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With comfy seats and exuberant performance, Dr Peter Swinyard was impressed with the Saab 9-3 sport saloon
I saw it through the window. Sitting in the car park outside my surgery, gleaming. I wondered down the corridor and met the delivery driver, holding the key to Saab's new 9-3.
For a moment I had that sickening feeling when you are left with the rubber stub after the key has broken off in the lock.
The 'key' is a stubby rubber thing, with a four button fob-buttons for lock, unlock, open boot and 'where is it?' Walking towards the car, I pressed the 'where is it?' button and the sidelights, side indicators and interior lights glowed to guide me to my transport.
I opened the door, using the proper pull-out handle that felt as though it was made to last, and sank into the cockpit.
While BMW is moving away from the driver-surround cockpit, Saab retains that cosy and intimate connection with the driver. Insert the rubbery-stubby thing (can I call it a key, for short?) into the hole in the console between the seats and there is a solenoid click as the steering lock disconnects.
Cockpit drill. Seat adjusted to suit (electric in the test car, L500 extra). A brilliantly comfortable seat - it could have been made for my degenerate back. Steering wheel adjusted to suit, mirrors whirred into position and we're ready to go.
The engine fires up, quiet and smooth. The Saab/GM engine is a great stride forward from its effective, but slightly agricultural, predecessor which can trace its roots (if none of its components) right back to the 1,709cc Saab 99 in...