because the ash is flying everywhere.

With the deflector you dont feel nothing on the neck. You feel a bit of wind on your legs. You can smoke. I was driving ~50km with a co-driver in -7°C and 100-120kmh tempo without any problem. Although I was a bit sceptical at the start, the wind deflector for a real convertible fan is a must.