Category: Large Family 
Price Range: £19,995 to £28,751
Distinctive image; excellent new diesel engine; E85 option; well-designed cabin; value for money.
Thirsty petrol engines.
Substantially updated and ever more powerful, the Saab 9-3 can be a great drive as well as a practical, safe and sensible purchase. A very nicely thought-out all-rounder.
The good-looking 9-3 comes in a number of varieties: besides the ever-popular 9-3 Convertible (reviewed separately) there's the four-door saloon and SportWagon estate, and engines which run on conventional petrol, diesel or E85 and come in a range of outputs from 122bhp to 280bhp.
New to the range for 2007 is a 180bhp diesel engine, badged 1.9 TTiD; a version of the 2.8 V6 Turbo with XWD, Saab's new four-wheel-drive system follows on sale in early 2008.
Equipment levels have been upgraded, new options are on offer, and Saab purists will be pleased to note that, besides a redesigned front end which echoes that of the striking Aero X concept car, the traditional front-hinged 'clamshell' bonnet is back.
The 9-3 may still share its basic underpinnings with the Vauxhall Vectra, but Saab has fine-tuned it into something far superior, and a vehicle which stands apart from most of General Motors' generic offerings.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Saab 9 3
wrote on 20 09 2007
wrote on 13 08 2007
wrote on 23 08 2006