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By
EWAN KENNEDY
28 May 2007
Saab has released first details and photographs of the upcoming revamp
of its 9-3. Though the car won’t go on sale in Australia until late in
the year, Saab enthusiasts are already showing a lot of interest.
It comes as no surprise that the facelifted 9-3
has a strong resemblance to its big brother the Saab 9-5. Thus
there's a distinctive front that’s a very strong evolution of
the so-called three-hole theme the Swedish maker has used for some
time now. There's something almost futuristic in the shape of the
front, and that’s no bad thing for a company that’s in the
forefront of aircraft design.
Most importantly from the point of view of the
Saab purists, is the use of the large ‘clamshell’ bonnet. This
not only does an excellent job of smoothing out the frontal
appearance, but also give unprecedented access to the engine bay.
Every Saab 9-3 is powered by a turbocharged
engine. Most are four-cylinder units, in varying stages of tune,
but there's also an interesting V6 turbo that’s built in
Australia by GM-H in Melbourne as our local maker is one of the
engine centres of excellence in the General Motors’ world.
One of the four-cylinder engines uses what Saab
calls BioPower technology, meaning it can operate on fuel that
contains as little as 15 per cent petrol, the balance being made
up of ethanol.
As before, the latest Saab 9-3 range consists of
sedan, station wagon (Sport Combi) and convertible variants. Sedan
prices range from just $39,900 for the lowest cost 9-3 Linear with
a five-speed manual gearbox, to $73,100 for the V6 automatic.
Wagons retail from $45,900 to $84,900. Convertibles, which are a
big success for Saab on the Australian sales front, have
recommended retail prices that start at a pretty reasonable
$67,500 for the four-cylinder and go $93,300 for a V6 model with
plenty of luxury items.
Somewhat oddly, despite these major revisions to the Saab 9-3,
there's still no news on the introduction of its big brother the
Saab 9-5. The 9-5 is now one of the oldest models on the
Australian market and, though its 2006 facelift has given it a
strong leg up in the visual stakes, it’s really starting to feel
its age from the driver’s seat. It simply doesn’t have the
feel and refinement of its competitors, some of which are up to
seven years younger.
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Marque Publishing Company
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