2006 SAAB 9-3 2.0t review from North America

Nothing has gone wrong with the car, and the maintenance has been free up to now. Have a bumper to bumper warranty until 5 years or 100,000 miles, whatever comes first.

The car has great handling, almost as good as a BMW 3 series (and the best for a front wheel drive car). The car is fun to drive and gives you a good feel for the road, with a little under steer at the limits. If I drive aggressively, only BMWs can keep up, and that is only if the driver is willing to push their car to keep up as the Saab 9-3 is no slouch in the corners.

The turbo lag is nearly non-existent, and is only there for a brief 0.5 seconds from a standing stop, as it picks up speed rapidly after you push the accelerator down. It is nice that this car gets much better gas mileage than the Acura TL I used to own, but has the same acceleration with its turbo 4. In addition, it has been far more reliable as the 2001 Acura TL blew out its transmission at 61,000 miles due to a chronic unit failure that Acura recalled and reimbursed me for (but the car was out for two weeks while the transmission was on back order - I was behind 6 other Acura's waiting for the part).

The Saab is comfortable with good seats and support. The handling comes at a price however as the ride is a little more rough than one would expect, but the trade-off is acceptable in my mind.