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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
4 x 4
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
Turbo
2521 cc
300 hp
400 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 - 6 gears
1682 kg
5.9 s
250 km/h
14.9 l/100km
8.6 l/100km
10.9 l/100km
261 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
1697 kg
7.7 s
250 km/h
16.3 l/100km
8.4 l/100km
11.3 l/100km
270 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

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 5-door wagon body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (4 x 4 for the Volvo and front in the case of the SAAB). The first one has a Volvo-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 5-cylinder, 20-valves 300hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 250hp engine designed by Opel.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the SAAB being a slightly better choice apparently. 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, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, V70 offers a marginal difference of 9% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, when all the models are taken into account. These are the results of an independent reasearch, 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. The same official information place 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 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volvo is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, 5km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 10.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (27 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

SAAB 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 slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Volvo being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say 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. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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