Saab cleared for take-off

Saab's 9-3 Viggen shares its name with a jet fighter. That tells you a lot about the car, says DAVID LINKLATER.

One day the people at Saab decided to build an uncompromisingly fast and powerful jet fighter. It had the ability to take off and land on very short runways and exceed Mach 2. They called it the 37 Viggen.

Then the people at Saab decided to build a very fast version of their 9-3 automobile. It had 165kW surging through its front wheels and was dressed in an aerodynamic body kit that reduced lift by 50 per cent and drag by 8 per cent. They called their new car the Viggen, too. Viggen, by the way, is the Swedish word for thunderbolt.

If you happen to be a fighter pilot, then your lightning-quick responses and experience with high-velocity travel will mean that you have little to fear from the Saab 9-3 Viggen. If you happen to be something other than a speed-of-sound superhero, you have every reason to worry.

The Viggen was developed by Saab's Swedish Special Vehicle Operations, working closely with the British-based company Tom Walkinshaw Racing.\\

Both the $91,000 Viggen three-door and the $113,000 convertible are built by Finnish company Valmet, which also assembles the other 9-3 convertible models and the Porsche Boxster.

The delta-shaped badges on the car's front wings are intended to echo the double-v shape formed by the wings of the Viggen jet fighter. The symbol also appears on the door sill covers, engine cam cover and seat backrests.

It's not so much what the 9-3 Viggen does, but how it does it. A Mitsubishi turbocharger helps Saab's normally mild-mannered 2.3-litre four pump out 165kW at 5500rpm and a startling 342Nm of torque all the way from 2500 to 4000rpm.

Upgraded suspension and anti-lock brakes with electronic force distribution underpin the power package.

It's full of promise on paper. But if you've ever wondered just how much power a front-drive car can handle, a drive in the Viggen will help you decide: less than 165kW.

Despite its high outputs, this is no traffic-light racer. Saab claims a startling 0-100km/h time of 6.8 seconds, but any attempt at a fast standing start and the overworked front wheels spin the power away.

Beware wet roads, too. Give the throttle a decent shove in second gear and torque steer takes over, wrenching the nose randomly left or right. Traction control would help, but the Viggen doesn't have it.

The Viggen is really only in its element on the open road, where its spectacular overtaking ability and Saab's legendary cabin comfort come to the fore.

The drive-by-wire throttle and that great wad of torque mean that there is little of the power lag that afflicts many high-performance turbo cars. The stiff suspension does not respond well to rough roads, but the Viggen is always surefooted.

The aircraft-style dashboard is shared with the rest of the 9-3 range, but the Viggen also has some sporty interior touches of its own. There's a carbon fibre-look grey finish on the facia, and black leather trim with contrasting-colour inserts on the special sports seats.

Saab is renowned for its passive safety equipment, and the 9-3 Viggen features driver and passenger front airbags, seat-mounted head and thorax side airbags and the company's active head restraint system, which reduces the chance of whiplash in a rear-end collision.

This is an easy car to criticise as having too much power and too little control. But there is also a certain sense of satisfaction in keeping the Viggen's chassis in check over a winding road. It's an intimidating muscle car of the old school, requiring respect and the occasional bit of arm-twirling. Or a pilot's licence.