Saab hath charms to soothe

Years ago, a disgruntled physician musician put out a CD with a song entitled Saab Story. He was not a happy man.

I think Su Chong Lim would be singing a different tune were the current 9-3 Aero XWD his first experience with the Swedish automaker.

I know I found myself whistling a happy tune as I hummed around the country side in a bright red test car provided by GM Canada.

I like things a little on the quirky side…and there’s no doubt Saab still carries quirkiness as a badge of honour despite a major facelift for 2008 that gives the 9-3 a more aggressive look. It has new fenders, headlights, bumpers and fog lights, big wheels, dual exhausts and a sporty attitude.

It may not be as odd as in the past, but Saab still marches to a different drummer in an elegant style.

So now it’s time for a Saab-atical, to catch a little Aero time – 9-3 style.

Everything on the inside is in its proper space, too. Although not as beautiful as in some other cars, the Saab gauges are easily legible and switches fall readily to hand. At night, you can use the night panel button to turn off lighting for all but essential gauges. If anything should need your attention, it will come to “life.”

Oh, yeah, and the quirkiness prevails…the ignition switch is still in the console.

I love the interior of this car. The leather sport bucket seats are among the best in the business – supportive, welcoming and heated.

Saab answers the question: “when is an AWD system not an AWD system?” When it’s Cross-Wheel Drive or, as the badge on the trunk lid calls it: XWD.

Whatever you call it, the Haldex system works beautifully in the real world, maintaining stability in corners and straight-ahead tracking even when the surface is rough. It distributes torque between front and rear axles as well as right and left wheels using computer-controlled centre and rear differentials.

Let me put it this way: it works.

Opting for the XWD package brings more musicians to the rev band as the 2.8L turbocharged V6 under the hood gets more boost which lifts horsepower from 255 to 280.

That addition makes this engine a delight to push. Stomping on the go-pedal brings a satisfying leap and the 273 “torques” pull strongly through that rev band as the optional six-speed transmission doesn’t move to the next gear until it’s milked every bit of the torque available.

That brings me to the only real discordant note in this otherwise finely-tuned package – the manual mode of the Sentronic automatic.

We just couldn’t find ourselves playing on the same song sheet. It wanted me to play second fiddle in our street dance…I wanted to determine the step but it was a losing battle to keep the thing in a particular gear. If I wanted fourth, it would downshift to third, for instance and there’s no way I could keep it there without going faster.

I gave up on it and left the selector in “D.”

Once the car had established who was the shift boss, it exhibited no more tendencies to go solo and we proceeded to make beautiful music together.

The engine has a fine voice as it responds quickly to driver directions.

Not much has been changed with the car’s suspension for 2008, but that’s not a bad thing.

This is a sedan with plenty of room for a quartet and the cavernous trunk space to tote their instruments. And everything rides in comfort surrounded by Saab’s renowned safety structure.

The rear seat is a 60/40 split folding affair with seatbacks released by easy-to-access handles on the top edge of the trunk cavity. If you just need to carry long items, like skis or an oboe, there’s a centre pass-through to handle the job.

The cabin is quiet and comfortable providing a suitable concert hall for listening to the music generated by the 11-speaker Bose audio system.

Should you get too involved in just enjoying the music of audio and engine and lose track of where exactly you are, the optional navigation system will show you the way to go home.

The whole package can play with your emotions. I could spend hours and hours behind the wheel of this Saab.

It’s unique and it’s also very well done.