Having had 3 of them, I have different perspectives.
The 02 EXT 4.2L was certainly comfy with the leather seats but for whatever reason, they didn't have heat despite the truck having all other options. And being 6'2", headroom was lacking with the sunroof as my hair was always touching the headliner. Being an EXT, it already had the bigger brakes but found them to be soft and warped easily. Gas mileage sucked in the city having the 3.42 gears and extra weight but highway I was able to eek out 22mpgfully loaded with people and gear. Have no idea how the rear HVAC worked because it was broke from the time I had it. I sealed off the rear A/C lines and just used the front, which was adequate. I found the suspension to be bouncy and wallowy , even with new Bilsteins all around. I had replaced just about everything in that truck except the tranny, transfer case and diffs. Even with a tune, it was underpowered but that could have been mitigated if they would have put at least some 3.73 gears.
The 06 Saab 5.3L is actually a whole different animal despite basically being a TB in Saab makeup. Fully equipped except for nav, it has the comfort. Headroom is the same with the sunroof. Suspension and steering is a lot tighter being able to take hairpin turns at a pretty good speed. I think they were all equipped with the same suspension as the SS. Brakes are way firmer and I attribute that to the cast iron calipers compared to the older TB's aluminum calipers. Brake size is the same. Fun factor is a lot better in this truck with the V8 despite what anybody will tell you about the I6. And mated with 3.73 gears, it makes a difference. The AWD system just plain sucks compared to the selectable 4x4 system. I call it the "slip bang" system. It senses rear wheel slip and it will engage (bang) the front wheels, which are never disconnected, so gas mileage suffers as some energy is spent spinning the front diff and drive shaft. Atthough I don't have any numbers prior to disabling/deleting the DoD/AFM, it averages 14MPG with a best of 16MPG highway.
Both of the above had the Bose system, which is actually not bad after you replace the crappy stock radio.
Now my latest addition, the 07 TB LS, is as bare bones as they come. 4.2L, 3.42 gears, 4x4, cloth seats. Headroom is great without the sunroof but I have no overhead console to speak of. Brakes are the bigger ones with iron calipers so I guess they learned to just let us have better safety. And they're just as firm. Suspension is a little on the soft side again. Acceleration is better than the EXT I guess in part of the lesser weight and the increased power from the I6. Just had the basic radio so I replaced it with an Android HU and added better speakers and a bass tube. It's still not as good as the Bose though. Mileage is a lot better at 17MPG combined however I haven't calculated highway yet but after my last trip, I wouldn't be surprised by 25MPG it was that good on gas.
