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Marketing
Dimensons & Outlines
Engine
2.8 Z28NEH
Performance (manual gearbox)
Performance (automatic gearbox)
Expenses
Virtual Adviser's™ opinion
Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 4-door sedan body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the Lexus and 4 x 4 in the case of the SAAB). The first one has a Toyota-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 8-cylinder, 32-valves 423hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 280hp engine designed by Opel.
SafetyThe first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the Japanese car offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.
ReliabilityReliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Lexus does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Lexus with an average rating of 4.9, and models under the SAAB badge with 4.1 out of 5. The same official information place IS as average reliability-wise, and 9-3 is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the Japanese car rank it on average as 5.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.5 out of 5.
Performance & Fuel economyLexus is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 270 kilometers per hour, 20km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Swedish car, averaging around 10.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (27 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 8% difference compared to the Japanese car.
Verdict
Lexus appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the Japanese car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Lexus being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... At the end, as much as I'd like to give you a winner here, it's simply a pure tie if you ask me. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.