|
|
|
|
15/04/2011
REVIEW by EWAN KENNEDY
|
|
|
Saab is back from the brink, much to the delight of the enthusiasts of the Swedish marque. People who are very individualistic and passionate not only about their cars but about their lifestyles.
Pilots love Saab cars because of the aircraft heritage of the company. Architects choose Saabs, appreciating them for being different, but practical at the same time, something that’s not always easy to achieve. Artists love the individual shapes Saab has produced over the years. Then there are the people who choose a Saab because they want to avoid what they see as the rut of driving a Merc, Bee Em, Volvo etc, just like everyone else.
Saab belonged to General Motors from 1990 onwards, having been snapped up by the American giant following a period of financial strife. Other marques to suffer the indignity of being taken over by cashed-up American car makers during that crazy period included Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Mazda - and more.
When the American car corporations turned turtle during the GFC they started to unload the smaller car makers to raise fast cash.
After much to-and-fro bargaining by various suitors, Saab now belongs to Spyker, a Dutch marque known for its ultra-expensive supercars, as well as a brief foray into Formula One during 2007.
A new Saab 9-5 has been introduced after a hiatus of too many years, which included a stillborn model that was to have been released about 2004. We were invited to Melbourne to witness the resurgence of Saab in Australian; there we met the new managing director, Stephen Nicholls, and drove the new Saab 9-5.
We are pleased to report that the New Saab 9-5 is a thoroughly modern evolution of the Swedish marque’s styling theme. We especially like the chop-top look, the C-pillar with its slightly reversed flare and the way the windscreen wraps around. While the windscreen shape isn’t as bold as that of the superseded Saab 900, which really did look like it came from an aircraft, it certainly marks this car as being a Saab.
The 21st century 9-5 features the familiar three-port front end with a deep grille and outlying headlights. The latter use what Saab calls an ‘ice-block’ design theme, which is not the flavoured ice-on-a-stick that Aussies are accustomed to, but rather blocks of ice of the type the Swedes use to create sculptures, even whole buildings. The ice-block look is even more noticeable in the rear lights than the front.
Inside, the latest 9-5 retains the wraparound cockpit theme of the previous model, though it’s not quite so aggressively aimed only at the driver. This time around the front passenger won’t feel left out.
The ignition key is no longer on the floor between the front seats, but Saab lovers will be pleased to know that position is now occupied by a start-stop button that works in conjunction with the remote key.
A major mistake of the interior design is that the delightful drink holder that swivels out then expands downwards is missing. May we predict that, following a campaign by enraged Saab owners, this fascinating feature will reappear as part of the first facelift of the Saab 9-5?
This is a big car, being longer than a Commodore or Falcon, though not quite as wide. There good interior space for four adults, with legroom for all. Five can be fitted in, but the rear seat is more suited to three children than grown ups.
At this stage all new Saab 9-5s are sedans, a Combi station wagon will be launched later this year.
Power comes from a choice of three engines, all of them turbocharged. Saab has long been an exponent of forced induction and it’s interesting to see that the rest of the European makers are catching up with Saab in this field. The 9-5 offers a four-cylinder turbo-petrol, four-cylinder turbo-diesel or a V6 turbo-petrol. Interestingly, the latter is a cousin to the Holden V6 engine although it’s no longer being made in the Holden plant in Australia.
The V6 engine on the Saab 9-5 Aero uses an all-wheel drive system as putting 300 horsepower, 224 kW, though the front wheels would have been a tricky task.
Our test drive for this review was rather brief due to the fact that fewer cars were sent to Australia than had been planned. But the 45 minutes we did spend behind the wheel, spread over all three engine, showed the big Swede to have a relaxed, comfortable ride in a quiet cabin and be well able to cope with the rough surfaces of Australian backroads.
Handling is nearly neutral on the front drive cars and the all-wheel drive Aero had the sort of dynamics drivers demand from sports sedans.
Saab sees the main competitors for its new 9-5 as being the Volvo S80, BMW 5 Series, Mercedes E-Class and Audi A6. To get a foothold in the Australian market Saab has priced itself quite a bit below them:
The complete Saab 9-5 range, with prices (excluding dealer and government charges) is:
9-5 TiD4 Vector sedan: $71,900 (automatic)
9-5 Turbo4 Vector sedan: $75,900 (automatic)
9-5 Turbo6 AWD sedan: $94,900 (automatic) |
|
|
|
|
|
Print Article
Submit Feedback
Email This Article
