I HEARD ANDY Lau Tak-wah and friends co-starred with the latest Saabs in the movie Infernal Affairs III, and expected big things. Action-movie producers don't usually pick rubbish cars for product placement, do they?
So, when the celebrity Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan arrived at my doorstep, I was a little disappointed.
It's nice looking, but not stunning. The exterior was sleek, with side-skirts, five-spoke alloy wheels and low bumpers at the front and rear. The front end continues the trend of looking more like a car and less like a Saab. The rear is simple and functional.
Inside, there's leather upholstery in grey and dark blue, stacks of hi-tech brushed aluminium, and the driver's seat is adjustable in every direction, as is the steering wheel, which carries an airbag and, cleverly, audio-system controls and small 'paddle-shift' buttons that switch the tiptronic gears up and down. I find these handy and interesting in the upper reaches of Route Twisk, and appreciate Saab's jet fighter-manufacturing heritage when I inadvertently press a button on the dash, and a cupholder unfolds like a rocket launcher to reveal - a cupholder! You could say it's a cute device, but one playful kick from your four-year-old and the sophisticated device would soon be hanging from its wires.
The instrumentation is well designed, with speedometer, tachometer and turbo gauge clearly visible through the steering wheel and a head-up digital display to my left showing the time, temperature, radio tunings and fuel status.
I release the handbrake, but catch my thumb in it as I put the lever down, so take care. We enter highway traffic with a smooth but serious burst of turbo-boosted power, in the Drive range of the automatic. This car is smooth, silent and exudes a sense of solidity and precision. No wonder many Hong Kong doctors like it. But if the manufacturers could move the ignition key from the transmission-hump console to the dashboard - or better still, above the windscreen - it would be even better. No heads turn as we ghost through the town, and we are soon on the country highway.