SAAB’s refreshed 9-3 will receive all wheel drive, SAAB USA General Manager Steve Shannon told The Detroit Free Press. The all wheel drive option will be made available a few months after the launch of the overhauled 9-3.
The refreshed 9-3 will also received some new sheet metal to bring the car into line with the design scheme first presented by the Aero-X concept. The 2008 SAAB 9-3 will also bring back the traditional SAAB clamshell hood which was first seen on the 1967 SAAB 99.
The car will still feature a sedan, wagon and convertible, and will go on sale in September of 2007. Shannon said he believes sales of the wagon should improve as people who would traditionally shop for SUV’s may want a more fuel efficient option. The sedan and wagon both offer turbocharged power trains that get 30 miles per gallon.
Other changes include an upgraded sound system, Xenon cornering headlights, a more powerful 255 horsepower engine for the 9-3 Aero and the gray leather option has been replaced with a black leather option. Pricing is expected remain largely the same.
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05/22, 3:21 PM
posted by:
400horseSS
i like it dont volvo’s have all wheel drive too its a real good looking car
05/22, 3:23 PM
posted by:
LP640
i like the 9-3 but not the 9-5
05/22, 3:37 PM
posted by:
Fromes
All wheel Drive should make Saab a more legit competior for the likes of Volvo and Audi, now just bring on the 300 plus horse power version of the 9-3 already
05/22, 3:42 PM
posted by:
PrimeGTP
The 9-3 sedan is growing on me. Now equip it with the 3.6L DI engine, and then add a Audi-competing turbocharged version of THAT, and I would give it an A+. Sadly, I think the 9-3 is doomed to remain underpowered.
05/22, 4:25 PM
posted by:
jonnycat
I like it, I like it a lot.
05/22, 5:05 PM
posted by:
youngm7
Hopefully the AWD will trickle down to the Malibu/Aura/G6, if the G6 stays FWD.
And by trickle, I mean get there fast.
05/22, 5:06 PM
posted by:
drivingisfun
AWD is a step in the right direction, but wouldn’t it also be nice to get a completely reskinned 9-5 and 9-3, and why not create a 2 car/1 crossover lineup with a smaller sedan/coupe to compete with the 3/A4/C-class; a mid-sized one to compete with the 5/A6/E-class; and a 9-3 based crossover to compete with the X3/RDX etc. This would make Saab great again.
05/22, 7:25 PM
posted by:
The 9-3 sedan has defenitely grown on me as well, before the 3rd generation, I did’nt even know Saab exhisted, what an improvement from Saab….
05/23, 4:25 AM
posted by:
Veda
Same crappy interior? Why bother….
05/23, 9:33 AM
posted by:
Get Real
All 3,768 Saab owners are happy.
For the rest of the country, it doesn’t matter.
05/23, 12:06 PM
posted by:
GarbageMotorsCo
Isn’t that figure just a bit optimistic? I bet 3000 of those are from Enterprise rental. Saab has less market prescence than Suzuki, as mentioned above, America has pretty much forgotten about the brand.
Waste of what little resources GM had in the first place. The time and money could have been spent on much more imprortant things than a failed brand that has essentially been left to die for the past 15 years that GM owned them. Why bother now?
05/23, 11:49 PM
posted by:
Sharif
Saab is interesting in a stupid kind of way. Everyone knows how different car brands have their little trademark thing, an example would be Lamborghini and their doors. In Saab’s case, they choose to have an outstandingly ugly grill as their trademark. It’s not that they don’t know how to make good looking cars, they just thought it would be smarter not to. They figured that if their products were ugly it would boost sales. This is some sort of high logic which is completely beyond me, which is probably why i don’t qualify to work for Saab.
05/24, 7:12 AM
posted by:
GarbageMotorsCo
They’re ugly, they’re unreliable (Bottom of the barrel in CR and JD) but hey, you get that key between the seats! So popular, nobody has ever tried to duplicate it lol.
Why doesn’t GM just throw a couple of more rebadged Chevrolets at the brand and be done with it. That should milk them along for at least another decade…
05/30, 3:07 AM
posted by:
Shaddow
A mate once commented that the key seems to get further and further back in SAABs and eventually it will be in the boot.
I Think SAAB has come a long way in looks and AWD shall really help make it so much more sellable and another good option on the market.