Mir seeeeehr guet gfallle 
Neue Konkurenz für BMW und Audi 
After 5 long years, Saab 9-3 has received a mid-life boost finally. Thankfully, the changes are quite extensive. Outside, the facelifted car gets a more stylish front end design which include new bumper, a more prominent corporate grille, wrap-around headlights and 9-5-like clamshell bonnet. The facelift changed some 70 percent of the body panels and you can see the differences clearly. It is undoubtedly a successful facelift.
In the mechanical side, major changes are engines and new 4-wheel-drive system. Called "XWD" by Saab, it is developed by Haldex, employs an electromagnetic multi-plate clutch mounted near the rear axle to distribute torque to the rear wheels during take-off or when the front wheels spin. Furthermore, an optional active rear limited slip differential is offered, which also uses multi-plate clutch to distribute torque between the two rear wheels. In other words, the XWD works like Honda's SH-AWD, capable to correct understeer and oversteer by assigning the two rear wheels with different amount of power.
Thanks to the available of XWD, the new flagship 9-3 Aero can handle more power than its FWD predecessor. Therefore Saab increased the turbo boost pressure of the XWD-equipped Aero from 0.5 to 0.8 bar, resulting in 280 horsepower and 295 lbft of torque (from 250 hp and 258 lbft). For those Aero without XWD, the 2.8 turbo V6 gets only a small power boost to 255 hp, i.e., the same as sister car Cadillac BLS.
Another important engine change is the introduction of Fiat's new twin-turbo 1.9-liter 16V diesel engine, called TTiD by Saab. Based on the existing 1910cc turbo diesel engine, it got a 1600 bar common-rail injection system and a two-stage turbocharging system like BMW 335d and 535d, i.e. a small turbo operates below 1500rpm, a large turbo intervenes from there and completely takes over from 3000rpm. The result is a remarkable 180 horsepower and 295 lbft of torque, accompany with an excellent fuel consumption of 47.8 mpg.
Apart from petrol and diesel engines, the new 9-3 also offers engines drinking E85 biofuel (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline). Thanks to the higher octane rating (104 RON), the 2.0 turbo BioPower engine produces 200hp and 221 lbft, some 25hp and 26 lbft more than the existing 2.0 turbo petrol. Of course, the engine can drink gasoline as its Trionic 8 engine management system is capable to adapt automatically.
With the more efficient engines and especially the brilliant XWD system, Saab 9-3 could lure more buyers back from the camp of BMW and Audi. Few mid-life makeovers could bring so much hope.
