MrFatbooty

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.

95TEGyoure it

not bad, minus the damn taillights

AcuraFanatic

Not bad at all, I like the tail lamps.

MrFatbooty

One truth: Saab is no longer exclusively Scandinavian, so blue-faced naysayers might as well stop yammering. Whereas 9-3 Sport Sedans and all 9-5s are still built in Trollhattan, the 9-3 Convertible is sent out from Graz, Austria, the 9-2X is from Ohta, Japan, and we will be getting our 9-7Xs starting in late April from Moraine, Ohio.

Another truth: Neither big and tall SUVs nor their vocal critics will be going away anytime soon. What is happening is a gradual return of the station-wagon lifestyle. Small, midsize and large wagon segments are finding at least one new offering in the North American market per year. So we figure by 2015, people ought to be complaining about the menace of too many wagons on American roads.

Conjectural irony aside, the oft-delayed Saab 9-3 SportCombi, being shown at Geneva, looks to be a trendsetter in this budding new-old segment. What’s new about modern-day wagons is that they need to be premium, especially the interiors, in order to convince as many would-be SUV buyers as possible.

The segment is already hot in Europe, and Saab hopes to help lead anticipated growth in the United States, where the 9-3 SportCombi will join the 9-2X in showrooms in November.

Using the same “Epsilon premium” architecture as the 9-3 Sedan and Convertible, the SportCombi looks familiar back to the A-pillar. Then it’s a whole new ballgame. Maintaining much of the cool Scandinavian feel of the 9-3 Sport Hatch concept from Frankfurt 2003, the designers hope to convey a “hewn from solid” stance. (Note: 9-3 Sport Hatch design was by Michael Mauer and Anthony Lo, two non-Scandinavians.)

In the global sense, the amazing news is that in Europe the SportCombi will be launched with no fewer than eight engine choices—six gas and two diesel. Talk about a reawakening Saab ready to hunt bear.

The biggest power-related news for America is the Aero edition will be the first GM product to carry a new alumi*num 2.8-liter V6. Adding a turbocharger gives the SportCombi Aero a to-be-reckoned-with 247 hp. Linear and Arc versions will carry variants of the current 2.0-liter turbo four.

Cargo room ranges from 14.8 cubic feet with the rear seat up to a maximum (i.e., loaded to the base of the rear windows, all seats down) 45.0 cubic feet. The flexibility of the cargo floor and the number of convenient stow spaces is as exemplary as one would hope for in a Saab.

The 9-3 keeps its brethren’s MacPherson struts up front and compact four-link assemblies at the rear corners. The wagon configuration has reportedly affected frame rigidity only minimally, thus assuring a sporting drive.

If the sitting-in-it part is anything like it was on the 9-3 Sport Hatch prototype, we’re in for a delectable experience in leather and sport fabrics. Essential standard interior shades include Parchment (aka “light room”) and Gray (“dark room”). ESP—incorporating ABS, TCS, MBA (Mechanical Brake Assist), EBD and CBC—comes standard on Linear and Arc, while the Aero comes with ESP Plus. Plus means Hill Start Assist, which prevents rollback at intersections when using the standard six-speed manual transmission. An all-wheel-drive SportCombi is not in the offing.

For 2006, the SportCombi’s first full calendar year of production, volume out of Trollhattan is planned to number 30,000 units. This model satisfies so many voids in the Saab world portfolio that it may just be enough to get the company on the successful track that Volvo found a few years back. Now, if Saab can bring us an all-new earth-shattering 9-5 lineup, its toughest days may be over.

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=101891

M Type X

"wagony lookin thing" ??
It IS a wagon/sport tourer.

Very nice one too. And I agree, if only the 9-5 could be replaced.
But I think long-term, both SAAB and Saturn are kinda, oh, doomed. h:

JGordon

Now that is a good looking wagon.

Aside from the weird/gigantor/clear tailights which look out of place on an otherwise clean and sleek design.