Saab 9-3 2.0T Aero XWD Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon 2.0T Aero XWD
Prices: £27,674-£28,751 - on the road
Insurance Group: 15
Emissions: 194g/km
Performance: 0-60mph 8.2s / Max Speed 143mph
Fuel Consumption: (urban) 23.7mpg / (extra urban) 42.2mpg / (combined) 32.8mpg
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

XTRA TRACTION

Our Rating: 7.7 / 10

Saab has made its clever XWD system more readily available with the 9-3 2.0T Aero XWD. Steve Walker reports

The Saab 9-3 looks a whole lot more desirable with the advanced XWD all-wheel-drive system included and the 2.0T Aero model even manages to keep running costs manageable.

A few hours slithering around traffic cones in a sprinkler soaked car park and a few more sliding past more traffic calming measures on some loose gravel were all it took for the assembled press corps to reach broad agreement. Saab’s XWD four-wheel-drive system worked. The launch of the latest facelifted 9-3 left most attendees with a favourable impression of the clever all-wheel-drive set-up but with it only scheduled to be made available in the pricey 2.8T V6 Aero models, it was an impression that few UK motorists would get the opportunity to share. Thankfully, Saab took steps to change all that and now the 9-3 2.0T Aero XWD brings the technology to a wider audience.

Saab’s reluctance to venture down the all-wheel-drive route struck a lot of people as strange for a long time. Despite coming from a land with more than its fair share of dirt roads and slippery weather conditions, the Swedish marque stuck resolutely to its front-wheel-drive layout. To make matters worse, it also perused a policy of attempting to out muscle its German rivals with big power outputs but the pumped-up Saabs often struggled to deploy that power through their front wheels. Torque steer, wheel spin, overworked traction control systems and big tyre bills were the order of the day but that was all before XWD.

Saab’s XWD isn’t your conventional four-wheel-drive system. Its ‘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 r

The 2.0T engine (note the large T which indicates the more powerful 2.0-litre unit in Saab parlance) delivers 207bhp and can cover the 0-60mph sprint in less than 7.5s. There’s a 146mph top speed too. The ride and handling compromise of the 9-3 is very well judged, especially with the XWD system doing its thing. Comfort inside the car is excellent thanks to great seats and a multi-adjustable driving position but the pedals are a little clumsier than you’d expect in a car with enthusiast pretensions.

The 9-3 Aero is also something of a looker. All the current Saab 9-3 models benefit from a facelift based on the Aero X concept car. The clamshell bonnet visually widens the front of the car and all external rubbing strips have been removed to give a cleaner look. There’s a classier finish to the front grille and a set of LED light strips that sit across the top of the headlamp pod while the rear light clusters are shrouded in smoked glass. The Aero sits lower than any other 9-3, and the bi-xenon headlamps give it an imperious stare. There’s also a SportWagon estate model, offering extra carrying capacity for a £1,000 premium.

The cabin of the 9-3 remains resolutely Saab with all the controls angled towards the perpetually grinning pilot. The 9-3 Sports Saloon features a dash that’s more upright than Dixon of Dock Green, the ignition next to the handbrake and a cupholder mechanism that can reduce design students to hushed reverence. Safety provision runs to active head restraints plus front, side and curtain airbags. All models feature dual zone climate control and most get an MP3-compatible CD player with an auxiliary audio input to attach your iPod. The Sportwagon is well worth looking into. Unlike many vehicles that campaign in this class, the Saab offers some serious carrying capacity. There’s 419 litres available with the rear seats in place and a whopping 1,273 litres of space available with the seats folded down.

Standard specification in Aero trim includes th