Saab 9-5 Linear sedan 2006 Review

The entry Saab 9-5 Linear is one of those cars that defies pigeon-holing. On paper it appears to be a Mitsubishi 380 or Nissan Maxima alternative that is $20,000 overpriced. Yet a short drive will confirm that the hefty premium money worth spending…

I have steered several buyers towards the Saab 9-5, all of whom keep coming back for the next one, a trend now entrenched in Saab’s own sales data. It has one of the highest, if not the highest repeat buying figures in the business and the focus of the latest upgrade is intended to keep it that way. The 9-5 Linear has the low-pressure turbo version of Saab’s family 2.3-litre petrol engine pumping out 136kW and 280Nm with remarkable ease. It can run on basic unleaded but does better on premium unleaded.

It reflects Saab’s enormous investment in getting the most out of a four-cylinder engine in a big car when it has the punch and smoothness of a medium-sized six and the economy of a four. In fact, it is the easy-going and frugal nature of the engine that is the big surprise in a 1559kg family car that can match the big locals in interior comfort and boot space.

Saab made some major drivetrain and chassis changes to the 9-5 that lifts it out of reach of cheaper alternatives. The substantial perimeter sub-frame, de-coupled strut mounts, offset springs and dampers, clever anti-roll bar mounting and multi-stage bump stops transform it. At the rear, there are ball joints, voided bushes, wider track, extra damping capacity and a host of other tweaks that allowed Saab to back off the spring rates without losing any handling precision.

The ability of this car to maintain highway speeds on broken bitumen or corrugated gravel has to be experienced to be believed. It is refreshing to discover a current European car that will maintain its edge in dynamics on all Australian roads, not just billiard smooth freeways.

Where the previous 9-5 would reach the limits of its suspension travel with a jolt, this one has a magic carpet ride. A big factor is the relatively high profile 16-inch alloy wheel and tyre combination backed by a full-sized steel spare. The turning circle of 11.2m wouldn’t want to be any bigger, though.

The test coincided with the discovery of a 50-year rural cache of early 1900s motoring magazines which filled the large boot and then some thanks to the fold down back seats.

Despite the load, the 9-5 sat level and was unfazed by the rough rural roads on the way out. There is a genuine big car feel in the way it sits on the road.

The heated front seats are generous even for large Australians and there is lounging room in the back. Saab’s combined fuel economy figure of 10lt/100km seems optimistic at first but that’s exactly what you can expect when I managed a 9lt/100km figure fully laden on the rural trip.

A key to the updated 9-5’s appeal is a five-speed auto that can be operated manually by paddles on the steering wheel. Occasionally you lose track of them in tight corners but it soon becomes intuitive.

The usual Saab dash approach is starting to look a little too familiar despite a major freshen-up but you can’t argue with its effectiveness. Dual climate control, rear armrest with storage and cup holders, push button retractable rear headrests, simple controls, airbags everywhere, electronic stability control, leather, wood cabin trim, outstanding headlights, traction control and rain sensing wipers are just some of the many features that remind you it’s a prestige model.

The 9-5’s new look prompted plenty of comments, mostly positive about how Saab’s bold new front provides a link to the old. However, the old upright roofline gives the game away even if it does provide better vision and more rear headroom than swoopier, more recent rivals.

The back looks like a disjointed Picasso. The bootlid is such a mismatch with what is happening around it that if it came back from a repair looking that way you would ask if the right panel had been ordered. It is an attempt to introduce some quirkiness to what is still a conservative profile.

It doesn’t work but there is a 9-5 Sports Estate (read: wagon) if it matters.

View the Saab 9-5 as a more sophisticated Camry/Accord/Maxima with some character and benchmark safety and you get a sense of why Saab sales are climbing globally. It does the job, efficiently and effectively to the point where you can focus on other things that matter.

That said, buyers need to be conscious that the 9-5’s price premium could become a depreciation issue as the kilometres mount up. The used market traditionally benchmarks large used front-drive prestige models from Europe and Japan against the excellent top shelf local offerings from Toyota and Mitsubishi --as well as the increasingly appealing Nissan Maxima and Mazda6 Luxury Sports that cost around $40,000 new.

The new Saab 9-5 is similar to the VZ Commodore in so much as it is based on a model that has been around since 1997. Saab would be hoping that the extensive exterior and under the skin changes will lift it clear of its sub-$20,000 9-5 used predecessors at the same time that the hefty running costs of earlier Saabs are relegated to history.