Redesigns are costly, risky, and time-consuming, but a fact of life. No matter a car's virtues and vices, there just aren't a whole lot of takers for one that's been around for too many years in a row. You have your Lexuses and Acuras that revamp their work every five or so years, and you have your Bimmers and Benzes that wait till, oh, seven.Then you have Saab. While every conceivable competitor has entire lineups from the past few years, Saab marches on with the 9-5 sedan, its flagship since 1999. Why the long tooth, you ask? Well, despite all the changes that have rocked Saab's boat since then, its growth remains at the mercy of General Motors, which profusely refuses to provide any major funding to this scant Scandinavian entity.But we still get updates every now and then, and 2006 marks the 9-5's most comprehensive renovation so far. It starts with a full-body makeover, then continues with some detailing on the innards. The model lineup is now more focused, and the focus is on power: of the three former engines, only the strongest gets to stay, and even it enjoys a power adjustment to the north. Throw in a price bumped to the south by a thousand or three, and you have a subject worth reexamining, especially since Saab will be counting on it until decade's end.