Monthly Archives: December 2005

Christmas downtime – Open thread

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I’m snowed under with pre-Christmas deadlines.  As news is fairly thin on the ground there won’t be much posting around here for the next few days.  If there’s anything of importance you can be sure I’ll get it up here, but right now the creative juices have been put to one side in order to make sure that I can take care of business here at TS Central.

I’d like to extend to everyone my wishes for a wonderful Christmas period and a fantastic, turbocharged 2006. 

It’s been a heck of a year for me personally and the creation and building of this website, the making of a few new friends through it, and the new knowledge that it’s brought to me has played a significant part in that.  My passion for the Saab brand has increased by several orders of magnitude through this project and it’s my hope that your interest has been enhanced as well.

Thanks to everyone that’s enjoyed the site during 2005.  Thanks especially to those of you that have contributed with your links, stories, opinions and photographs.  Information and interactivity are what blogs are all about and you’ve all helped to contribute to the growth of Trollhattan Saab.

If you’ve got anything Saaby at all on your mind, the comments section is open for you to post your thoughts at length.  I will be putting together a 2005 highlights post over the next few days so if you’ve got any Saab 2005 highlights of your own, that might be a starting point.  Any wishes for 2006 could be another.  New Year’s Resolutions (pffft) could be yet another.  In the words of Professor Quiggin, civil discussion please and no coarse language.  

If you have URL’s to post, be mindful that antispam protection allows only 1 URL per comment before I have to moderate.  If you have a URL in your signature and try to include one in your comment then it’ll go into the moderation queue, but I’ll clear it as soon as I can.

Again, a Merry Christmas from me and if you click on the following link, a Merry Christmas from Saab too! 

New pricing for Australia

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Crikey, just when I announce a minor blog hiatus, they go and do THIS to me.  No rest for the wicked I guess. 

Way back when, Saab released the 900i, which saw the price here in Oz set at $29,900.  A Saab for under $30,000 .  No wonder they got so popular around that time.  There’s still heaps of 900i’s on the road.  There’s a beautiful ruby red one that parks outside my building nearly every day, in fact.

Well, Saab may be about to cue up another renaissance here in Australia with the 9-3 Linear now going under $40,000.  For good.

This press release came in today from Saab Australia:

 


Saab announces new pricing and outstanding value

Saab Australia has realigned its 2006 pricing, reducing the recommended retail prices of its vehicles by up to $8,000.

By repositioning its vehicle line-up, Director of Saab Australia & NZ, Ralph Stevenson, says Saab can offer some of the most attractive and well specified luxury vehicles in the market.

“Our 2006 pricing is extremely competitive. Saab offers exceptional European value, with Swedish style, luxury and safety features as standard, and is set to attract a new generation of premium car buyers to the brand,” Mr Stevenson said.

Saab’s entry level 9-3 Linear Sport Sedan is the most significantly repositioned model. Now offered with leatherette/woven textile seats and steel wheels as standard, Linear’s recommended retail price (RRP) reduces by $8,000 from $47,900 to $39,900.

Continue reading →

Aero Academy

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Saab Press Release that came in the mail this morning.  Good news for US purchasers of the 9-3 2.8l V6 Aero models as well as the 9-5.

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For Immediate Release – December 2006 (sic)

Saab Aero Academy Enrollment Now ‘Standard Equipment’ On All MY 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero Models

Braselton, GA — The Saab Aero Academy is expanding for the 2006 model year to complement Saab’s growing product range.  Enrollment in the performance driving school now comes standard with the purchase or lease of a 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero Sport Sedan, Convertible or the new SportCombi, equipped with the award-winning 250 hp 2.8 V6 Turbo engine.  Owners of 2005 model year or newer Saab 9-5 Aeros also qualify. 

The intensive two-day course is held at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia and combines driver education with the thrill of piloting high performance vehicles.  It consists of 80 percent advanced handling exercises on specially constructed training tracks and 20 percent classroom time.  Aero Academy instructors are professional race drivers. 

“The Saab Aero Academy is not an extra and it’s not an option,” says Saab USA General Manager Jay Spenchian.  “It’s as much a part of the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 as their turbocharged engines and is something no other automaker offers.  It allows our customers to improve their driving skills and practice accident avoidance techniques while pushing the cars to their limits on a safe, closed course.  Bottom line, if you love to drive and want to sharpen your skills, it’s a must.” 

Aero Academy enrollees experience a skid pad where they learn how to control a car with proper steering, throttle and brake responses; “threshold” braking, which teaches how to apply brakes, improve reaction time and avoid brake lockup; a lane change exercise which is designed to improve reflexes and car control skills; a slalom course which tests timing, throttle and steering skills – all while avoiding the orange cones; and an autocross, a scaled down race track that tests cornering, braking, acceleration and skid control while using 100 percent of the cars’ potential. 

Saab Aero Academy instructors are active in open wheel formula racing, sports car racing, endurance racing and oval track racing.  Instructor to student ratio is 1:4.  Over 1,400 Saab owners have participated in the Aero Academy since it was founded in 1999 under the name “Viggen Flight Academy.” 

Customers enroll in the Saab Aero Academy by having their dealer submit their information to Saab Cars USA.  Upon receiving a Saab Aero Academy certificate, the owner calls an 800 number to register for a particular session.  The two-day program is free.  Enrollees must pay for their own transportation to Road Atlanta, hotel accommodations and meals. 

Saab USA is in the midst of the most aggressive new product development offensive in its 58-year history as an automaker.  The 9-7X, Saab’s first SUV, was introduced in June 2005, the five-door 9-3 SportCombi, which rounds out the 9-3 range, went on sale in November and a refreshed 9-5 sedan and SportCombi, the flagships of the Saab lineup, will be in dealerships by the start of 2006.

In addition to the new cars, an all-new 250-horsepower 2.8L V6 Turbo engine is now standard equipment in all 9-3 Aero models.   This engine has just recently been named among the industry’s 10 best engines of 2006 by the editors at Ward’s Communications.

Hmmmmm

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Can anyone out there point to anything definitive as to when we might expect to see the new Saab 9-2, the one to be developed off the same platform as the Astra.  The Auto Express article I quoted yesterday mentioned 2008.  Everything else I’d read up until 5 minutes ago (that’s just one link, though there’s more around) mentioned 2010 and now I’ve just stumbled over the Channel 4 "Future Cars" section that also mentions 2008. 

 Ay Curumba!

2008 makes a heck of a lot more sense.  It means less time without a 9-2 size model after the 9-2x runs it’s course.  Also, the 4-5 years between now and a 2010 model seems like a heck of a long lead time.

But, 2008 was the traditional thinking for a new 9-2 whilst Subaru were still in the picture.  Could it be that AutoEx and Channel 4 haven’t updated their files after the GM/Fuji split?

Ay Carumbarumba!! 

I guess we’ll know more come March next year, at the Geneva show.  But geez, the waiting’s a killer. 

Someone at GM (and come on, I know you’re reading this) pleeeeeease drop us the word in comments.  Or via email. 

Anyone else: definitive links welcome in comments…. 

9-2 ‘news’

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The Saab 900 of 1993 was the last Saab to have a truly notable windscreen.  It’s curvature would always ‘wow’ the uninitiated and provided for great visibility for the driver.

Auto Express are reporting that the next new entry level Saab may also sport a windscreen of some note, though slightly different to the old wraparound.  They’re rumouring that the next 9-2 will feature GM’s new "panorama" screen, which is making it’s debut in the UK on certain Astra Sport Hatch models.

Vauxhall’s bright idea of stretching the front glass up and over the roof works brilliantly on its latest Astra Panorama and the concept looks set to spread.

The glass could even appear on Saab’s top-secret new premium hatchback. Due on sale in 2008, the Swedish model will be called the 9-2, and will take on the likes of the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series. A spokesperson for parent firm General Motors explained that the clear roof would "fit perfectly into the Saab brand’s sporty image and aircraft heritage".

It’ll be interesting to see whether the Geneva showcar is sporting this big screen (and by the way, can’t you just imagine some young London lad on a double-decker peering down the top of some unsuspecting lady’s dress – or is that just me?).

Other interesting notes from this report – Auto Express date the 9-2 as coming out in 2008.  Other reports that I’ve read consistently mention 2010.  John, who provided the link, noted that it wouldn’t be first time AE’s made a prediction and cocked it up big time.

Secondly, the big glass and the fact that it weakens the body means that power output has to be limited below 200bhp.  It’ll be interesting to see how the Saab engineers mess with this to offer some more poke.

Dubai Motor Show

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Not a Saab story, but definitely interesting. The Dubai Motor Show sounds like it’d be something to behold. From what I can tell, it doesn’t involve the acres of space, not the technology being prepared to dazzle the crowd at the NAIAS early in 2006.

But the cars on display at the Dubai show are all for sale. It’s like a big motoring soukh with some big spending customers coming through the turnstiles.

Want proof? They sold six Bugatti Veyrons during the course of the show. As a matter of fact, the various manufacturers did a total of $US27 million worth of business during the show. That’s a heck of a lot of clams.

All the BMW’s and Minis on show sold out, Porsche did rather well, as did Lamborghini with four sales and even Ssangyong managed to book up eight sales. You get the feeling you’d have to watch where you walk lest you trip over a wad of Arab Emirate Dollars and twist an ankle!

There’s no word on how well GM and Saab did at the show, which is a pity. It reads like GM weren’t actually selling during the show, just showing. Another party missed?

Some of the companies present at the show came to do direct sales or business while others were there to raise product awareness. For instance, GM were at the show to make their presence felt. Says Brand Director for General Motors Gerry Groeneweger, ‘This show gives us a unique opportunity to bring en masse the wide array of GM cars with us. It gave us a chance to tell our customers what GM is all about. We have six brands – Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Hummer, Saab and Opel – all here.’ The GM stand was the biggest, with 32 different models on display including three new concept cars and nine new releases at the show. He adds, ‘The show has been extremely good for us in getting feedback from our customers.’ For them the show continues and the actual business of selling started rolling from the showroom after the event.

Monday Morning Snippets

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With a unanimous response (two people, both agreeing) I think I’ll be looking into producing some desktop wallpaper type thingy’s from some of our Saab O The Week entrants. This, of course, will necessitate getting permission from photo owners to do so and making sure the files are of an appropriate size.

So, if you’ve had a photo published in the Saab O The Week section, I’ll try and get in touch and seek your OK for the shot to be used as a SOTW calendar piece.

In the meantime, I’m always on the lookout for more photos to publish. The best ones involve great photogpraphy, not just a great car. So my invitation to you is to find a great location, grab your camera and your keys and start snapping. Send your photo to me at swade99-at-dodo.com.au

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Saabs have always been fairly unique in their styling. The current 9-3SS and 9-5 are about as close to generic styling as Saab have ever had, so one could never acuse Saab of copying other marques.

Not so, Kia.

Do any of the lines on this little baby remind you of anything? Published at Autoblog over the weekend.

Kia Saab copy.jpg

These Korean companies seem to be quite adept at copying other company’s designs. Some of them have been quite blatant indeed. I don’t know how much they had Saab’s roofline and hockeystick in mind when they came up with this, but the end result, from the waist up at least, looks quite familiar to me.

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I had the pleasure of introducing some non-Saab friends of mine to the accelerative powers of the Viggen yesterday. Always a blast to see the eyes pop as you take them from 60-1?0 in the blink of an eye. Fun Fun Fun!

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Don’t forget to check out the Saab Sonett Super Sport – Chassis No 4 book. It’s a fantastic, albeit quick, read and well worth adding to your collection. This first edition is limited to a printing of 350 copies in English and is available now at Elkparts. It might not quite arrive in time for Christmas, but if you’re like me then there’s always one little present you buy yourself, and the timing don’t matter too much as long it’s good.

Aero Microsite

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Thanks to PT up in NSW for alerting me to the new 9-3 Aero microsite on the Saab Australia website. It’s a tasty offering and for all you Oz readers, or anyone else interested in the Aero range, it’s a good little distraction.

Can’t get a direct link, but if you go to Saab Australia, look for the “Highlights” tag in the lower section of the front page. What follows is a well constructed tour through the Aero and it’s various features. Geez, I’d love to add one of these to the garage….

Saab Aust 9-3 Aero microsite.jpg

As good as this little microsite may be, it’s a drop in the ocean compared to what Saab Oz need to do to win back Saab’s reputation here. There’s a rant brewing (eh PT?) over this. Coming soon.