Saab prides itself on making sporty, practical cars with expressive design and they have kept true to that ethos. Despite being part of GM the new Saab is built around the driver. However, if you suffer from ‘buttonaphobia’, this is not the car for you. The driver has a zillion well placed buttons waiting to be touched and the scary thing is that they all do something useful. The night panel button is there to make the dash less like a 70s roller disco when traveling at night. It turns off all unnecessary illumination and only lights up individual bits of the dash when your attention is needed.
Inside the cabin is very spacious for passengers. The boot holds 419 litres (not great) but fold the seats and there is 1,300 litres available. The load area is low and under the floor is another 20 litres of storage. If you (like me) have a stick that is exactly 2.65 metres long you’ll be able to get it into the car and close the tailgate!
The new car is very aerodynamic and is the first Saab to achieve zero lift from both front and rear axles - which I’m told is a good thing! The designers have almost managed to make the car as stiff as the saloon by reinforcing the C and D pillars. The estate uses the same track and wheelbase as the saloon. An innovation for Saab sees passive rear wheel steer introduced. Remember Honda was a pioneer of this way back with the ‘Prelude’. So the rear suspension is very ‘trick’ and this means the road holding is super. Saab has also used a more driver-friendly ESP (Stability Control) set up that isn’t too intrusive, allowing more enthusiastic drivers to use their skills more so than most competitors’ systems would allow.
The Aero looks fast even when stationary. The all new five door exterior features blacked out B and C pillars, plus what Saab calls its (Ice) hockey stick D pillar where you will also find the 93’s most striking exterior highlight, the ‘Ice block’ tail lamps. Two specially tuned exhaust pipes hint at the power under the bonnet while optional 18-inch alloys fill out the wheel arches beautifully.
Available in manual and automatic the auto (with steering wheel buttons) seemed more eager to brake traction. The flagship 93 produces 250bhp (and 350nm of torque) and I don’t have to tell you that that is a lot of power in a front wheel drive car.
If you have ever driven a 156 or 147 Alfa GTA you’ll know it can be fun getting all that power down to the road and tram-lining can be a problem. 0-100km/h takes 6.9 seconds, while overtaking performance is very impressive: 80-120km/h takes a mere 8.3 seconds in fifth gear, that’s faster than a BMW 330i. This is thanks to a brand new turbo design. While it is clearly very capable, when push comes to shove I’d prefer driving the Beemer.
Eight engines make up the range with six petrol and two 1.9 diesels. Sports Estate prices are expected to start from €36,000, roughly a €1,500 premium on the standard 93. So the Saab 93 Sports Estate is practical, good looking and worth a serious look when it reaches our shores later this year.
Michael Sheridan
