First, let me say that I spent the past week in a volvo s60 rental and was psyched to do a back to back comparison with the new 9-3.

The good: the handling was great, much better than the volvo and probably on a line with audi and bmw. The acceleration was OK, but I was expecting more. It was certainly better than the volvo (base engine) and hopefully will be much better in the higher end models. The body looks good, tight and aggressive but slightly bland, better than volvo's for sure. Interior room is nice and on a par with the volvo's.

The bad: the interior is cheap looking--I do not care what others have written. I also compared it to the old 9-3, and the old one has a charm to it that the new one doesn't. Let's hope that the higher end models will look better--too much black plastic everywhere. The seats felt a bit sort, with not enough thigh support. The area around the shifter and between the seats is downright tacky and cheap looking. The volvo's interior was very nice, good leather power seats, nice door trim, great materials on the dash.

All in all, a good job for saab. Hopefully, they will make updates with the coming models years and not try to keep this one fresh for 10 years until the next model. Can't wait to see the vector...

posted by 216.20.11...

• drove 9-3SS yesterday, impressed and disappointed>>, elSaab, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 10:37:43 <-- Viewing This Message
  • Disagree on the interior thing..., AdamB , Tue, 15 Oct 2002 13:32:04
  • Seats..., KeithG, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 11:38:18
  • Re: drove 9-3SS yesterday, impressed and disappointed>>, Bruce, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 11:15:39
    • Re: drove 9-3SS yesterday, impressed and disappointed>>, Steve L, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 17:06:48
      • Yes, the Volvo, Audi, and BMW have cheap looking interi, Richard P., Tue, 15 Oct 2002 21:55:56
      • Re: drove 9-3SS yesterday, impressed and disappointed>>, Bruce, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 18:28:57
    • But is speed everything? >, StanleyB, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 16:34:34
      • Speed is everything and I want to go faster. n/m, Terraplanem, Wed, 16 Oct 2002 14:48:13
    • I don't understand wood either..., Scott Paterson , Tue, 15 Oct 2002 12:40:40
      • Re: I don't understand wood either..., Steve L, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 17:09:33
      • depends..., Jason, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 13:26:01
        • That reminds me ... One sure way to fix DI ..., J, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 13:51:25
          • Re: That reminds me ... One sure way to fix DI ..., jimbobjoe, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 22:21:19
            • uh ..., J, Wed, 16 Oct 2002 00:38:50
            • With a name like jimbobjoe, I would have thought ..., J, Wed, 16 Oct 2002 00:29:21
            • Oh ... you crazy yanks!!! :-) n/m, J, Wed, 16 Oct 2002 00:21:12
        • I did not realize Lexus was a Latin word :-) ..., J, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 13:46:50
      • Re: I don't understand wood either..., Randy Thatcher , Tue, 15 Oct 2002 13:04:18
    • open mind here, elSaab, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 11:47:07
      • Re: open mind here, EW, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 12:36:21
      • Re: open mind here, SaabKen, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 12:25:49
        • It's Give and Take, Though, Dan W, Tue, 15 Oct 2002 15:04:22

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