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I have however thoroughly tested all versions of the 9-3, 9-3SE with manual and auto, and Viggen with manual only. My opinion is that the SE has plenty of balls, certainly for the daily commute. If you're happy with the power of the 185hp 9-5 Linear wagon, you should be more than pleased by that of the 205hp, lighter 9-3 SE. The 9-3SE and 9-5 Linear offer basically the same in the torque department, except I think the 9-5 gets max torque a bit lower. Again, the 9-3 is lighter though, so you'll feel it more.
If you want the cargo room, of course the wagon will be better. But I like the 5dr 9-3 because it has great cargo capacity without looking like a wagon (yuck!) Therefore I can still have a semi-sporty looking car while having much of the utility of the wagon. This is why I like Saabs in the first place...good compromise. That said, some say the 9-5 is a much more refined car than the 9-3. The major difference I see is that the 9-5 has truly independent 4-wheel suspension, whereas the 9-3 is semi-independent in the back. Drive both, decide for yourself.
My opinion of the Viggen (and many here would disagree I'm sure) is that it's too much power for the rest of the car. Don't get me wrong, I loved the extra "oomph" of the 2.3L turbo versus the 2.0L SE, but I felt that generally the rest of the car wasn't adequately engineered to compensate for the extra power. You hear all the time here about the VRK "Viggen Rescue Kit" to fix some of the torque steer issues, among other things, in the Viggen. I think 230 horse is a little too much to try to send through the front wheels of the 9-3, and to me it shows when I drive the car. Thus I wouldn't spend the extra cash on a Viggen. A Saab, in my opinion, is a compromise car. It's not a pure sports car, and I don't think it should try to be. The Viggen tries too hard for my taste. (cool name though, I know what you mean by being tempted). Also the 17" wheels, while they look very cool, are obviously more likely to be bent if you see bad roads (I do in Houston). Combined with extra insurance and finance cost, yada yada, I'm not a fan of the Viggen.
9-3SE can be had for good deals right now. You'll have a lot of trouble finding a 5spd (ask me how I know), but if an auto makes you happy, you'll have no trouble getting what you want for a very good price. I was actually very impressed by the auto. Especially with sport mode, it's good fun. I'm just a 5spd snob :-)
Good luck!
'Roo
posted by 128.42.176...
, Sat, 22 Jun 2002 20:57:54
, Sat, 22 Jun 2002 16:09:52
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