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

compare selected cars
2000. - 2004.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2002. - 2007.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4710 mm
1804 mm
1488 mm
485 liters
1641 liters
70 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4654 mm
1762 mm
1492 mm
419 liters
1273 liters
58 liters
2000 Volvo V70
2002 SAAB 9-3 Sport Combi

Engine

Petrol
5 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2435 cc
170 hp
230 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Opel / General Motors
2.8 Z28NET
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2792 cc
250 hp
350 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1537 kg
9.0 s
210 km/h
12.8 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
9.3 l/100km
221 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1545 kg
6.9 s
245 km/h
15.5 l/100km
7.4 l/100km
10.4 l/100km
245 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1563 kg
9.9 s
210 km/h
13.9 l/100km
7.6 l/100km
9.9 l/100km
237 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1570 kg
7.8 s
240 km/h
17.2 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
11.0 l/100km
255 g/km

Expenses

2200 EUR
Price from
1500 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 wagon 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 Volvo-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 5-cylinder, 20-valves 170hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 250hp engine designed by Opel.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the SAAB being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, 9-3 offers a marginal difference of 1% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, when all the models are taken into account. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Volvo with an average rating of 4.6, and models under the SAAB badge with 4.1 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed V70 as average reliability-wise, and 9-3 is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as V70 rank it on average as 5.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

SAAB is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.1 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 245 kilometers per hour, 35km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be V70, averaging around 9.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (30 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 12% difference compared to 9-3.


Verdict

Volvo 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, 9-3 offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. 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... 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. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. 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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