Hi all, on a gloomy Sunday morning here in Tasmania. Some lazy Sunday reading for everyone….

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Autoblog have started a new blog called Autoblog Green. Those of you interested in biodiesel, ethanol, alternative fuel, hybrid etc etc may find it worthy of a bookmark.

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Gunnar Heinrich of Automobiles Deluxe makes some interesting points in an article posted at The Truth About Cars. The article is about Big3 model development in comparison with your, shall we say, ‘more respected’ car makers. Discussing the evolution of models as opposed to the “here’s something new” approach that the Big3 seem to adopt every 6 months or so.

Saab were, by necessity, from the evolution camp as they didn’t have the funds for brand new models every 3 or 4 years. Hence the decade-or-so life cycles of many Saab models. Of course, now they’re part of GM, there has been a bit more activity.

I think the right place to be is somewhere in the middle, ensuring that the best of a model is eventually achieved but also ensuring that the best new engineering is utilised in a brand new model should it be appropriate.

Have we seen the best of the 9-3 yet? How different will it be on Epsilon II? I guess we’ll find the anwers in the next few years.

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GM have partnered with DCX and……wait for it……BMW in order to produce a full hybrid system aimed at AWD and RWD vehicles. The system is explained briefly over at Edmunds:

The two-mode system, which employs low- and high-speed electric continuously variable transmission (ECVT) modes, should be ready for production in 2007, the partners said.

The system incorporates four fixed gear ratios in addition to the two ECVT modes, and it can use electric motors during all modes for boosting power and regenerative braking. The partners say the new technology provides superior fuel economy, performance and towing capability.

It’s anticipated that this would be able to be used on a wide variety of vehicles from cars to light trucks. Does the 9-7x qualify?

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Finally, an intriguing picture from the Swedish Saab forum, iSaab. Thanks to Mecachrome for sending it in via comments. The photo was taken on a cameraphone just outside the Saab factory at Trollhattan.

The car has some sort of tube attached to the exhaust, and my very dodgy internet translator also picked up on a hose extending from under the hood at the front, entering inside the rear door.

What’s more intriguing to me is the shape at the rear. That almost looks like a hatch to me.

Any thoughts, especially from iSaab regulars participating in the discussion, are more than welcome.

Howdy all. I’ve been off watching a bit of Targa Tasmania today. Sadly, there’s no Saab in the event this year. Last year I did extensive coverage of the event as there was a 99 Turbo entered. This year, I was doing my best to catch up with the 1938 Alfa Romeo 6C Mille Miglia. Unfortunately, the historic class vehicles didn’t do the one stage I went to today (doh!) so maybe I’ll catch them on another stage tomorrow.

It was also unfortunate that a Mini went off the track at the popular Domain stage here in Hobart and injured 3 people in the crowd. Questions are going to be asked.

Other Targa news – one Lamborghini caught fire this year and the other has big clutch problems. Pieces of crap, they are.

Jim Richards is on target for his eighth Targa title. Bloody Porsche drivers.

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I thought I should let you know that I HAVE received a response from GM to my diesel question from the other day. For those that didn’t read it, I emailed GM asking quite straightforwardly if there will be a diesel release in the USA in the near future, given that fuel regulations in the US will mandate low-sulfur diesel from October this year.

The reply was rather (deliberately) vague, with the promise of a straight-up answer soon. Whether the announcement that’s coming pertains to a diesel release or a firm announcement on a Biopower release is yet to be revealed.

But the promise is that there will be something announced reasonably soon.

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Seems it ain’t news until Edmunds says it’s so, but it’s good to see some of the other bigger services finally picking up on the 9-1 news and getting it right with regard to the 3-series/1-series competition thing.

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The new 9-5 was officially released in Australia yesterday and much is being made of the increased trim and performance coinciding with a price decrease.

Here’s hoping the combination moves some stock.

It’s been all Alfa this evening as I trotted on down to see the Targa Tasmania cars down at Wrest Point here in Hobart.

To restore the balance, here’s a classic Saab 99 Turbo, belonging to Simon in Sydney, right here in Australia. Magnificent.

Simon says:

This car was restored some 11 years ago by a local saab specialist. It had a bare metal respray, engine was overhauled etc. They also fitted a reinforced 5 speed from an 88 900 turbo, which makes it alot more driveable around town. It has water injection, a high flowed T3 turbo running 17psi, 3 inch straight through exhaust, and the cold start injector cuts in at 7psi. This car has been featured in Australian Classic Car Magazine twice, March 96 and November 2000. Photo was taken at McMahons Point, Sydney Harbour, last year.

click to enlarge

Via Autoblog, there’s a great article in BusinessWeek about the slowly swelling interest in deisel engines in the US. It’s a good background primer about why diesel hasn’t been available there and just how prevalent it is in the Euro market (in some countries, diesels now comprise the majority of new sales).

The key date for the US is very close, it’s actually October this year according to Autoblog. At that time, new low-sulfur fuel regulations will kick in, making the fuel much cleaner, the emissions much lower and the viablity of diesels in the US market much greater.

In light of this, the following email has just been shot off to Saab USA:

Dear Gents,

As you should be aware, new laws that mandate the lowering of sulfur content in diesel fuel will come into play later this year. The American market has a jaundiced view of diesels due to bad historical experiences, but new diesel technologies have improved performance, mileage and importantly, the ‘cleanliness’ of the vehicle in the mind of the customer.

Can you advise as to whether or not the US market will receive the diesel variants of either the 9-5 or 9-3 range that are currently so successful in the UK and European markets? If so, is there a ballpark date for the release of these vehicles and if not, then why not?

Diesel power is gaining momentum in the US with several car companies announcing the arrival of new diesel models in the new year. With Saab having an already enviable environmental reputation as well as a proven winner in the 1.9 TiD, the time seems right for this vehicle to come to the US market.

Looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Steven Wade
TrollhattanSaab.net

You can be sure that the response will be published as soon as it’s received.

I’ve added a new category here at Trollhattan, starting today.

Up until now I’ve been reluctant to refer to Saab’s planned new compact car as the 9-1, preferring to refer to it as the 9-2 in deference to the car it’s being designed to replace, the 9-2x. I think there’s enough out there now, though, for me to join the crowd and start referring to it as the 9-1.

It’s been interesting reading reports about this car over the last week or so. There was an initial Reuters report that quoted this car as being developed to take on the Audi A3 and the BMW 3-series. This has been reproduced over and over in various services without an editorial eye being passed over it in any of them.

Since when have the A3 and the 3-series been competitors? And since when has the Opel Astra, the supposed platform-doning car for the 9-1, been regarded as being near the same size and class as the 3-series?

Fact is, the Reuters report at the source of all these stories most likely contained a typo that was missed by an editor somewhere, and it’s spread like ‘the blob’ ever since.

Thankfully, Edmunds picked it up and have mentioned only the A3 in their story about it:

Forget the rumors you’ve heard about a neo-Sonett.

Saab planners are focusing on a much more down-to-earth product: a compact sport hatchback aimed at the Audi A3 and known internally as the Saab 9-1.

The bottom line on this is pretty much the same as it always was – drivers can look to 2009 for this new entry level Saab and here’s hoping it’s an absolute killer. Bloggers can look forward to new spyshots, hopefully starting around August or September this year.

Brian Nesbitt is the head design guy for GM Europe, so when he does a Q&A it’s worth tuning into as it’ll likely have a bearing on Saabs somewhere down the line.

This is a quick Q&A from Autoweek, who cornered Nesbitt at the New York International Autoshow. The relevant Saab bits? Read on….

AW: With Saturn becoming Opel and Saab sharing a bit with Opel as well, won’t Saabs also start to mimic Opels a bit?

Nesbitt: No. The Saturn-Opel situation is a straight swap even in design, but the Saab-Opel swap is purely beneath the skin.

And the exciting bit (fingers crossed):

AW: Will we ever see a car from Saab that lives up to the Aero-X concept?

Nesbitt: Absolutely. We need to keep that fresh feeling of surprise the Aero-X brought to the Geneva show. You’ll see something at a show in around two years, once some new global architectures become final.

Note: I’m quite sure he’s not saying that we’ll see an Aero-X in 2 year’s time. We’ll see an exciting new vehicle in that time that lives up to the ideals of the Aero-X. Of that I feel quite sure.

The Detroit Free Press has a longer article on the push for alcohol detection devices being fitted to all cars in te US by 2009.

It seems that the push is coming from a group called MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). Curiously, their CEO is one stange mother named Chuck. But I digress….

Apparently there’s already around 70,000 locking devices currently in use, mostly ordered by courts for repeat DUI offenders. Some people have ordered them for themselves though, and the article above gives a good example.

Personally, I’d see it as a pain in the backside. I live virtually alcohol free, and the thought of having to clear some sort of test every time I get into my car when it’s never going to be a problem for me would be a major hindrance. I can see the argument for offenders though, and sadly some people wil only be caught out after ploughing into someone after going on a bender.

The full Saab Alcokey press release is after the jump….

[Read the rest of this entry →]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has your “Platform Sharing 101″ course. A good basic intro if you’re new to such things and our favourite car company, predictably, gets a decent mention.

“It’s hard to say whether it’s GM’s fault or Saab’s, but that was a car company that had quirky, distinct Swedish personality, and then somewhere in the ’90s, GM started to base every Saab design on a relatively mundane Opel chassis. It lost some of it’s flavor,” Mr. Shenhar said. “You have the Saab 9-2x, based on a Subaru, and a Saab 9-7x based on the Chevy TrailBlazer. Both of these two are basically what they appear to be. You can’t fool consumers and customers.”

Personally, I don’t think they tried to trick people with the 9-7x. Perhaps they did a little with the 9-2x. And perhaps that’s a little bigotry on my part.

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The new, facelifted 9-5 is finally going to be released in Australia tomorrow. Unlike the US, we’re still going to have the carious ‘forms’, stretching form the Linear at around $58K to the Aero at $85K.

Carsguide seem pretty excited about it. I assume they’ve been reading the press release about the crisper handling and boosted output. Their say?

We can’t wait to drive it. Watch this space.

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I don’t know if I’ve ever posted about it here, but many of you may heard of Saab’s Alcokey system. Apparently it’s actually in use in the Swedish market, sort of a market-based trial.

There’s news today that a similar (but different) type of technology might be made mandatory in the USA by 2009. The new technology they’re all trying to perfect is a system where a sensor picks up the amount of alcohol in your system by readings taken off your skin. I’m not sure if that sensor would be in the key, the steering wheel or the gear change (or all three).

Current models, like the Alcokey, involve blowing into a tube-based detection system, similar to a basic police breath test.

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A few 9-5 tests are floating around.

One such test is from Cnet and I’m resisting the urge to comment about the reviewer personally, but let’s take a look at a few things that have been written instead…..

Safety rating (from the reviewer) – 7 out of 10.

This is the Saab 9-5 we’re talking about. A five-star rated car for safety and an award winner as recently as late last year. Seven out of 10. With 3 points out of 10 deducted, that leaves room for an almost 50% improvement in the author’s eyes before the car should be rated a 10. I’d love for her to explain where that 43% or thereabouts of improvement is supposed to come from.

Comfort rating – 6 out of 10

Assuming that, say 50%, is a pass rating, this means that she considers a 9-5 to be barely above a passing grade?! It’s got possibly the most comfortable seats on earth. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but I think it’s definitely better than just passable. Her important problems? Read on:

Space is plentiful in the glove compartment, as well as in the trunk, although–in another of Saab’s quirks–the trunk-release button is on the driver’s door, which we found counterintuitive and inconvenient.

Rediculous. It’s all in what you’re used to. The trunk release is placed perfectly for the driver to open it as they get out of the car. Couldn’t be easier.

My final dig:

….city dwellers beware: The car falls short when it comes to stop-and-go driving. By the time the turbocharger kicks in, it’s time to stop at the next red light.

Further confirmation that car reviewers rarely test their vehicles according to real-world conditions. Or know very little about the vehicles they’re actually testing, especially if the vehicle in question is not labelled Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, Chevrolet etc etc.

All up, despite my hair-pulling here, it’s not such a bad writeup. I just wish some of these assclowns would do their homework and assess something a little more objectively rather than whether a vehicle fits their own personal assumptions like a glove.