Here’s a tour of the Saab 9–3 TurboX XWD you couldn’t buy.

Probably, you’ve never heard of the 9–3 TurboX AWD, or even the brand itself. If you’re a car geek, or have spent at least a few days in Europe, you may have noticed a couple of dull Saabs driving past you while you are less likely to bat another eye at one of these.

However, not all Saabs produced were dull to look at and to drive. This particular model was the flagship trim level of their compact sedan, the 9–3. This version was built for the enthusiasts who didn’t want to roll down the streets in a lesser 9–3 and get mocked by their friends for stealing their grandparent’s Saab.

The 9–3 TurboX XWD was objectively the flagship variant which housed a 2.8 liter V6 turbocharged engine with almost 280 horsepower and 400 nm of torque for a starting price of €37,213 when it was new, back in 2008. This was one of the last few models that marked the beginning of the end of the Saab brand before it was killed off by General Motors a few years later. The current owner of this vehicle has listed this car at a price of around INR nine lakhs. Well, that may seem like a lot when you consider the fact that it’s a 2008 model, for which you may never be able to source parts, even from Europe and if something goes wrong (which isn’t too likely), you’re stranded for at least a few months. On the brighter side, 280 horsepower at this price doesn’t sound like a bad deal, considering that it’s an exclusive model with just around 2000 units allocated worldwide. Quite rare, isn’t it?

Despite being a decade old, it’s timeless design and a lot of “quirks” (I hope Doug DeMuro isn’t reading this, or else he may file a lawsuit against me) are some of the interesting items of the 9–3 TurboX XWD.

The first thing that’ll catch your eye is Saab’s trademark three piece grille. Outlining the grilles are the matte silver bezels that actually blend very well with the black exterior colour. To pay tributes to Saab turbos of yesteryear, the Turbo X comes in just one colour — Jet Black Metallic. Up front, you may be able to see the traditional blue emblem on the bonnet, but it takes a slightly trained eye to notice the other “Saab” which, to me, resembles Chrysler’s grille emblems to some extent.

Not all three grilles are actually grilles. The grilles on either side that join the headlamp are solely for design and all though it looks neat, they do not serve any functional purpose. The European Union mandates the presence of headlamp washers on all cars sold in that region, but the headlamp washers on this one do not sit flush in the bumper. Doesn’t look neat.

In terms of the overall shape, the side profile seems to be a little off proportions. Unpopular opinion — I would have preferred a notchback design over a traditional sedan for added practicality with little to no compromise on the driving dynamics. The windows are a tad too small for the rest of the body and add to the woes, the short rear window with no proper quarter glass makes for a very thick C pillar which does hamper visibility to come extent.

Save for the white tail lamps, the fake diffuser on the rear bumper accompanied with twin exhaust pipes (both of which are specific to the TurboX) add some character to an otherwise bland rear profile.

Saab decided that the “AWD” moniker for the TurboX would be a little too mainstream, so they decided to name their all wheel drive system as “XWD”, which stands for cross wheel drive. In Saab’s PR speak, it is a more advanced version of the regular AWD.

The TurboX came with meaty looking exhaust tips, and yes, these are genuine exhaust pipes and not the fake tips that most German manufacturers stick a loud tip on the bumper and leave the actual pipe in another location itself.

As much as I would have liked a rear wing to compliment it’s performance moniker, I appreciate the fact that Saab wanted to play it safe and add a subtle lip wing to provide a “sleeper” kind of a look.

This has to be one of the most unique alloy wheel designs in the car industry. While it isn’t offensively ugly, it isn’t exactly gorgeous. When viewed from a distance, it may look like a three spoke design, however, it is actually a six spoke design. These silver “V” shaped inserts do a really good job in making the alloy look like it has three thick spokes.

While stepping into the car, you’re greeted with a “TurboX” badging, to remind you that you own something superior after shelling out that extra cash.

By simply taking a glance at the dashboard, it is easy to say that there’s nothing noteworthy in particular to write about, other than the fact that the design itself is driver-centric, which, in other words mean that the centre console has been tilted towards the driver. Although I personally prefer black interiors over beige, the silver outline around the centre console breaks the black monotone of the dashboard and adds some character to an otherwise boring design.

This may look like a single air vent, however, these are actually two separate air vents inside the single piece.

The steering wheel feels great to hold. Leather wrapped with giant thumb contours ensure that the driver’s hands don’t slip off the steering wheel on a track day. As far as the leather wrap adds elegance to the steering wheel, it should have been wrapped in alcantara instead, considering the sporty credentials.

Almost every car with paddle shifters are placed behind the steering wheel. Not in this one. Instead, they are placed above the phone controls (on the left) and volume controls (on the right). As a result, you have to shift between gears using your thumb instead of the other four fingers as you normally would.

In order to save costs, some manufacturers include “MPH” and “KM/H” readings on the speedometer so that they don’t have to change the dials for every market they export the cars to. The 9–3 is one of them. Since this car is presumably built for the UK market (with right hand drive configurations), they decided to print the “MPH” dials on top of “KM/H”, since the UK uses the imperial system. In between the fuel and temperature gauges lies a turbo gauge, which indicates the level of boost as you accelerate.

Although this is the factory infotainment, it looks like it was installed at the local audio shop. The user interface was good for it’s time but obviously outdated by today’s standards. Although the software in a 2008 Saab 9–3 has aged, it still looks futuristic after using the ICE of the Mitsubishi Outlander I reviewed back in September. The touchscreen is fairly responsive, comparable to the iPhone built in that era by 2018 standards.

The Saab 9–3 came with a navigation system, except, there was no navigation system available. The only navigation system available to you was the compass and to access the actual maps, you had to insert a DVD. Thankfully, the ICE has a slot for the AUX, even if it’s slowly becoming redundant and giant smartphone companies are ditching the feature altogether.

Including cruise control buttons on the same stalk as the turn signals is a terrible idea. Although it saves the need of adding an extra stalk and cluttering the steering column, there are some drivers who will accidentally indicate while trying to set the cruise control, or vice a versa.

While I appreciate the placement of this cup holder, on the centre console for easy access, it should have been placed right below the air vents in order to keep the drinks cooler for longer. In it’s closed position, you’d expect it to open straight out.

Instead, the cover twists around, allowing the drink holder to point towards the passenger. That’s a good idea, although the cup holder itself felt flimsy and looked like it would just break apart under excessive load.

As soon as I stepped inside the 9–3, I wanted to start the car. It took me a good two minutes to figure out where the key slot was. In almost every car, the key slot or the button is located somewhere around the steering column. Not in this one. Instead, the key slot is located right in the centre, behind the gear lever, providing the feel of starting a fighter jet perhaps?

This is what you call, attention to detail! Between the “Park” and “Reverse” gears lie a little icon depicting a shoe, and when it’s backlit in orange, it reminds you that it’s time to put your foot on the brake in order to change gears.

That amber light goes off the moment you’ve applied your foot on the brake, reminding you that you are free to change between gears.

Although the front seats provide a healthy amount of side bolstering to hold you in your place while cornering, some bit of alcantara would have been great, owing to its sporty credentials. Although the seats are relatively low slung (despite the driver’s seat being adjustable in height), they provided, a fair amount of under thigh support. The same can’t be said for the rear though.

As mentioned earlier, as much as I prefer black interiors over beige, it would have been nice to add some silver accents on the door panels to break the monotone black. The front door pockets do not have a dedicated slot for one litre water bottles, but it can hold a couple of small to medium items including half litre bottles.

Unfortunately, the rear door panels do not have any pockets, limiting the scope of throwing small items in there.

The rear bench is best suited to four adults. Even a child is not exactly welcome in the middle seat due to its raised height and an extremely large floor hump in order to accommodate the AWD (or rather, XWD in Saab language). That said, the back seats don’t provide enough under thigh support anyway, and on top of that…

…leg room is extremely tight. This is the amount of legroom behind my own driving position. There’s just about a little bit of room to slouch before your knees are buried into the driver’s seatback.

Despite having an armrest where Saab could have easily added cup holders, they made the decision of covering up for the lack of door pockets and adding the cup holders inside the middle seat itself. This means that if there are four passengers, they will have to contemplate on whether they should accommodate the fifth passenger, or their beloved starbucks coffee?

With 494 litres at your disposal and a well shaped cargo area, you can potentially accommodate up to two full sized bags and two medium sized cabin bags, which is perfect for a week of family getaway.

This is one of the rare sedans which give you the option to fold down the seats while standing besides the trunk, simply by pulling the lever for added practicality. While the 9–3 sedan scores well on practicality, I wish they sold the TurboX in a station wagon avatar.

Under the hood lies the 9–3’s flagship engine option, coded as the LP9 which churns out 280 bhp @ 5500 rpm and 400 nm of torque @ a low 2150 rpm with the boost increaed to 11.6 psi. This engine came in various states of tune, depending on the boost and this particular unit has the highest power and torque ratings of all. This engine came with the option of a six speed manual, and a six speed automatic. This particular car had the automatic version. Sadly, the Swedish manufacturer had reportedly cancelled the production of it’s flagship engine in 2010.

The engine cold starts into life with an extremely loud growl, before settling down to a softer growl after two minutes.

Although peak torque comes at a low 2150 rpm, it doesn’t translate into good city drivability. The high boost means there’s a lot of turbo lag at extremely low rpms, but the addictive turbo kick coupled to the all wheel drive (or rather, cross wheel drive) help the TurboX propel from 0–100 km/h in just under six seconds for the manual and just over six seconds for the automatic.

While accelerating from a standstill, the 9–3 and it’s 1770 kilograms may feel a little sluggish but still, acceleration till 100 is brisk and linear and the rate of acceleration remains constant due to the healthy amount of torque available from 2150 rpm, meaning, the flagship engine does not run out of breath. Unfortunately, road restrictions did not let me cross 110 km/h.

At city speeds, the steering was slightly heavier than I would have preferred, which is expected since this is a sporty sedan and not an economy hatchback. While it doesn’t require two hands to turn the wheel, it cannot be turned with one finger either.

There’s always a trade off between ride and handling. Those 19" rims, coupled with stiffened suspension are perfect recipes for a harsh and punishing ride quality, especially over uneven surfaces around the dockyard roads in Mumbai. On a lighter note, the XWD and the eLSD have masked the understeer-y trait of FWDs effectively. At high speeds, especially triple digit speeds, the steering weighs up extremely well and provides a lot of feedback as well.

Braking capabilities are top notch. Even at triple digit speeds, a slight tap on the brakes managed to shed off some serious amount of speed without any drama. Due to the stiff suspension, nosedive is nearly absent and hence, heavy braking does not feel as dramatic from inside as it looks from outside.

So, should you buy this Saab 9–3?
The answer is actually quite subjective.
The owner wants to sell this car at a price of INR 9 lakhs. This car would have cost over 65 lakhs (including import duties) had it been on sale in India, and considering the performance on tap, this is actually a good deal, especially if you’re looking to buy something a bit more exclusive than the traditional Germans. In international markets, there are a lot more options with better badges than a Saab for the same money, but in India, this vehicle boasts exclusivity. If you’re willing to see it at the garage for a few months every year due to spares unavailability, go ahead with it.