RUNNING a long distance behind its competitors, Saab now has two significant new technologies with which to attract potential customers – all-wheel drive and a twin-turbo diesel. The two are still to be combined in the one model variant, and AWD (or cross-wheel drive, XWD, as the Swedish brand has termed it) is restricted for the time being to the ultra-limited-edition Turbo X. But our first taste test of both examples has left a strong impression. In particular, the advantages brought with XWD to the ageing 9-3 chassis is nothing short of remarkable.
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Saab 9-3 Viggen
Released: August 1999
Ended: July 2000
Family Tree: 9-3With no twin-turbo diesel or all-wheel drive Saab offered before, it seems natural to refer back to another 9-3 that impressed aficionados of the Swedish brand and carried grand claims of its own: the Viggen – the fastest and most powerful road car Saab had ever built. It had a 2.3-litre turbo four petrol that produced 165kW and 342Nm – quite enough to overwhelm the front-wheel drive chassis when attempting to verify the acceleration claim of 0-100km/h in 6.8 seconds. Now, if it had XWD…
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