This via Autoblog.

I can’t find the actual link on JD Power to see what Saab models did well, but the chart below shows that Saab’s design language is appreciated by customers. A reasonable distance above the industry average, too.

The impression given in the writeup is that new design and therefore those companies that can churn out new designs are generally most appreciated. I’m not too sure that the results bear that out.

Interesting to see mostly Euros at the top and mostly Asian carmakers at the bottom (and it’s the Asian carmakers that are generally famed for quick turnover designs). Save for Lexus and Porsche, you could almost turn it upside down and read it as JD Power’s quality survey results.

It’s the end of June, the end of the financial year (here in Oz at least) and, in completely unrelated news, the end of Alfablogger. I just can’t put the time into it that I’d like to, so it’s up for grabs (very cheap) until the end of July. If anyone’s got an Alfa interest and is keen to dip their toes into the world of blogging, feel free to drop me a line.

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Shortly after setting up this site, I thought it’d be fun to design some T-shirts to sell. I have one of them myself. I set up a few designs over at Cafepress and even had an ad in the sidebar for a while. One guy out there is the owner of a one-of-a-kind 9-2x T-shirt as a result.

I took the ad down and forgot about them until just the other day. Turns out someone else purchased one of the “Convertible” T-shirts just last month. How they found them I’ll never know, but find them they did. Now there’s two of us with Convertible shirts. Welcome brother!

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Ever heard of ‘aggressivity’?

Monash University here in Australia has just completed one of the world’s largest crash-data studies. This is a study of real crashes and real injuries, hence the outcomes relate to used cars rather than new cars. There’s also a stronger presence of 3-10 year old cars in the results, given the greater number of them that are involved in crashes.

The data produced measures of crashworthiness and aggressivity, which is explained thus:

….how badly the vehicle is likely to harm other road users, including pedestrians and cyclists, in a crash…

….Of the 305 vehicle models included in the survey, 284 were also assessed for aggressivity. The average vehicle aggressivity rating resulted in 3.9 serious injuries to other road users, including pedestrians and cyclists, per 100 crashes.

Of the vehicle models assessed, 74 rated above average, while 56 rated worse than average.

Crashworthiness is pretty straightforward.

The Saab results…

The Saab 9000 and Gm900/9-3 were the only Saabs listed and both were reported as being above average for crashworthiness, with no Saabs being listed as below average.

The top 10 for crashworthiness were as follows:

• Volkswagen Passat (1998-2004)
• Kia Carnival (1999-2004)
• Peugeot 406 (1996-2004)
• Subaru Forester (2002-2004)
• Chrysler Voyager (1997-2004)
• Peugeot 306 (1994-2001)
• Honda CR-V (2002-2004)
• Holden Rodeo (2003-2004)
• Mazda 19929 / Sentia / Efini MS-9 (1992-1996)
• Honda Prelude (1997-2002)

The Saab 9000 came in at No. 11, but it sounds strange having a top-11

The worst vehicles in terms of crashworthiness were:

• Daihatsu Hi-Jet (1982-1990)
• Suzuki Alto (1985-2000)
• Mitsubishi Starion (1982-1987)
• Daihatsu Mira (1990-1996)
• Holden / Suzuki Scurry / Carry (1982-2000)
• Suzuki Mighty Boy (1985-1988)
• Suzuki Hatch / Alto (1982-1984)
• Hyundai Getz (2002-2004)
• Subaru Sherpa / Fiori / 700 / Rex (1989-1992)
• Daihatsu Handivan (1982-1990)
• Suzuki Swift (1982-1985)

Matt the Saabologist, please take note of #7 and drive carefully on your fundge-runs!!

In terms of aggressivity, the results are a little harder to interpret, as they have to combine vehicle size and speed as well as the number of injuries caused. In any case, for what it’s worth here’s the 3 least aggressive vehicles:

• Alfa Romeo 33 (1983-1992)
• Suzuki Baleno / Cultus Crescent (1995-2002)
• Renault Feugo (1982-1987)

The Classic Saab 900 was in the top-10 for least aggressive – though that depends on how you drive it, right Alaero, SAB?

Here’s the three most aggressive vehicles:

• Holden Monaro (2001-2004)
• Toyota Hilux (2003-2004)
• Toyota Supra (1982-1990)

Predictably, the most aggressive category was dominated by SUV’s, Commercial vehicles and large cars.

For those that are into such things, the full report, a 1MB pdf, is here.

Thanks to Turbin for the heads up

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Finally, being the end of the month, it’s time for sales data figures for June. These should be out early next week. As mentioned earlier this month, don’t expect big numbers from the US. In fact, expect a decent drop of up to 50% compared to last year.

This is an old dealer training video on the Saab 9-3 Viggen. Once you can get the cheezy flight suit crapola out of your head, it’s actually a pretty good illustration of the differences and characteristics of the car.

Enjoy.

Just a word to let you know that the 2007 spec range of Saab 9-3’s is now on site at the Saab International site. This link will start you off with the Sport Sedan.

Hat tip to Robbie.

Car & Driver frequently go by the initials C & D. Based on the initials alone and forgetting the “and”, I like to refer to them occasionally as the Confederacy of Dunces. Being an Aussie, i’m not a regular reader of this long-established tome, but I got my first real taste of their style last year when they did a comparo of $35,000 sedans, ripping the guts out of the 9-3 Aero V6 in the process.

The Confederacy are chiefs among BMW’s flag-bearers, more than willing to take a literary dagger to an upstart such as Saab. Actually, they just love anything German, but BMW in particular. On the front of their web page right now (29 June) there’s seven stories concerned with German cars, 4 of which are BMW’s.

Differences are dismissed as deficiencies. Engineering adequacy will be summarily cancelled by poor cup-holders or some such irrelevancy. If it ain’t Bavarian, then bring it back when it is.

It wasn’t always this way. Back in 1967, C&D tested the Saab 96 and said “push it for several hours, preferably on mountainous and less-than throughway type, and you tend to be absolutely thunderstuck”. But that was then, this is now.

I should be nicer actually, as the Confederacy have just published a new article on the 9-3 SportCombi and in comparison with the lashing they gave the 9-3 Sports Sedan in that $35K comparo, this write-up is positively glowing. It’ll appear in your August edition of C&D, which may not even be in the news stands yet for all I know.

So let’s read just a little and deal with it. The writer in this instance is Tony Swan.

First, the setup. Many articles that you read will have a hook at the beginning, one that’s meant to not only draw you in further, but one that also acts as a point of resolution at the end.

Tony?

Semantic bulletin: “SportCombi” is not yet another attempt to avoid the term “wagon”. Saab’s publicity materials don’t dance around the w-word, refreshing in the age of station-wagon euphemisms.

What the term does attempt is to conjure up the days when Saabs were quirky Swedish creations with a big cult following, rooted in a performance rep built on rally achievements.

OK, pretty standard start. Saab’s not Saab anymore……

I have almost no idea what he means by this:

The ignition-key location, down between the front seats, is one manifestation of this wistful remembrance of things fast, when Saab defiantly mounted its ignition locks in the floor.

Perhaps he meant “things past”. Maybe he’s saying the cars are slower than they used to be, or the current floor-mount is deferential rather than defiant, if it ever was defiant anyway. I think the Swedes saw it as “safe”.

Let’s skip ahead a little…..

Shorn of marketing attempts at reviving that old black magic, what we have here is a premium wagon version of the mid-size 9-3 sedan, a car that owes a lot to Germany (read “Opel”) and very little to Sweden.

I knew they’d get Germany in here some how!!

Yet another motoring scribe that doesn’t do his homework. Epsilon debuted with the Saab 9-3 and there are many common parts, but the Saab is a separate and distinct vehicle. Go ask Peter Augustsson or Carl-Peter Forster about the fibre optics etc.

But I digress. This is about the 9-3 SportCombi and eventually they talk about it:

That going-away view is important, because that’s central to the car’s concept – pulling away from the herd. A key part of the SportCombi’s allure, according to Saab, is that it combines a sporty persona with wagon utility: SportCombi. Get it?

We confess we had doubts about the sport part. The suspension is on the soft side, and this, plenty of suspension travel, ads up to more body roll than we associate with sporty rides. But we were pleasantly surprised by this wagon’s high cornering speeds, brisk directional changes, and accurate steering.

It may even be that some drivers will appreciate the uninhibited body motions, which enhance the sense of back-road drama. At the same time, we have no doubt that any driver will appreciate the car’s smooth ride quality.

And now the important bit. The part where C&D start to prove to an angry Saab blogger that perhaps they’re not that Confederacy of Dunces after all.

Maybe, just maybe, they get it.

In a way, these dynamic traits provide a stronger link with the past than hoary old touchstones like the console ignition switch.

This is the way the old 900 Turbos behaved, right down to the front-drive power delivery: hints of turbo lag, slightly rubbery shifting, but plenty of willing spirit at the apex, when the driver summons everything the engine’s got to pull out of a corner.

Well, they’re sort of getting it. Saabs weren’t actually built for the track, they were developed for safe, spirited motoring. Yes, they’ll take to the twisties with aplomb, but a Saab’s testimony and real character comes out on the open road, where it eats up the miles and gets you around any obstacles, be they vehicular or otherwise, with consumate ease.

They’re not on the money, but they’re getting closer.

They go on to praise the engine and the cargo space, then deal with the pricing….

But the bigger reservation is the price. The base four-cylinder edition starts at $27,620, undercutting the Audi A4 and BMW 325Xi wagons, which both come with all-wheel drive that’s not available on the front-drive SportCombi.

But with a base of $33,620, the SportCombi Aero begins to look a little pricey, even with a substantial array of luxoid standard features. You could strap yourself into a Hemi-powered Dodge Magnum RT for less.

You could get yourself into a Dodge Magnum, but then you wouldn’t be as safe or as well equipped and your car, that one that you see all over the place, would still look like a Dodge in 5 years time, meaning the rest of the world would have well and truly passed it by. Saab owners know that nearly all Saab designs not only look sensational, but they transcend fashion rather than following it.

They finish well. And of course they get out that GM-Saab-ain’t-Saab-anymore hook:

Then again, Saab’s tradition has always been transportation that rolls to a slightly different beat. We have to say that in this, at least, GM’s stewardship has been benign.

I’d encourage anyone with access to pick up the August Car and Driver and have a read of the full report. Despite my willingness to sink the slipper on this occasion, it’s a much more genuine assessment than the last look they took at the 9-3.

The SportCombi is one heck of a vehicle. Fantastic to look at, better to drive and genuinely practical as well. C&D managed to draw all three out and put them to print.

Credit where credit’s due.

As mentioned yesterday, Saab will debut the bigger 2.3l Biopower 9-5 at the British Motor Show in London next month. In addition, they’ll also be showing off the 9-3 Biopower Hybrid Convertible (don’t mention the plug!! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it)……and the Aero-X.

It’s a barnstorming Biopower blowout!

If you don’t want to wait for the 20-30 July for the BMS in order to see the Aero-X, I’m reliably informed that it’ll be making an appearance at the GoodWood Festival of Speed on July 7,8 & 9.

Having just used the words “reliably informed”, I should tell you that I can’t find a reference to it at the FOS website. Even if it isn’t there though, there will be more than enough mouthwatering machinery to keep you happy.

Jalopnik have covered the pimped 9-7x both on their blog, and in their daily podcast that also features Robert Farago of The Truth About Cars.

Their verdict: They like it. I’m not sure about whether they like the fact that they like it, but like it they do.

The podcast also goes into how Saab diehards hate the whole 9-7x idea, and they do the usual dismissal of the vehicle as just an SS Trailblazer with a body kit, yada yada yada.

The GM challenge: Give Farago a 9-7x to test. If it’s as good as the road tests and improving sales numbers indicate, then make him shut his piehole.

I maintain a sometimes-grudging-but-quite-genuine respect for Farago, admiring his steadfast refusal to accept any advertising and therefore remain independant. Anyone familiar with his work would know that he’s the motoring journalist’s equivalent of a vulture just waiting to pick at GM’s carcass (for the unfamiliar, he runs a regular spot called GM Deathwatch that’s now over 80 episodes in length).

I believe he’s willing to judge a good vehicle on its merits though, so if the 9-7x is as good as we’re led to believe, then lets stop the Trailblazer blow-off references in their tracks.

Big thanks to Robert N for sending in these.

It’s from an article in Bilsport (only available in print at the moment).

The 9-7x is being pimped up by the gents at Speedparts and a little digging has found a projekt page on the Speedparts site. There’s nothing in the way of development detail there yet, but it’ll be something to follow. Other than the huuuuge wheels, mesh grille and gangsta window tint, it’s hard to tell what else has been done so far. If anyone can provide details as to the modifications mentioned in the magazine then I’ll be glad to add them to this entry.

I lovin’ it.

Enjoy the pics, some of which are scans, hence the seams. A few more after the jump.

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