Saab Brings its Fighter-Jet Experience to 9-3 Viggen
By Ben Miller
Contributing Editor
When you think of your typical Saab
owner, the stereotype is a bearded, bespectacled university professor-type
whose idea of a good time is hanging out at the local bookstore.
Saab has a reputation for building extremely safe cars but the
cars aren't known for their sportiness.
Last year, Saab attempted to change all that with the introduction
of the 9-3 Viggen Coupe. The Viggen is built on the company's
9-3 car platform, but then the company let its Swedish engineers
have some fun, and the result is one of the fastest and most fun
front-wheel-drive cars on the planet.
This year, Saab is
adding a convertible and a sedan to the Viggen lineup. It's a
limited-production model and the company is only sending over
1,000 Viggen models to the United States this year (the company
sells about 40,000 total Saab models annually in this country).
The Viggen isn't a Swede who doesn't eat meat; the car is named
after the jet fighter that Saab also makes (that's the plane in
the accompanying photograph).
The highlight of the car has to
be it's performance. The Viggen is powered by a 230-horsepower,
2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine.
You punch the gas pedal and the Viggen delivers jet-like acceleration;
you're not going to believe that you're behind the wheel of a
Saab. Despite the enormous amount of power, gas mileage is very
respectable; the car's EPA mileage is rated at 29 miles per gallon
on the highway and 20 in the city (a combined test registered
23.5 miles per gallon).
Saab's engineers turned the standard 9-3 into a special Viggen
model by stiffening the car's suspension, putting larger and "Z"-speed
tires on the car, and by installing bigger and better brakes.
The car's amazing stopping power was illustrated this week on
a darkened road where three deer decided to hold a conference
at the road's center stripe. The Viggen, to use a tired old expression,
"stopped on a dime" from 30 miles per hour to let the
deer finish their discussion before they safely headed back into
the woods.
Inside, the Viggen has some special and unique styling touches.
The blue and black leather seats are accented with delta-wing
emblems (if you look closely at the photo, you can see that the
Saab jet fighter is a delta-wing airplane). And there are other
jet fighter touches as well, including a switch that turns off
all dashboard illumination at night except the speedometer (apparently,
there is similar instrumentation in Saab's jets).
And this is a Saab, so you know it's going to be a safe ride.
There are dual front airbags, dual side airbags, and a side pillar
impact protection system. Saab says it has investigated more than
5,000 accidents involving its cars in Sweden since 1972. The company
said it also conducts simulated crashes with its cars and other
objects including cars, trucks, and "dummy moose(!)."
The 2000 Saab 9-3 Viggen best turns heads when it's painted in
a scheme called "lightening blue" (a $350 option). That's
about all that was added to a test car's $37,750 sticker price.
With destination charge, the total was $38,675.
There's not much to complain about the 9-3 Viggen Coupe, other
than that humans will find the back seat very difficult to reach.
The new sedan might be better for those who actually carry human
back seat passengers.
If you're thinking that Saab's image is way too stodgy, you should
get behind the wheel of a 9-3 Viggen.
