2006 Saab 9-5

I have patiently been waiting for my new Saab 9-5 sedan for almost four weeks now. When I was looking to purchase, my local dealer was sold out and I made the decision to buy the car just by sitting in a sold vehicle that was awaiting pickup. They wouldn't let me test-drive it. I held off writing this review until I at least test-drove one and that finally happened today.

I did not cancel my order...

The car I test drove and the one I have on order are equipped with a 2.3L 260 h.p. turbocharged high output 4-cyl. engine. My car has an MSRP of $38,015 and I received the GM employee discount (thanks mom), which lowered the price to $34,315. I decided to lease because the end-of-lease residual is so high on this car that you can't beat the lease payment. Plus, GM has a special on the 27-month lease, which makes leasing even more attractive.

The 9-5 is redesigned for 2006 and the front and rear profiles are extremely sharp. The reason I agreed to buy the vehicle without driving it is because I have owned a Saab before (a 2001 Saab 9-3 convertible) and I was confident I would like the ride. I definitely liked the interior, which I did get to check out at the showroom.

Surprisingly, the Saab had much more headroom in the front and the back than the Cadillac CTS, the other car I was seriously looking at. The Saab had enough headroom for me even with the sunroof option, the CTS did not, requiring me to tilt the drivers seat back quite a ways. The rear headroom is adequate in the Saab; I had to tilt my head in the rear of the CTS.

I also liked the heated front AND REAR seats, the rear seat legroom, the 17" inch rims (16" is standard on the CTS) and the three memory front seat controls. I am also a big fan of the Saab black panel button for night driving (it must be the boater in me, too many night sails) and the control layout.

For those of you unfamiliar with the black panel button, it darkens all of the instrument lighting except for the portion of the speedometer you need to see. If you need to be alerted to a problem with the water temperature or oil pressure, it will automatically illuminate just that gauge so you can see it. The idea is to keep distractions in the cockpit to a minimum and save your night vision. I like the fact that SAAB has moved the driving computer readout to the dash from the previous location above the radio in our older SAAB.

The driving computer has distance to empty, trip meter, average fuel mileage, ambient air temperature, fuel consumption, distance to destination, estimated time of arrival, speed warning and an alarm clock, all controlled from the wheel. I guess the alarm clock would come in handy if you pulled into a rest area and wanted to take a short nap.

I also like the redesigned in-dash cup holder. The old one in our 9-3 seemed flimsy and when deployed, positioned the cup right in front of the radio. This new cup holder keeps it to the side. Yes, the cup holders DEPLOY. You push lightly on the cup holder button and the mechanism extends out from the dash and smoothly spins into position - you have to see it to believe it. They put deploying cup holders in the back seat center armrest so now the rear seat passengers can be suitably impressed as well.

The trunk is huge with 37 cubic feet of room before lowering either of the split rear seats. It looks like a golf bag could easily fit sideways right at the back of the trunk but I did not try it. The trunk is 54.3" wide at that point. If you order the vehicle with a NAV system, the golf bag probably won't fit sideways because they have to mount a remote CD Changer in the trunk left rear in order to make room for the display in the dash.

The car I drove has the same engine and the optional $1,395 Sentronic 5-speed automatic transmission with manual shift capability that my car will have. It also had the optional in-dash Navigation system, which my car will not have. Unfortunately, the NAV system was not working in the demo vehicle because the dealer did not have a map disk for our area.

Now for the test-drive. I had the opportunity to mash on the gas when entering the highway and the car hesitated for just a moment and then it was off to the races. I was doing 70 before I knew it and had to slow down. This was with two big guys sitting in the front seat, me and the salesman (sorry John). The salesman said that the very slight hesitation is caused by a delay in the turbocharger and the best performance occurs at mid-RPMs. You have to remember that this is a four-cylinder and will not have the starting performance of a V-8. The good news is I won't be feeding a V-8 during the 98% of the time when I'm driving for basic transportation. I loved the acceleration, performance, braking, steering, etc.

I was not impressed with the "pseudo-manual" shifting mode of the automatic transmission. It hesitated when I selected a shift-up and it shifted down automatically without me hitting the shift-down paddle. The manual shifting is controlled through two thumb-actuated paddles mounted on the steering wheel. Having the shift paddles mounted on the steering wheel made it impossible for me to shift while turning the wheel. Because of these drawbacks, I prefer using the sport button in automatic mode when I want a more exciting ride. It changes the shifting points of the transmission for better acceleration. Using the sport button all of the time will hurt your fuel economy because it prevents the transmission from going into overdrive.

The car I drove and the car I ordered, both have the $1,295 visibility package option. This includes Saab parking assist, rain sensing wipers, Xenon headlamps and auto dimming outer mirrors. I have never owned a car with dimming side view mirrors so that is going to be a treat! The salesman said the Xenon headlights are self-leveling and can attract the attention of passersby when you first turn them on and the lamps seek level. Although the Saab does not have headlight wipers anymore, it does have headlamp washers that extend from their hidden position in the front bumper. I am told the rain sensing wipers are worth the price of admission, but it wasn't raining so I didn't get to see them in action. I did get to try the Saab parking assist though.

At the salesman's urging, I backed up at an angle to a parked car in the lot and he kept urging me to back up more. There is an audible tone that chirps faster and faster until going steady when you are a foot away. Even though I got uncomfortable backing toward the other car, I kept going until the tone went steady. I got out and sure enough, I was a foot away.

After finally getting a chance to drive a 2006 Saab 9-5, I can't wait for my car to arrive. Too bad the boat bringing the cars over from Sweden doesn't have a Saab turbocharged engine...