Car: Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon 2.0T Aero
Prices: £26,485-£27,585 [2WD models] - on the road
Insurance Group: 16
Emissions: 202g/km
Performance: 0-60mph 7.3s / Max Speed 145mph
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 33.2mpg
Safety: Twin front & side airbags, ABS with EBD, Brake Assist, Traction Control, Stability Control, Cornering Braking Control, Saab Active Head Restraints
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height 4635/2038/1466mm
BUBBLE JET SPRINTER
Our Rating: 6.9 / 10
Saab’s 9-3 Aero 2.0T now has looks and grip to match its pace. Andy Enright checks it out
It’s fair to say that the Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon ruffled a few feathers upon the occasion of its launch. Notching up test wins against rivals from BMW, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo and Audi hasn’t always been a position of familiarity for Saab. Even today, with the other marques having hit back at the 9-3 in some style, Saab’s facelifted offering remains a dark horse destination for the junior executive’s car allowance. The sporting flagship of the current four cylinder range, the 2.0T Aero, offers Saab’s usual recipe of huge power per pound but in this instance it also factors in a welcome dose of sophistication.
Whilst many will be familiar with the Saab 9-3 Aero designation, few will appreciate quite how much work Saab have done to turn this car into a sporting saloon worthy of note. The overriding memory of the old 9-3 Aero 2.0T was a car that had a little too much engine for its chassis, a car that, when you planted the accelerator, either spun its front wheels impotently or gave in to manic torque steer. Subtle it was not.
This 9-3 consigned this sort of behaviour to history, based as it is on an entirely different chassis and suspension set up. The engine remains largely the same, 210bhp of turbocharged wallop emanating from a 2.0-litre four-cylinder powerplant and it’s as good as ever, catapulting the £26,485 Aero 2.0T to 60mph in 7.3 seconds and then on to 145mph.
If you want to make sure that all that power gets to the tarmac whatever the weather, then you’ll want to tick the options box for Saab’s latest XWD all-wheel drive system. XWD’s ‘cross-wheel-drive’ configuration means that as well as distributing torque between the front and rear sets of wheels, it can also send differing quantities to each of the rear wheels. This is achieved through a second Haldex limited slip differential that Saab has christened the eLSD.
If grip is lost at the front of the car, the XWD system can send up to 85% of the engine’s power to the rear wheels. That driving force can then be divided up again between the two rear wheels by the eLSD which can make a split as dramatic as 80:20. The result is an extremely stable and well-balanced driving experience as the XWD predicts road conditions and optimises the way in which the power is deployed. This has major safety advantages in wet or icy weather and will also help buyers of the 9-3 2.0t Aero XWD make the most of their engine’s 207bhp performance.
If you want grip and more power, there’s a 2.8T V6 Aero model which comes with XWD as standard, capable of rest to 60mph in 5.9s. Either way, Saab’s quoted performance figures are usually decidedly conservative. You’d certainly need a lot of BMW to outpace the Aero.
This is where the Saab drives home what looks to be an irrepressible advantage. To get a BMW 3 Series that can equal even the 2.0T’s performance figures and offer a similar level of trim, you’ll need to find around £28,000. Audi will charge you around the same for a broadly equivalent A4 and Mercedes will want a larger sum still for a C-Class.
Purists trying the standard 2-wheel drive version will point to the fact that drive is directed to the front wheels and sniffily dismiss it as a less balanced set up than a rear or a four-wheel drive. This issue is of course solved by the XWD version but in any case, these purists will invariably be the ones who’ve yet to drive a modern front wheel drive car like the Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon. In absolute terms, rear or all-wheel drive is a superior solution, but in every day driving we never deal in absolutes. Instead, we work with compromise and the Saab 9-3 Aero manages those compromises better than most. A combination of clever chassis and suspension design coupled with formidable electronics mean that traction is rarely a problem and such is the safety net available, the Saab engenders a huge feeling o
UK edition Saab 9 3 range gets new price tag
The official importer for the British market, Saab GB, has unveiled the prices and specifications for the 2012 9-3 model, which will go on sale by next month. The two luxury sedan models will be available in both the SE and Aero. Both trim models will include standard features like exterior and interior automatic dimming mirrors, electric folding mirrors and automatic rain sensor wipers in addition to low CO2 emissions, increased standard...
Saab GB Managing Director to lead Pan-European Organisation
As part of Saab's restructuring of its worldwide sales management, Saab Great Britain Managing Director Jonathan Nash will lead a new pan-European sales organisation. Starting on the 1st of February, Nash will be responsible for all Saab Automobile's European markets outside the Nordic region as Regional Director - Europe. He will report directly to Matthias Seidl, Director of Global Sales & Aftersales. Mr. Na...