2006 Saab 9-3 Review

Specifications

Red Herring

Saab station wagons, or SportCombis as they are now called, are a relatively recent phenomenon. It started about a decade ago with the 9-5, one of the first conventionalizing movements ordered by GM. Prior to the 9-5, Saabs biggest car was the 9000, which could be bought in sedan and hatchback form. Likewise, the current generation 9-3 is also only available as a sedan or convertible. Hatchbacks, it seems, are no longer in style, even with the quirky Trollhattan crowd. It came as little surprise when Saab decided to stick some extra metal and glass on the back of the new 9-3 last year, after owners petitioned for a more practical 9-3. So, in an attempt to make amends, theyve given us a SportCombi.

As far as wagons go, the 9-3 SportCombi looks great, and not just against a white background through a wide angle camera lens, photographed at a wonky, knee-wilting angle, as you often see in the ads. Obviously, the SportCombi looks like a wagon, yet, it carries the extra bulk in a very handsome way. I like how the window-line ever so casually swoops upwards, in a curve that the cars designer likens to a hockey stick, and I adore how the roof partakes in this styling exercise, by gracefully arching back to meet the bottom in one harmonious swoosh. Even the taillights are cool, rather, they were cool; originally, on the concept, and on European-market cars, the SportCombi featured frosted clear lenses that looked like stacked blocks of ice. Painted in its marquee color, a beautiful greenish blue metallic hue, with the aero bodykit and big wheels… I dont just like it; I think Im in love.

And I quite like the look of the interior too. Its a bit of a twist on the typical light-wood Scandinavian décor, but the focus still rests on you, the driver. Make no mistake; its still very Swedish at heart, with big, comfy, well-padded chairs, trimmed in what feels like inch-thick leather hides, and like those found in Volvos, they caress your body and take the strain out of long-distance journeys. The instruments are clear in tradition - revs, speed, fuel, turbo boost - Saab couldnt have made them any simpler, even if theyd tried. The dashboard has also been canted towards the driver for easier access of primary controls; the only fussy details to do with interior design is an unnecessary dash-top trip computer display, and the silver Bat Sign plastic trim on the oversized Aero-model steering wheel.

For being smack dab in the middle of the compact premium segment in terms of size, the interior of the 9-3 is quite spacious. Due to its front-wheel drive layout, rear legroom is plentiful; you can easily squeeze three full-size people into the back, without incessant moans and groans, making it a much more viable family transport solution than any 3-Series or A4. But the attractive styling hasnt done too many favors on improving the 9-3s cargo holding capabilities. Because of the fast roofline and angled tailgate, you only can bring along 15 cu-ft of cargo - 30 cu-ft when loaded to the roof - which is only marginally greater than the sedan, and somewhat disappointing for a station wagon. There is the benefit of being able to stuff in taller objects, and, when the seats fold flat, theres much more room inside.

If the SportCombi isnt voluminous, then surely, its got another trait going for it. Saab has been advertising the performance of the Aero model, billing it as a truly quick machine. No, the 9-3 Aero isnt the quickest car to 60 mph in its segment, instead its strength lies in mid-range torque. The Aeros new 2.8-liter low-pressure 250 horsepower, twin-turbocharged V6 with 258 lb-ft of torque makes this car about as flexible as a de-boned gymnast. It simply pummels anything on four wheels once on the move, no matter what gear youre in. All that deep-chested grunt isnt as Scandinavian as you might have through, as its roots can be traced back to… (deep breath) Australia. Yes, credits go to Holden, who designed the modular engine series thats found in most Opels, and several new Cadillacs.

It does have a downside; its one of the heaviest drinkers to currently come out of Sweden. The Feds rate this particular car at 17 to 18 mpg in the city. Thats just 2 to 3 mpg less than the 9-7x 5.3i - a big American SUV with a big American V8 engine. It also happens to be 2 to 3 mpg less efficient than the 344-horsepower all-wheel drive 4.2-liter V8-powered Audi S4 Avant. Oh dear. Real world figures are as dismal as the gov suggests; I averaged just 16 mpg. But there are worse things than this, even after taking into consideration it needs premium gasoline.

My test car came with the optional, but very dim-witted six-speed Sentronic automatic gearbox, and Im not just saying this because I am a manual fanatic. While you get clever push buttons that are positioned exactly where your thumbs naturally rest, they have the reaction time of a driver whos six drinks over the legal limit. Im talking serious lag time, which requires you to think ahead, particularly when first gear is simply annihilated by the turbos instantaneous bull-run build up of speed. So, its not the brightest thing in the world, and particularly maladroit at being sporty, but an automatic should be good for cruising. Er, no.

Trying to be as clever as it can be, Saab fitted the autobox with an adaptive program that attempts to match your driving style by switching the shift points of the gearbox when in regular Drive. They call it fuzzy logic, and is it ever fuzzy. Mind you, it probably doesnt help if every single journalist prior to me drove as if their hair was on fire, because the shift points were far too high up in the rev range to comply with legal limits, or driving at a relaxed pace. Perhaps the system would work if it reset itself every time the car turned off, but it doesnt. The Saab refused to acknowledge that I wanted to drive laid back, and would constantly shift at 3,500 rpm, if not higher. I eventually got so fed up with its incompetence that I drove around in manual mode so that I wouldnt look like I didnt know how to drive a car, and have to put up with it slurping fuel down at such an alarming rate in the city.

The bottom line - if you must have this car, have it with the manual, because you, the driver, had to have had more intelligence to obtain your license. Oh, and Saab has also fitted new cable linkages to improve shift action and quality on its six-speed manual, which, by the way, comes standard.

But back to the matter at hand: power and torque. In old Saabs, if you hit the throttle from standstill, you could easily achieve 60 mph in the six-second range, though it was a bit like playing Russian Roulette with oncoming traffic if you didnt have forearms the size of Popeye to combat the torque-steer. Its much different with modern day Saabs. Hit the gas pedal and voila, the car tracks straight, albeit with a whiff of wheelspin. You can thank the engine management system for this, which can only be described as brilliant. As with the old 210 horsepower 2.0-liter turbo four (the ex-Aero engine) it limits the amount of torque available off the line in first gear, so you dont accidentally embed yourself into the radiator grille of an oncoming semi truck. But theres only so much power that can be routed through the front wheels before they become corrupted. Push and the nose will run very, very wide, as the front tires simply want to go forward in a straight line. Turn the ESP off, and the 9-3s front tires become a pair of Roman Candles, the inner wheel sheering the rubber clean off tires.

Its all very good until you hit a bump; then, no amount of electronic trickery can hide the fact that the front wheels are the driving wheels. On some of my citys degraded roads, the steering wheel jostled and shook like no other car Ive driven in recent times. I liken it to wrestling an electric eel. It writhers, it slithers, and it fights back, all while you try and make your best judgment through the numbness of your appendages. The 9-3 might feel a little baggy around the edges, but it does carve a good line through long, fast, sweeping corners, thanks to the Re-Axs passive rear-wheel steering system.

One thing I dont understand, however, is how a car can manage a five star rating in the very stringent EURONCAP test, yet creak like a settling house when flung with zest around corners. There are also other troubling characteristics that raise the question of Saab cutting corners when assembling this particular car. Each of the forty six thousand different buttons wobbled about like a sprung jack in the box, and once, I grabbed one of the spars between the seat that looked like the handbrake, only to pull the plastic moulding right off. Born from jets? I dont want to think of what would happen if an aircraft was built with such low tolerances. Wiggly buttons are something I can live with, but floppy indicator stalks I cannot. Brittle in texture, wobbly in nature, even some of Chevys new cars feel better made.

The small Saab wagon occupies an interesting segment in the marketplace. Its attitude is different than the Germans. It would seem impossible to produce a wagon with four wheels and an engine this powerful for less money than the 9-3 SportCombi. Sure, you could get a 3-Series wagon, but its only in 325xi form with a piddling 215 hp and it costs much, much more, or, as many more people would choose, you could get the A4 Avant, but in order to come close to the Saab 9-3 Aero in price itll have to be a base 2.0T model with front-wheel drive. Theyre only $1,600 apart in price, the Aero V6 more expensive than the Audi 2.0T Avant. And Volvos got the V50 T5, but thats even smaller and less useful the SportCombi. Victory, it seems, when pen meets checkbook, goes to the Saab, provided you turn a blind eye to Subarus Legacy 2.5 GT Turbo wagon.

Turning a blind eye in mind, I like the Saab innovation, but I dont like the inherent lapse of quality that this car had. I like the mid-range wallop, but Im not fond of how small my wallet felt after testing it for just a few days. I like the passive rear-wheel steering, but the wheels you directly control are vague and inert. This really is a decision youll have to make with your heart, because my head, at least, was always arguing for something logical, something thats probably German. And in that vein, Saab, I suppose, set out to create a car that was the anti-BMW. In that respect, it has succeeded, and its a pretty darn good anti-BMW at that.