Saab 9-3 SportWagon Review
Published: 1st July 2007
Saab 9-3 SportWagon
We drove the GM/FIAT sourced 16 valve - 1.9 TiD 150 PS diesel SportWagon, which is pretty much the same engine that was fitted to the Vauxhall Astra TwinTop that we drove the previous week. Strangely in the Saab it felt noisier and less refined, plus the Astra felt a more nimble vehicle to drive.
The 1910 cc diesel engine produces 150 PS @ 4000 rpm and 320 Nm of torque @ 2000 rpm. This propels the 9-3 SportWagon, from 0- 62 mph in 10.2 seconds and on to a top speed of 124 mph.
Our test car was fitted with a 6-speed manual gearbox, which has to be used to make the most of the 1.9 TiD diesel engine. Don’t make the mistake of trying to pull off in second gear, because you won’t be going anywhere fast. If you are lazy with your gear changes, you will find yourself running out of puff up hill.
With this particular diesel engine, sixth gear is really for motorway cruising, if used on ‘A’ roads you will find yourself having to change down, but it certainly helped reduce fuel consumption. On a careful motorway cruise of over 100 miles we were achieving 54 mpg, in heavier traffic this decreased to a credible 47 mpg, which we considered pretty good. Touring on ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads we were still getting very near to the 50 mpg mark, around town this came down to the mid 30’s.
How It Drove - Ride/Handling
The 9-3 SportWagon does not really feel any different on the road to the Saloon, which is testament to Saab’s engineering. Overall the ride is quite compliant and the suspension makes a good job of absorbing all but the worst of pot holes.
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