The Sport Hatch is a wagon version of the Saab 9-3. In addition to the new body style, there are some other new and interesting features that have been added to the car.
Cargo capacity is 419 liters which is a bit small for the dimensions of the car, and it's actually a bit smaller than the 9-3 sedan which has 421 L capacity.
Therefore the car is more like the Alfa Romeo Sportwagon or Audi A4, rather than models which use the wagon body style to increase luggage space like the Ford Mondeo or Opel Vectra. With the rear seats lowered, cargo volume increases to 1,273 L.
This wagon has some characteristics that make it more functional than the sedan form, like hidden storage. The floor of the trunk is a tray that can be split with a divider, and underneath that is additional storage. Saab calls this feature TwinFloor. The car can come with either a spare tire, or a subwoofer in its place [editor's note: not sure if this means the subwoofer also comes with runflat tires]
The body has some interesting characteristics. It is the first Saab, and in fact one of the very few wagons with zero aerodynamic lift both front and rear. Some exterior lamps are LEDs instead of traditional light bulbs.
The Sport Hatch is being released with a turbocharged six-cylinder gasoline engine. The engine is aluminum with 2.8L displacement, four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, and a twin-scroll turbo. It will have 250 hp and will be sold only as an Aero trim level.
The platform is virtually identical to the sedan, with small modifications being made due to differences in torsional rigidity (which is a bit less than the sedan) and weight. Wagons tend to be less rigid because they need to have large openings at the rear.
Like in the sedan, the four-link rear suspension layout, using toe-links and ball joints instead of rubber inboard and outboard suspension bushings, has allowed engineers to dial in a unique, passive rear-wheel-steer characteristic called Saab ReAxs.
When cornering, the elasto-kinematics at the rear axle induce a very slight deflection of both rear wheels in the opposite direction to the steering input, ie. toe-out for the outer wheel and toe-in for the inner wheel.
Depending on the radius of a bend and the consequent loadings at the rear axle, one degree of movement at the front wheels would typically produce a small but significant response of about one hundredth of a degree at the rear.
This is sufficient to prevent excessive understeer, where the driver is forced to apply progressively more steering lock to turn the front end of the car, increasing the scrub angles of the front tires. The ReAxs characteristic overcomes this potential 'crabbing' effect, helping the tail of the car follow the direction of the front wheels, instead of its nose. For the driver, this gives the car a feeling of better balance, helping it turn in and respond more closely to steering inputs.
Original article, in spanish:
http://www.km77.com/marcas/saab/9-3_...atch/texto.asp
Technical details of Saab ReAxs from this press release about the concept version of the car released back in 2003:
http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/press/030911a.html
One thing I don't know is whether or not this car is going to be sold here in the USA.