Saab 9-3 BioPower car review
The Saab 9-3 has always had a subtle but elegant appearance
01 February 2008
Price as tested: £25,385
Range price: £18,575 - £28,675
Insurance group as tested: 14
Insurance group range: 10-17
Date tested: January 2008
Road tester: Andy Goodwin
Auto Trader Ten Point Test rating: 74%
The Saab 9-3 is the mainstay of the Swedish manufacturer’s range, selling in large numbers to those who respect its understated qualities.
Renowned for its durability and practicality, the Saab brand has a strong following, but competition is as strong as it gets, with impressive rivals from BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Mercedes and now the new Ford Mondeo.
Read on for the full review of the Saab 9-3, or click the links below to skip to a section.
Looks | Looks Inside | Practicality | Ride and Handling | Performance
Running Costs | Reliability | Safety | Equipment | X-Factor
The Saab 9-3 has always had a subtle but elegant appearance, and its facelifted nose and tail enhance this while giving it a touch of aggression. The body has a smooth appearance, with body and sports bumpers flowing seamlessly into each other. While the clear rear taillights can look gimmicky in photos they appear high quality in the metal. Bright LED ‘eyebrows’ over the headlamps appear modern and expensive and attract glances from passers by. Our Vector Sport model featured 17-inch alloy wheels.
7/10
Simple, comfortable and stylish are the best words to describe the interior. Our test car came with cream leather seats, giving the cabin a feel befitting its price tag, and an airy ambience. The seats fitted to all Saab 9-3s are comfortable and well suited to long journeys. The chunky steering wheel has controls for the stereo and major instruments are clearly marked, if not overly attractive. There is a driver-centric dash, which included a large and easy-to-use sat-nav screen in our test car, a £1,980 option.
7/10
The 9-3 is a large car, and rear headroom and legroom is good. The large 425-litre boot swallows suitcases with ease and is finished in a practical, hard wearing carpet. There are useful cubby holes dotted around the cabin and cup holders which intricately fold out from between the rear seats and the central console.
7/10
Saab has done a good job tailoring the 9-3’s driving dynamics to its customer – it is a quiet and very refined cruiser which cossets passengers and eases away the miles. But, if you push harder the 9-3 feels less composed. Our Vector Sport model, equipped with sports suspension had plenty of grip but seemed happiest during relaxed driving.
7/10
With 200bhp the 2-litre turbocharged engine in our test car proved flexible and powerful, if not as sporty as the figures may suggest – this is a large car after all. The car never feels as quick as its 0-60mph time of 7.5 seconds and 143mph top speed sounds on paper, because of its refinement, hushed engine and low revs even at high speeds. Where the car excels is on the motorway, with enough pulling power to cruise effortlessly and accelerate as needed. Our biggest complaint is with the six-speed gearchange, which requires a firm hand to change gear accurately and feels imprecise.
7/10
Our press car came with ‘BioPower’ decals loud and proud along its sides - while customer cars will just have a subtle boot badge - but it isn’t easy to find a petrol station offering E85 bioethanol fuel with just a handful selling it. If you do have a local E85 filling station, the Saab BioPower 9-3 1.8t and 2.0t BioPower senses the presence of green juice in the tank and there is a theoretical 50-70 per cent emissions cut, taking into account the green lifecycle of the fuel used. There is also the bonus of 20 per cent more power thanks to E85’s higher octane rating than petrol. Drinking normal unleaded our Saab 9-3 2.0t returned an average of 32mpg over a combination of motorway, and urban driving. The 120bhp, 150bhp and 180bhp versions of the diesel 1.9TiD all offer an average fuel consumption of more than 40mpg. Depreciation is poor with models retaining between 34 and 39 per cent of sale value after three years. Insurance ranges between groups 11 and 17 and tax bands range from C for the 1.9 TiD to G for the 2.8 V6.
8/10
The Saab 9-3 has a well-proven reliability record and shares many components with the Vauxhall Vectra, so parts are widespread and thoroughly tested. The 9-3 feels extremely solid while on the move, and appears to be well built from the outside.
8/10
Saab and parent company GM have invested significant time and money into making their cars safe, and it shows. The 9-3 received a top five-star-rating in Euro NCAP crash tests for occupant safety. There are driver, passenger and curtain airbags fitted to all models and anti-lock brakes and electronic brake distribution help to prevent skidding.
9/10
Our car was well-specced, but still had a simple and conventional dash layout with surprisingly few buttons to press thanks to a large touch screen which controlled the sat-nav and stereo set up - a £1,980 optional extra. All models have traction control, dual-zone air conditioning, electric windows, CD-player and an MP3 connection. Most models come with rear parking sensors. An omission is the lack of a rear windscreen wiper, making visibility poor in our wet weather.
7/10
The Saab 9-3 has excellent refinement which lends itself perfectly to long distance mile munching. Appreciate this and Saab’s subtle design ethos and you will get on well with the 9-3.
7/10
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