Saab did adapt the WRX's front seats to accept Saab-developed active head restraints. But seats lack the thigh support and bolstering consistent with the sporty driving the 9-2X promises, especially the Aero, and there's no lumbar adjustment. Driver legroom is adequate for a six footer, but front-seat passenger and rear-seat legroom isn't. With the front seats all the way back, it's easy to bang an elbow on the rear of the front door frame. Upholstery and other fabrics look and feel durable, that covering the seats like a soft canvas, and the leather surfaces are, well, leather. The center console cover is located too low and too far rearward to support an elbow.
Save for some cosmetics, the dash is unchanged from the WRX, with the instruments deep-set beneath a hood shading them from the sun's glare. Center-most of the three is a large, round speedometer, running up to 120 miles per hour in the Linear, to 140 mph in the Aero. To the left is a combination fuel and water temperature gauge. To the right is the tachometer, redlined at 6200 revolutions per minute in the Linear, at 7000 rpm in the Aero. The three dials are rimmed in polished metal in the Aero, in monochromatic black in the Linear. If the instrument cluster weren't enough of a giveaway to the 9-2X's WRX roots, directly atop the steering column is an auxiliary parking light switch that's a Subaru fixture.
The center stack houses the stereo control head, situated above the climate control knobs and beneath the two center air vents; truly disappointing are the last, which are everyday, horizontal vanes backed by vertical directionals, instead of the delightful and infinitely adjustable, aircraft-like, multi-layer registers unique to Saabs. Climate control knobs are large and round with good feel. The C-stack flows smoothly into the center console, over a covered ashtray with the 9-2X's sole power outlet, a cigar lighter. The digital clock squints out of the center of the dash above the C-stack.
Outward visibility is good, better than expected, actually, thanks to the sloping hood in front and the wrap-around rear quarter windows. Rear door windows roll about two-thirds of the way down. Front seat occupants each have a cup holder, and front doors have molded map pockets, but there are no storage bins on the back of the front seats, nor any map pockets on rear doors. The liftgate opens to clear six feet and has an inside pull-down. A space-saver spare is stored beneath the rear cargo floor under a sound-deadening foam pad. Lift-over is comfortably low, and there are tie-downs for awkward cargo.
Overall fit and finish is good, if not excellent. No buzzes, squeaks or rattles marred the test cars, comprising a Linear with automatic transmission and an Aero with manual gearbox.
