Canadian Saab 9-3 review
There’s been a lot of reviews coming out of Canada of late.
Whilst the last one had some very sub-class photography (all done at night with flash), this latest one has no photos at all! It comes from driving.ca and is therefore probably going to be syndicated around. I’m sure the appropriate photos will turn up somewhere.
The lack of imagery means we have to think more about the text….and it’s worth it:
….the compact, sporty four-door offers a well-equipped Nordic take on European-style driving pleasure at a less-than-painful price.
While more for less is always a good starting point (the 9-3’s base price is $35,950), it’s definitely not the only card that can be played. The 2008 model year sees worthwhile exterior enhancements for the aging model inspired by Saab’s handsome Aero X concept….
….Its 210 horsepower is more than sufficient to get the trim 9-3 to speed in quick time. With peak torque of 221 pound-feet reached at a low 2,500 r.p.m., there is always enough bottom-end urge on tap for point-and-squirt situations….
….Front-drive Saabs have never had the same handling precision as their German counterparts. That said, the Sport appellation Saab affixes to the 9-3 is not a misnomer. The sedan can certainly get frisky when called upon…..
….Unfortunately, the quality of the trim pieces isn’t as good as that in its European rivals, with cheaper plastics used…..
It’s more of the same great, yet slightly frustrating story: A great drive, just wish they’d tidy up the interior.
It’s worth noting once again that the 2008 is a much improved car and the current round of positive reviews will come as no surprise to anyone who’s driven one. It’s tighter, quieter and looks absolutely stunning in the metal.
If only they could get more bums on seats.
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I wish Saab/GM would just implement the leather stitched accents for the door handles, parking brake and dash, all the stuff you touch daily, that Hirsch offers.
May I point out that Swade made the exact same points a while back. Spot on too, IMHO.
I wonder how long it will take until the interior designers differentiate between a spartan interior and a cheap interior. Big difference.
It can (and should) be both simple and high-quality. These are not contradictory qualities, people.
That article did have some good imagery. Point-and-squirt made me laugh.
Charles - They can’t do that, they might make $100 less on every Saab they sell! THAT’S CRAZY TALK.
:p
Yes Jeff, and think of this: If they sold an extra 10,000 cars because of the leather, that’s another $1,000,000 less that they’d make on the cars that they don’t sell but could sell. Better off not selling the cars.
It’s incredibly frustrating that since its introduction in 2003 publications and customers alike have complained about the cheap interior materials in the 9-3 yet Saab chose not to do anything about it either in the interior refresh in 2007 (when they substituted the “button” dash with the bowtie stereo head unit and new simplified GM climate controls, while eliminating the SID display and integrating it into the instrument panel in an apparent cost-reduction ploy) or in 2008 with the mid-cycle-enhancement (”refresh”).
What does it take to get Saab to listen to its customers? For how many years were customers demanding all-wheel-drive while Saab arrogantly insisted that FWD is all anyone should need?
Saab has made its bed and now it’s sleeping in it judging by the terrible sales numbers. For crying out loud, Porsche sold more vehicles in the U.S. than Saab did in January!
It’s about customer focus, something Saab apparently still has to learn.
Ahh yes, the classic GM line of reasoning: Why make less money and actually sell cars when you can make even more money on the ones you don’t…
It’s no wonder that Saab’s sales are plummeting, your average new car buyer knows that they spend most of their time INSIDE the car and so their buying decisions are based on how nice the INTERIOR of the car is. The 9-3’s may look stunning “in the metal” (personally I wish they still had the Saab doorhandles and black plastic trim, it makes the cars look more european and unique and since “unique” actually sold Saabs unlike the current situation so GM could do worse than put some “unique” back into the cars but I digress), but as long as they have that damned cheap interior, sales will continue to plummet.
On the 2007’s and 2008’s that I’ve driven as loaner cars, everything screamed “cheap”. The bowtie radio looked and felt cheap, the steering wheel and the griffin badge looked and felt cheap, the E-brake handle, yup, cheap too! The list goes on and on, and unfortunately most everything the driver looks at and uses daily falls into the “cheap” box. Hell, after spending some time in the new cars even my 2000 9-5’s interior started to feel upscale. I walked away from my first loaner 9-3ss feeling saddened when I realized that there was absolutely no real reason why I would ever consider buying one of these cars over it’s competition beyond simple brand loyalty.
To add to Alex’s comments; I took a test ride in the new 9-3. Not only was I under-impressed with the interior in general, but having the window controls on the door (which makes no sense for those who drive manuals) and having no Bluetooth, actually a safety feature particularly when it’s combined with caller ID on the dash, voice dialing and stereo muting, is ridiculous. (I have found that those who have had Bluetooth in their cars and use it get totally hooked on it and swear they’ll never go back - so Saab can write off that ever growing segment of the market as well). Upon finishing my test ride I realized that I don’t think I would enjoy driving the car any more than I do my 94 900 Turbo (and I wouldn’t have the benefit of having a hatch). Also, despite what they have done to quiet the car from last year, I still found the road noise to be higher than expected. I want to like this car but there is nothing compelling for me so it’s no surprise that it’s not cutting it in the market. Saab may be limited by GM on when they can implement new engines and new drivetrains, but I would expect they would be free to implement a world class interior and at least compete at that level.
A final point, a nice interior is an advertisement to passengers. Passengers who are impressed with a car’s interior are more likely to consider buying that car. And Saab needs all the help it can get with having more people consider buying it’s vehicles.
“A nice interior is an advertisement to passengers.”
Exactly!! That’s a great point and even better way of putting it. Well said, Edags.
im hoping saab gets bluetooth in 2009 as the cts is getting it and it will be onstar compatible.
Adding to what Edags said, people who are looking to buy an entry luxury car want to know that they’re driving something special. The current 9-3, aside from the swanky front end, just doesn’t feel special enough. The cheap looking and cheap-feeling interior just reinforces that.
The old 9-5’s interior was filled with all sorts of gadgets that I’ve never seen on another car. When you sit in it you really get the sense that “yeah, I couldn’t get all of this anywhere else”. The new interior just had none of that “special” feel, and it’s because it’s missing all of the little things that saabs used to have. It’s all about the details (like dash-mounted SID’s, green and yellow instrument clusters, the saab door handles, center-mounted window controls, and 2-flap sun shades), they individually may not seem all that special, but all together they really improve the “atmosphere” of the car.
Now the buyer who’s cross-shopping the 9-3 aero, G35, 3-series, and A4 will look at the 9-3 and see all of the flaws with little to make up for them. A Saab interior with all of the traditional bits will make at least a few of those buyers think that while the car might not be as fast as the BMW or handle tightly like the G35, they’re still getting something that’s unique and special. Since Saab can’t compete on badge appeal alone, it needs all the uniqueness it can get if it wants to attract buyers and the current interiors utterly fail at that.
In all honesty the ‘08 9-3 I drove didnt have cheap looking plastics, they just felt cheap to the touch. A ‘97 900 had a better quality interior that, I might add, looks 1000 times better as well but we cannot dwell in the past. As already pointed out people were remarking way back in ‘03 about the 9-3 interior and nothing was done about it and here we are in ‘08 with “Saab-isti” saying that Saab interiors look bad. How on earth to we try to convince the guy driving an Audi to buy a Saab? To be honest with you, I think GM has given up. The real evidence of such a statement - the 9-4X that should have been a head turner - not a Ford Edge lookalike. The 9-1 and the next 9-5 have to be radical or its light out for Saab.
You know, to be honest, I don’t really care about the interior. As long as the seats are comfortable and it doesn’t squeak, I’m fine with whatever they give me as far as materials and whatnot. Now, it’s got to be ergonomically designed, of course, but once they’re done with that…all I really care about is what’s under the hood and how much of a wanker I’d look like driving the car.