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2004 Saab 9-3 Compact Near Luxury Convertible
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Interior Styling
The 2004 Saab 9-3 Convertible's interior design began with the driver. They call this Driver Focused design. What they mean is that they want the driver to feel connected to the vehicle, and ready for a twisty road at any time (even if you're stuck in traffic.) The idea is to be able to do something fun when possible.
The dashboard has the feel of an airplane cockpit. It wraps around the driver, then downward, forming the center console. The controls are angled so the driver can see them easily.
The Saab Information Display is on the top of the dashboard, just below the windshield. The display provides information about the entertainment, heating and air conditioning systems, and the trip computer data. These controls are all conveniently placed for front passenger use, rather than the driver.
The 2004 Saab 9-3 Convertible has always had good supportive seats, a necessity in sporty cars. These seats were specially designed for this product. They have seat-integrated belts. When the front seats are folded forward for second row access, there is no belt to get in the way of the person climbing into the back seat.
The driver and front passenger have a good amount of seat bolstering to keep them in place during spirited driving. However Saab front seats are wide enough so most people, regardless of size, will be comfortable on long drives. The rear seats are smaller and comfortable for most with the exception of someone over 6' tall. They probably won't be comfortable in the second row on a long ride.
Leather seating surfaces are standard. The entry-level accessory package called Linear has cloth door panels. The luxury Arc, and sportier Vector packages both have leather door inserts.
The roof features Saab's CargoSET self-expanding trunk. When the roof is closed you have access to the entire trunk for cargo. When the roof is open a hard cover automatically separates the it from the remaining cargo area.
Engine Performance
There are two engine options for the 2004 Saab 9-3 Convertible. Both are 2.0-liter, 16-valve, 4-cylinder, turbocharged engines. The 2.0T, a light-pressure turbo, generates 175-horespower and 195 lb-ft of torque. The 9-3 2.0T, a high-pressure turbo, provides an additional 35-horspower for a total of 210, with 221 lb-ft of torque. We recommend the 210-horsepower, 9-3 2.0T, not just because it's fun for racing around, but because it provides very good overall performance.
We liked the performance of the 9-3 with the 2-liter turbo. However it would be nice to have a little more horsepower, and low-end torque. At one point on our test drive we stopped next to a truck we wanted to pass. When both of us began to move again, we accelerated hard, dueling for first place. The truck almost beat us! Given that we were headed uphill we felt we could have used a little more grunt (power) to get moving.
Saab recently showed a 9-3 Sport-Hatch concept car at the Frankfurt auto show with a 250-horsepower engine. That engine would provide the perfect horsepower for the convertible - hint, hint Saab -- it needs to find its way into the other 9-3s.
Two transmissions are offered: a Sentronic 5-speed automatic, or a 6-speed manual. If you choose the Sentronic you can still change gears yourself. But if you want more fun, get the 9-3 with the optional steering-wheel-mounted gear change controls. That's a really cool feature.
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