I covered the Motorweek test of the Saab 9-3 SportCombi last week and Chris has just emailed me to let me know that the test is available on video.
It’s the full text of the article I linked to, narrated over some great footage of the 2008 9-3 SportCombi. There’s a whole bunch of driving footage there, including handling and braking tests.
Here’s the money quote, once again:
The 9-3 SportCombi is extremely stable and maneuvers with the utmost confidence. Its ability to corner flatly makes you forget that you’re driving a wagon. Add in standard stability and traction control and there is no better handling front-wheel drive car on the planet than a Saab 9-3.
If you didn’t click through and read the written version last week, then I can highly recommend you watch the video, available here.
This is just a screenshot:
Wow, that must be one of the first tests I’ve seen that’s been so positive on all areas!
good lord that blue 08 looks stunning.
That’s fantastic! Pretty much a mirror of what I thought when I drove it for the first time: great style, great performance, and nice room inside. The Aero and those paddle shifters are dangerous
in a good way…
Hi Swade,
Another recent review/test by CanadianDriver, of an 9-3SC Aero:
http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/mc/08_9-3.htm
(don’t look at the pic of the console cover underside ….)
I was writing it up, Ken, as you were commenting
jeffk – Yes, yes it does. If I ever get a new Saab, that’s my color right there. It doesn’t look very good on their website, but it looks actually beautiful in real photos (as in not renderings) and even more so in the metal.
40th anniversary???
Renowned for rear seat room??? Huh?? Which Saab has he been sitting in?
The 9-5, I’d guess….and yeah, the 40 years thing was a bad miss, too, but the driving is good – SW
Wow. They liked it! They didn’t mention the “Q word,” and they actually praised its front wheel drive characteristics.
I miss MotorWeek. Out local public TV station stopped broadcasting the show about three years ago.
Their reviews always err on the courteous side. Rarely does any car get trashed.
Oh, and you can usually skip Pat Goss’s segments — his tech talk is typically aimed at total noobs.
Is that Fusion Blue because it looks totally different on the website and in other pictures I have seen.
zippy – It’s Nocturne Blue.
Damn! What is that metalic blue’s colour code?
I WILL have that colour if I go for a new 9-3.
It’s stunning.
For those who are watching this review outside of the US, you should keep in mind that our MotorWeek is the antithesis to Top Gear.
They aren’t blowing anything up, or chasing anything with a helicopter. The format is best described as an “auto digest”: they’re simply taking a half-hour to show some new cars to you.
Very rarely do they say anything truly negative about a review car, but once in awhile they’ll hit you with an opinion. That “best-handling front wheel drive car” business was one of them. They don’t come out and say things like that very often.
It is the longest-running (and probably the oldest) auto review show in the country, if not the world. It’s hardly ever changed. John Davis has ALWAYS been the host. I’m sure it’s in his contract that when he dies, he will continue to narrate the show from his grave.
It was a staple of my childhood; instead of Saturday morning cartoons, my Dad and I would get up to watch MotorWeek.