Sometimes a car just hits the spot. A spot which, of course, can vary quite a lot depending on the personal preferences of any particular driver. So it can be a difficult target for any carmaker.

Me, I like a car to be bigger rather than smaller, to be powerful enough without being massive and musclebound under the bonnet, to have the ability to command respect for its underpinning merits rather than just its badge. If it is expensive, I'd like to feel it was still value for money. And I have a firm preference for understatement over flash.

Clearly there are quite a few cars out there which meet some of those preferences. A lesser number which meet most of them.

A recent stint with the latest Saab 9-3 got very close to maximum.

It went on the 'Lotto List', for when our office ticket comes in.

Saab wanted to change their own market listing of the 9-3 series when they got the chance to build on a whole new platform - the GM Epsilon one that carries the new Opel Vectra in Europe and the Chevy Malibu in the US.

And an immediate major change was the fact that it would be a saloon, instead of the hatchback which by tradition was the format of Saabs in this size.

So it has become a 'premium sport saloon'. And it is aimed at the same market which has adopted the Audi A4 as a real contender against the established 'badge' cars in the size/price segment, the BMW 3-Series and the C-Class Mercedes.

Gizmos and gadgets used to make such cars stand out ahead of the ordinary. Not any more, because the lowliest supermini can now have as standard the safety and comfort things that were heretofore the stuff of the luxury boats.

It's no longer what you do, but how you do it.

Saab is doing it with understated style in the first instance. There's no mistaking its heritage, but the brand hasn't gone the super-21st-century road in the looks department.

Indeed, it is comforting that the old visual values, inside and out, are retained. Even the badge cars in the same class have gone a bit too brash for some tastes, including this writer's.

But there's nothing old-fashioned about the 9-3 in overall substance, which means that understatement is OK.

And you can go the more plush route quite easily, with neat touches of wood and several hides of leather, if you need more than the E33,900 entry-level car.

For review, my car was somewhere in the mid-range, a 2.0t Arc specification, basically E40,900 but with automatic transmission which added another E3,000. It also had the 'Driving Pack' option for E1,500 which included cruise control, full driving info computer, and park assistance.

All of that I would consider as essential extras to make the car hit my particular spot for a long-term relationship.

But among the list of standard equipment on all 9-3s are air conditioning, traction control, ABS with EBD and MBA (don't ask if you don't know by now, anyway they're all 'good things'), CBC (ditto), six airbags and Saab's 'night panel' system of leaving only the speedo lighting at night. Don't much care for it, as it happens.

The leather upholstery is standard on the Arc specification, and though it has the Scandinavian essential of seat heating, I personally prefer cloth.

But whatever the covering, the latest 9-3 is consistent in one particular respect: it fits me like the proverbial glove. They have the ergonomics just right. Seat adjustments across a wide range of sizes, a steering wheel changeable in two dimensions. A very good view of the road out over the bonnet

And a bloody great left footrest, which I still can't get in a Ford Mondeo, a car that I admire very much. Or the Jaguar X-Type based on the same platform.

But there's a bit of a gimmick which annoyed me. The handbrake is 'design-incorporated' into the central console between the seats.

And until you get used to it, you keep getting your thumb pinched when you let it off. Somebody's bright idea is a bit of a pain. Literally.

The ignition key still goes into a spot between those same seats, as is traditional with Saab. But it is now a modern electronic device which deals with the immobiliser and the locking of the transmission/brake systems. Much easier on the fabric of a man's pocket than a sharp metal yoke.

And being someone who appreciates networking of my various electronic working aids - laptop, mobile phone, internet places, emails - the new 9-3 is right up there with the mobile systems, including a Bluetooth radio link with the optional integrated mobile phone system that would allow me to sit in the sun up to 10 metres from where I'd parked the car and still stay connected with my virtual world.

The new car is the same length outside as the old, but it has a longer wheelbase, and is wider inside and higher. So it is a decent carrier of driver and passengers, though not at all the best for knee-room in the rear in its class. But adequate there. I could be chauffeured fairly painlessly.

I wouldn't want to be, though. Because now we've come to what cars are really for. Driving, man.

And the new 9-3 gives satisfaction in that respect in spades.

This is a real good basic platform. They're going to use it under the next Alfa 156, and given how good that particular car is as it stands, they must be very sure that Epsilon is something special.

There's a real solid feel about this whole Saab. As good as a Mercedes feels, I'd judge. That's down to build quality, and probably also the fact that there's no great opening in the rear of the car's structure like in the older cars.

There's 175bhp under the bonnet in the 2.0t, out of a brand-new 2-litre engine that drives all the petrol versions of the car. So when you look at the name of the basic one as 1.8t, it is still a 2-litre car.

Saab are acknowledged masters of turbo-charging, particularly LPT or 'light pressure turbo' technology, and that's why they can push 150bhp-210bhp from the same engine.

The 175bhp from the car I was driving is a real nice balance for this car, and the smooth transition from no boost to boost is a testament to the expertise which Saab's engineers have become famous for.

They give you a little gauge on the dashboard that indicates how much into turbo-charging you are, so you can drive with less glurping from the fuel tank if you wish. But the truth is that the car just encourages an overall smooth driving technique.

The nice thing about this car was the overall drivability - with some 90 per cent of the total torque available at under 2000rpm, it is a doddle to drive in traffic, and yet responds with alacrity to a good push on the loud pedal when and where exuberance is the moment.

I am, as many of you know well, an automatic fan. And having the automatic didn't in any way take away from the 'sports' attributes of the car. When I wanted, there was manual (Saab call their version 'senstronic') use possible by moving the shifter into a +/- gate.

Under a bit of pressure in the bends, the new 9-3 proved itself a very precise performer, and at no time did the CBC (OK, the 'cornering brake control' ... but remember it in future) have to take over from me being foolish.

The foundations don't creak or crash on potholed local roads either (sure, we have potholes on our national roads too, but there's more room there to avoid them).

Overall, the true joy of this car is that it is a constantly pleasant vehicle to live with.

Beyond pleasant, really. Regular readers will know that I sometimes have cars which I get into and drive away in just for the sake of driving them, such as the current 2-litre Alfa 156.

This is another such. This was a period when I resented the fact that I was so busy in front of the computer, because deadlines limited my time behind the wheel of this car.

But I made time to do so, as much as I could (sorry, editors).

And I enjoyed it immensely.

On reflection, it's in the TOP spot of my Lotto List.