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Car #1
Make
Model
Variant
Engine
Car #2
Make
Model
Variant
Engine

compare selected cars
1998. - 2002.
D - Large family car
hatchback, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1999. - 2002.
D - Large family car
hatchback, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4629 mm
1711 mm
1428 mm
494 liters
1314 liters
68 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4590 mm
1710 mm
1430 mm
502 liters
502 liters
64 liters
1998 SAAB 9-3
1999 Mazda 626

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1985 cc
205 hp
280 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1991 cc
136 hp
178 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1355 kg
7.3 s
235 km/h
13.0 l/100km
6.6 l/100km
9.0 l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1199 kg
9.6 s
208 km/h
10.8 l/100km
6.5 l/100km
8.1 l/100km
193 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 4 gears
1345 kg
9.0 s
235 km/h
14.8 l/100km
7.1 l/100km
10.0 l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1210 kg
12.5 s
195 km/h
12.1 l/100km
7.1 l/100km
8.9 l/100km
213 g/km

Expenses

1700 EUR
Price from
1200 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the large family car segment and utilize the same 5-door hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a SAAB-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 205hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 136hp engine designed by Mazda.

Safety

The fact that the SAAB got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. 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, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the Swedish car offers a considerable difference of 13% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Mazda does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of SAAB with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Mazda badge with 4.4 out of 5. The same official information place 9-3 as average reliability-wise, and 626 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the Swedish car rank it on average as 3.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

SAAB is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 235 kilometers per hour, 27km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Japanese car, averaging around 8.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (35 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 11% difference compared to the Swedish car.


Verdict

Mazda 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 Swedish car beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with SAAB being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the SAAB. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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