| A Week at the Wheel | Bucks, England | Saab 9-3 Convertible Vector 1.9 TiD |
It's always been a paradox that, despite our weather, the UK convertible market is the largest in the whole of Europe. The prestige end of the market makes up a heavy proportion of those sales. While
BMW 3 Series and
Audi A4 Cabriolets abound, they are relative newcomers to the market. The Saab 9-3 Convertible (and before that the 900) has been with us much longer than the German pair and makes an intriguing alternative.
Our test car was the 1.9-litre 150ps (148bhp) diesel version, one of five alternative power plants (but the only diesel in the range), and along with the 1.8-litre turbocharged petrol option, the least powerful. But of course, diesel means torque, in this case 236lb.ft where the petrol alternative can only muster 177lb.ft. This means that the 0-60mph figure is identical for both diesel and petrol models (ten seconds dead), top speed is all but identical (124 vs. 127mph), but in-gear acceleration is advantage diesel, and isn't it just. The 50-70mph time in fifth, a normal overtaking manoeuvre, takes just 8.7 seconds in the diesel Saab, and 13.4 seconds in the petrol one. So the diesel is going to be the more relaxed way to travel at a decent pace.
Relaxed - that's a good word for the Saab 9-3 Convertible. It's no sports car; everything about it whispers "relaxed". The torquey diesel engine is fairly quiet and the Saab just wafts along with little effort. Roof up, refinement levels would have you believe this was a closed car. In fact, if you were placed into the Saab blindfolded, then allowed to see from the inside only, the only giveaway that this is a soft-top car is the roof release switch. The headlining looks like it's attached to a proper roof. Wind noise is low and rigidity (three times as stiff as the previous 9-3 Convertible apparently) is exemplary.
Imagine a cardboard box; push it around a bit and it's fairly resistant to movement or distortion. Cut the top off and try again - the topless box flops all over the place. And so it tends to be with convertible cars; a floppiness which manifests itself in creaks and groans, shudders from the windscreen area and rattles. And when I first drove the Saab with the roof down I suspected this was just more of the same as the driver's window glass rattled away. Then I realised it wasn't fully up - what a difference. I am happy to report that during a week of looking for structural weakness, of driving fast along pot-holed country lanes, even a drive down a farm track, not once did I notice any evidence the Saab's roof had been cut off. Quite simply it's the most structurally sound soft-top I've ever driven - and that includes brands at the very top end of the price scale.
This stiffness also translates well into high levels of safety. Yes, the Swedes take safety even more seriously than most, but the Saab 9-3 Convertible was the first ever convertible to score the full five stars for occupant protection in the benchmark Euro NCAP safety tests. In day to day terms, all this stiffness means a car that doesn't creak and groan, and does handle rather better than you might think. On consecutive days I took the Saab and the
Maserati Quattroporte we tested along the same journey home from the Rockingham International Speedway, some 80 miles, all cross country with no motorway at all. The Saab wasn't as quick between the corners, but there wasn't much difference in cornering speed itself between the two, and I'd swear the Saab was the more relaxing of the two to drive on this type of journey.
There are compromises; there always are with convertibles. The Saab 9-3 Convertible is only a four-seater. The hood well robs valuable width from the rear seating area so only two rear passengers are catered for. And the hood folds down into the boot. It's not a folding hardtop so thankfully there is some boot space left over, but top down, part of the boot area is partitioned off and you cannot use this for luggage. Of course, top up, all the boot area is available, but then why did you buy a soft-top?
For all this, the inside is some place to be. The Vector grade Saab 9-3 comes with a full leather interior, the fronts seats all electric in adjustment so anyone can find that correct driving position. The seats themselves are like favourite armchairs to sit in, yet still offer sufficient side-to-side support when driving in a more spirited fashion. In the back, there were no complaints from rear seat passengers who even reported that top down, wind levels were lower than is usual in this type of car. The rear headrests are cleverly designed with fairings to the rear, like a '50s race car, and look very stylish. They also incorporate what Saab refers to as "DynaCage", which you and I call pop-up roll bars.
At the end of the week, it was quite difficult to give the Saab back. While not the fastest car around, it had excelled in areas that are important on a daily basis. In addition, our light blue car looked simply stunning in the metal, and being a diesel we got over 500 miles from a tank of fuel, averaging around 45mpg. My only misgiving was the price. The base price for this car is £28,565, but our car also had a few extras such as metallic paint (£500), Electronic Stability Program (£350), Convenience Pack (£1300 - comprises comfort opening hood and windows, rain sensing wipers, dual electric seats with memory for the driver, auto-dimming mirrors and folding door mirrors), Bluetooth phone kit (£600), Saab colour satnav with 10 speaker audio system, voice recognition (£1,830 and worth every penny, quite simply the best satnav I've found yet) and rear parking sensors (£300). Hard to give most of those up, but now our car costs £33,425 and that's a serious chunk of money. At least the Saab looks and feels every bit worth it.
2006-2007 Saab 9-3 Convertible range overview
| Model | UK (£ on-the-road) | Ireland: (€ on-the-road) |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Linear 1.8t 150 bhp | £25,585 | €51,410 |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Linear 1.8t 150 bhp Anniversary | £25,585 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Linear 1.9TiD 150 bhp | £26,035 | €53,240 |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Linear 1.9TiD 150 bhp Anniversary | £26,035 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Linear 1.8t BioPower 150 bhp Linear | £26,170 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Linear 1.8t BioPower 150 bhp Linear Anniversary | £26,170 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Linear 2.0t 175 bhp | £27,100 | €52,930 |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Linear 2.0t 175 bhp Anniversary | £27,100 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Vector 1.8t 150 bhp | £28,115 | €57,760 |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Vector 1.8t 150 bhp Anniversary | £28,115 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Vector 1.9TiD 150 bhp | £28,565 | €59,580 |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Vector 1.9TiD 150 bhp Anniversary | £28,565 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Vector 1.8t BioPower 150 bhp Vector | £28,700 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Vector 1.8t BioPower 150 bhp Vector Anniversary | £28,700 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Vector 2.0t 175 bhp | £29,330 | €59,330 |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Vector 2.0t 175 bhp Anniversary | £29,330 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Aero 2.0T 210 bhp | £31,550 | €67,755 |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Aero 2.0T 210 bhp Anniversary | £31,550 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Aero 2.8V6 | £33,980 | n/a |
| Saab 9-3 Convertible Aero 2.8V6 Anniversary | £33,980 | n/a |
