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Thursday, January 27, 2011

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.

14 comments:

  1. great write up.. thanks for that. :) I normally drive with the roof down and only really experience buffeting at a good speed, but I do like to drop the windows whenever I can. Will look into these

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  2. this thing starts to move (buffeting?) after ~100kmh (62mph) as well, disregard the windows are up or down. It eliminates the little tornado on your back seats coming to your neck from behind. But the buffeting depends on side winds as well.

    btw. your soft top waterproofing video is GREAT ! Water on my soft top looks completely different, I'd like to have it like yours. Which product from GTechniq was used for it ?

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  3. Can you please explain how you FOLD the wind deflector? I bought one off of eBay but the guy who has it doesn't know how to fold it.

    Thank you!

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  4. if you mean how to fold it into the "bag" in the first photo, yes. No chance to explain in words, so I'll do a separate post with pictures very soon.

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  5. Hey Mr. Anonymous. The explanation of folding the wind deflector is here. I've tried to do it as understandable as possible.

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  6. The rear window on my 93 convertible just shattered for no apparent reason is fitting a replacement possible how do you access the clips and electric heating wiring?

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    Replies
    1. There is a replacement possible, but I wouldn't try it at home.

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  7. Where can I get one like this. It's perfect for my car
    Thanks
    BPatenious@yahoo.com

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  8. I LOVED my Saab 2007 wind deflector - worked perfectly (very expensive new - around $400-$600 at the OEM prices!) but it added infinite more usability and enjoyment to the "top down experience!" I could use it 9 months or more out of the year here in NC. Completely cuts down wind and noise and even RAIN! Drive in the rain with the top down and wind deflector up and you will not get one bit wet (well, as long as you keep moving! The second you stop, you WILL get wet, LOL!)

    Anyway, where can I buy another one? My cat liked to sit on the wind screen in the garage and eventually tore many holes in the netting with his claws! Even still, it still works, but now looks terrible! Anyone have one in good condition to sell?

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  9. Great tutorial, thank you! Easy to mount, no doubt! This one’s quite similar to the Windblox wind restrictor that I had it mounted on my Cabrio lately. If we own a roadster (with no factory-fitted draught-stop), we must mount a good wind deflector, otherwise we can never enjoy the al fresco drives.

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  10. It is quintessential to mount a wind deflector on roadsters. I have something called Zefferus windscreen, and it keeps the cabin noise-free and turbulence-free even at highway speeds.

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  11. Yes, I too have a wind deflector affixed on my open top ride. The gust can get too overwhelming at times with the top furled away. But now with the Backblade windscreen there’s no wind noise or turbulence to spoil the alfresco fun.

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  12. So easy to fit.....

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  13. Thank you VERY much for taking so much time, effort and photo's to help us enjoy our beloved SAABs even more. If you're ever in Bedford, UK, please pop into Venus Hair, at 80 High Street. The kettle is always on for you. Warm regards, Sue x

    ReplyDelete