Unfortunately, the front seats lack the lateral support necessary to keep you in place while the Saab's wonderful suspension is doing an impressive job of sticking to the road. On the positive, Saab doesn't forget about passengers relegated to the rear quarters, who are able to warm their behinds thanks to a simple one-button on/off seat heater. The rest of the cabin is heated and air-conditioned by a more traditional climate control system with dual driver/passenger settings. It's extremely good at defrosting the windshield and heating occupants up quickly (probably due to cold weather testing in the frozen Scandinavian north).
As the intro to this story suggested, the defroster isn't the only feature that performs well on the Aero Wagon. The front wheels heat up as quickly, taking the hefty 9-5 to 100 km/h in 7 seconds flat. The only drawback to all this power is its strong desire to torque steer the front wheels, making negotiating a turn under hard acceleration difficult. When under way, the 2.3-liter Aero 4-cylinder is wonderfully smooth and wickedly fast, belying its diminutive displacement.
Other engine choices on the more conservative standard 9-5 wagon are a 185-hp 2.3-liter 4-cylinder (increased form 170-hp last year) and a 200-hp 3.0-liter V6 (automatic only). Fortunately, the Aero wagon's superb forward acceleration is supported with equally impressive stopping power, bringing the 1746 kg (3850 lb) car to a standstill from 100 km/h in a scant 38.7 meters (127 feet).