2007 Saab 9-3 Sport-Combi Road Test

2007 Saab 9-3 Sport-Combi Road Test

A nice Swedish number

By Kevin 'Crash' Corrigan

Some folks imagine that the life of auto journalists is just one level lower than that of rock stars. Believe me, if that were the case, I'd be owning the cars, rather than just driving them. However, now and again, we have our fun moments. In fact, recently I did a Rod Stewart routine, and spent a rather pleasant week enjoying the company of a sporty little Swedish number!

Now, before you grab the phone and call me asking for colossal amounts of cash not to tell my wife, you can put that idea right out of your mind.

You see, I'm a car guy through and through, a truly dedicated automotive professional, so I'm not talking of some beautiful long-legged blonde from that famed land of, well, 'beautiful long-legged blondes,' I suppose. Oh no! I'm talking about what is, without a doubt, the second most important -- no, wait a minute -- it's probably the third most important Swedish number (after all, there was ABBA!).

Look, don't give me that “I never really liked or listened to them #*#@. We all say that, especially us guys, but when their songs come on the radio and there's no one around, we can sing along to every single word -- true or not?

OK! Back to the THIRD most important export to come out of Sweden, the Swedish motor car industry, and in particular, the 2007 Saab 9-3 Sport-Combi with the Aero package.

I've never personally owned a Saab, although I've purchased and driven a number over the years. Ok! That makes me sound like I've lost the plot, or even my marbles, but no. You see, I spent a number of years wholesaling vehicles, auction to auction, in the U.K., and so although I did technically own them, often it was only for a day or two until they were sold.

2007 Saab 9-3 Sport-Combi with Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan in background.

That kind of work often requires travelling from one end of the country to the other so you need to buy reliable vehicles, and in all that time, I don't recall a Saab ever letting me down.

To me, they have always been like a good brand of clothing. When you find a company that makes a good product, you don't want them trying to reinvent themselves every five minutes. Naturally, they should keep up to date with modern advancements, but you also want that familiar 'quality and feel.'

This is something which Saab does very well. Yes, some of their ideas might be somewhat peculiar, like the famous ignition key between the seats. Now think about that! Nobody has ever copied them, and every owner knows exactly where to find it, as it never changes.

There is something quite comforting about this, and when I first clapped eyes on the '07 Saab Sport-Combi, I knew that in the world of Saab, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

The exterior carries the traditional Saab family resemblance. In fact, if you lined up a bunch of Saab models from the past few decades, the photo would look something like the one residing on many family sideboards.

Yes, there's a linage showing, which goes back generations. Obviously, your great-grandmother didn't wear miniskirts and your grandfather didn't sport purple spiked hair (at least, I hope not!), but the familiar family features are still nevertheless there.

Of course, we're talking 2007 now, and the days of Saabs being the quintessential driving domain of Professor Plum and his ilk are long gone. The modern Saab has 17-inch wheels sporting high-performance tires and a front spoiler which literally hugs the tarmac. The name Saab might not cut much mustard at a sport-tuner meet, but I can tell you, on the road, it gets its fair share of admiring glances.

Now we come to the interior, which welcomed me in like an old friend. The dashboard is still angled towards the driver. The key in my right hand fell immediately to the ignition switch between the seats, and the buttons and controls all felt natural.

Obviously, Saab has added a few more goodies and refinements over the years to keep in line with the market demands for luxury features, but the company has retained that Saab-like 'sensible approach' to this. Basically, the 9-3 Sport-Combi has everything you need, a few things which are nice to have, and very few useless gimmicks.

Now although the Saab cockpit appears to be a nice place to reside in, and has pleasant surprises like satellite radio, that radio is mounted in what can only be described as a rather hard shell (note to GM: soft-touch is IN, I want to caress a dashboard, not drum along with ABBA on it!). By the way, in case you're not up to speed, Saab is now owned by North America's General Motors.

However, they make up for this by giving us a steering wheel that is simply gorgeous. It is nicely leather bound, with silver inserts that resemble the flight stick controls of an airplane. Only Saab, with its aeronautical background, could have made that work.

Seating in the Sport-Combi certainly lives up to its name as it is form hugging, yet extremely comfortable. Legroom in the rear is about average for this type of vehicle, and besides, anyone 7 ft tall is probably playing big-time basketball and driving around in a pimped-out Cadillac Escalade.

Cargo Carrying Capacity (C.C.C. -- don't you just love these abbreviations -- it sounds like I'm ordering coffee on a cold winter morning). Anyway, back to the story ... the Sport-Combi offers reasonable luggage space (L.S.). Obviously, the stylish sloping lines of the vehicle cut into this somewhat, but I think it would work rather well for most families.

The Saab 9-3 Sport-Combi comes as standard with the 2.0 L i-4 engine and a six-speed manual, but as my tester carried the Aero Touring package, it was equipped with the larger 2.8 L V-6 turbo engine which produces 250 hp. The six-speed autobox option had also been added, complete with a nudge-up, nudge-down feature.

Performance can only be described as exhilarating, and although it occasionally suffers from a little lag, when the power comes on, it comes on!

Handling is what I would term spot-on, and to be honest, although Saabs have always had a fair reputation for handling, I have to say that this one actually surpassed my expectations.

The premium, mid-sized wagon segment of the market is a hot area at the moment, and the competition is fierce. Competing with the likes of the Audi/VW, Volvo and maybe even BMW is not an easy task for any manufacturer, but I think that GM is on a solid footing with the Saab brand.

For anyone looking for a vehicle that is sporty yet versatile, I'd suggest a trip down to your local Saab dealer to catch an eyeful of this little Swedish number.

Kevin 'Crash' Corrigan is a regular contributor to CarTest!. He is based in Caledon, Ont., and can be reached at crash@crashcorrigan.ca.

Posted June 6, 2021

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