Road Test: Saab 9-5 Linear Sedan

By Damien Tomlinson - 8/Nov/2006

Don’t you just love Saab? It’s a quirky Swedish car manufacturer continuing to thrive despite trailing most of its competitors in sales, model range and almost everything else. So how does this happen? Of course, there is the backing of General Motors but, apart from that, the company continues to build endearing cars that are styled well, offer high levels of equipment and, for luxury cars, are genuinely affordable.

The iconic Saab 900 (later the 9-3) gave the first 4-seater luxury convertible to the masses, in the face of much pricier competition from Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The company won friends with its focus on the driver in the early days. The cockpit was focused completely on the driver, much like an aeroplane's cockpit. The iconic wedge-tail look of the early 900 models can still be picked from a mile off, and the handsome 9000, when it arrived, introduced the brand to many more well-heeled drivers who didn't want the same car as everyone else.

Fast-forward to 2006 and Saab's entire range is four cars and the brand is well entrenched in the market. The company's Aero X concept car has attracted a lot of attention on the motor show circuit, and the company is very happily existing in the Australian market.

I tested out the updated 9-5 Linear sedan, the entry-level variant of the flagship model with the new love-it-or-hate-it nose treatment. Sure, it's not for everyone, but it really grew on me during my brief stint behind the wheel. Even as a car enthusiast who can tell what I'm looking at from a distance, a lot of today's cars are beginning to follow a standard theme (Bangle's Beemers aside), so it's nice to be spinning around in something totally different from the norm.

Saab's new look 9-5 is larger than the 9-3 model, and represents a good balance between supple ride and spirited handling, with a decent turbo engine

Engine: Saab 2.3-litre 4-cylinder Turbo (B235E) The transversely mounted inline 4-cylinder petrol engine has a 2.3-litre (2290cc) capacity, with dual overhead camshafts (DOHC) that actuate a total of 16-valves. The fuel injected motor has a 9.3:1 compression ratio and features a turbocharger and air-to-air intercooler to improve torque levels, and has a large 75 litre fuel tank. Claimed Fuel Consumption: 10L/100km (combined) Max Power: 136kW @ 5500rpm Max Torque: 280Nm @ 1800rpm Max Speed: 230km/h 0-100km/h: 9.5 seconds

For this latest update to the flagship vehicle in the Saab range – the final revision before an all-new 9-5 is shipped out – the Scandinavian car company has dropped the Arc model from the line-up and up-specced the base Linear to compensate. This means that even a base-model 9-5 has enough fruit to distinguish 'yours' from the 'others' in the car park at Sunday mass.

Saab also dropped the price by $2,000 to $57,900 (5-speed manual), for which you get a turbocharged 2.3-litre 4-cylinder motor, 16-inch alloys, heated front seats, leather, climate control air conditioning, cruise control, rain-sensing automatic windscreen wipers, ABS, EBD, traction control, ESP and electric windows and mirrors.

The Linear's 136kW turbo donk is not going to set any records, but it will provide enough punch to satisfy most people, and backs it up with respectable consumption of 10L/100km in the 1559kg, 5-speed automatic version. 

It'll hit 100km/h in 9.5 seconds (automatic), which isn't awe-inspiring, but I didn't feel like I was missing out, performance-wise. Perhaps it's the 280Nm of torque @ a low 1800rpm that makes it feel less like a 4-cylinder engine and more like a V6? 

The manual version is far quicker, by more than a second, with a claimed 8.3 seconds 0-100km/h dash.

The engine accelerates truly, and the turbocharger is seamless in its integration into the power delivery. No blow-off Bevan sounds, nor even a whistle, unless you listen hard, but you'll notice the performance change when you stomp your right foot.

Turn-in is better than I would have expected for a heavy-ish car, which is a testament to the Saab's suspension and chassis setup. The brakes are very, very good too. 

The only complaint in the handling department would be that, being a front driver, the Linear tends to push its nose through corners if you're punting hard. Also, the leather buckets could be a little snugger, as I found myself sliding around a bit through the esses.

Comfort wise, the Linear is great. Cocooned in leather and safe-but-drab greys and blacks, there's nothing really to note in either positive or negative columns. That’s probably something you get a lot in entry-level Saabs: there's nothing outstandingly great or outstandingly bad – it just gets the job done with the minimum of fuss.

Don't get me wrong though – this isn’t a bad car. Leather-clad, quiet, luxurious and comfortable, the 9-5 did not disappoint. It's the little things that impress me, like the brilliant engineering of the fold-out cup holder (I’m a coffee-on-the-run connoisseur), the delightful thud of the balanced and nicely sealed doors, the surprising feeling of quality in the switchgear, the roomy, airy cabin and no-fuss performance.

The Linear is also a great cruiser. Make sure you try out the 'Night Panel' switch on the motorway after dark – it switches off all instrument lighting bar the speedo to give your eyes a rest. The 5-speed never seems terribly confused as to which cog to employ, and the power delivery is as good as anything of this size. Many car manufacturers are opting for six, seven and now eight (Lexus) speed ratios in their transmissions, but the fiver in the Saab won't get any complaints from me.

Overall: 3.5/5

I don’t get to drive many base models for Web Wombat, but any reservations I had about steering Saab's latest were dismissed by a great car with excellent engineering underneath. The suspension system gives the car a nice supple feel where it counts, but is adaptable enough to be able to deal with spirited driving if the occasion arises. 

This quirky Swedish car manufacturer may not have the expansive model range of its entrenched European competitors, but Saab has never been a conformist company (even when GM bought it out), and it's good to drive something a little different in today's carbon-copy world of newvehicle design. It may not be to everyone's liking, but it sure does stand out in the crowd. The new look won me over by the time we parted and, all in all, I think it's a fitting finale for what has been a very successful model series for the Swedes.