This isn’t actually a review. It’s more of a “hey, this car exists” piece.

But you know you’ve gotta be wary when it starts like this:

WHEN the Saab 9-3 was launched, it looked so like the old 900 I thought it was just a quick warm over and was gobsmacked to find it was a completely new model.

And yes, this is the 9-3 that he’s talking about….

That looks “so like the old 900″????

And here I am stuck in a job I don’t enjoy and there’s people like this employed to write about cars.

I dunno.

I’ve had three different people mail in some screenshots in the last week showing some ads they’ve seen on the web, on this site and on another.

First up, from ctm in Sweden:

Whilst I’m loathe to make any jokes where the word suicide is mentioned, the idea of killing Hummers does have a certain appeal. GM Premium Australia, take note please.

Yes, I’m tempted as always to add them to my ad filter, but then again I’m also happy to have their money to fund future projects for the site.

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The second one in came from 1985Gripen in Cali:

Apparently it’s a Caddy video ad showing the usefulness of the line-in plug.

More about this in a moment…..

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The final ad was sent in by RJ in Utah. It’s a screenshot from Jay Leno’s Garage and as you can see, Saab are doing some wide coverage of the 9-5 on Leno’s site, which is great to see.

Click to enlarge.

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The sight I’m really waiting to see is where someone sends me a screenshot of a video ad from Saab right here at TS.

“That’d just be preaching to the choir” I hear you say. Well, no.

Whilst it’s true that there’s a core readership based around Saab owners at this site, there’s also a heck of a lot of traffic coming from search engines, particularly with the search terms “2008 Saab 9-3″. The other thing is that the general Saab ownership demographic is pretty internet savvy. I don’t know what an ad costs per-click (Google don’t tell you that stuff) but considering how highly targeted a site like this is it’s got to represent some value.

If you’re an advertising buyer for Saab, please consider. I’ll be publishing my monthly stats for May tomorrow morning and I think you’ll find there’s a growing number of Saab-ready people that you’re missing. If you just want them to get my message, then fair enough. If you want them to get your message…..

Right now they’re getting Cadillac’s message.

It’s time for another custom Saab Wallpaper!

This one’s available in a medium format widescreen – 1280 x 800 pixels.

It’s been supplied by Adrian E in the US. He saw the tagline some time ago and decided to make something up based on it. It’s a perfect image for the purpose, if you ask me.

Click the image to enlarge then do your copy thing.

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All of the custom TS Wallpapers are images created or photographed by visitors to this site.

Click here to view the full collection.

Remember that Sonett II on Ebay?

The owner, Chris Bird, picked it up when he bought a storage container. It looks like he does that sort of thing for his furniture resale store. I don’t know if it’s a pot-luck thing, but I’m betting he’s doing OK out of this one.

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There’s 1 day and 14 hours to go on the auction as I write this and the Sonett has attracted 4 bids so far, and the top bid at the moment is at US$10,100.

The big attractions with this one was that 1) it really does look in pretty good shape, and 2) the odometer showed just 443 miles. Chris (the seller) heard about my previous post on this subject and chimed in through comments to say the following:

Just to let everyone know…I think the person who did the restoration on this car may have had the ODO reset or may have just installed a new one. I would assume a car with only 443 miles would not need patch work done on the rockers.

Regardless of the mileage – the car is in great shape.

Uhhhh…..it doesn’t say any of that on the ad. Shouldn’t it?

But I would have to assume that if he’s been so open about it here then he’s also being similarly open with any bidders that contact him (and I’d definitely be wanting to make contact before committing that kind of money).

The Sonett II really is a great looking car. I wonder what the V4s go for?

Kaz has spotted something that I completely overlooked in my general busy-ness. You’ll all have probably noted it yourselves and are about to fill the comments are with a chorus of “Duh”, but I thought it was worth noting here nonetheless.

If the guys at Saab Expressions are right, then what you’re looking at above is one of the new colors for the MY08 Saab 9-3. The scale model of the Aero-X, which is quite faithful to the original car, is written up at the Saab Expressions website as being painted in Snow Silver.

See below:

Those of you who have seen the Aero-X up close know that this color looks absolutely magnificent.

The 9-5 BioPower100 concept was also prepared in this color.

Joining Team Saab Club in the Modball Rally next month will be a team from Neo Bros, a part supplier in the UK.

Neo Bros will be driving a MY2000 Saab 9-3. Last year they participated in an event called Euro Enduro….

This car took part in the 2006 Euro Enduro competition and more information can be found on the website www.circuit-days.co.uk. The events involved a 7-day drive across Europe going from the UK to France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco and then back through France to the UK, stopping off at the Nurburgring track in Germany and the Croix track in France.

….and up against Porsches, Audis, Corvettes, BMWs, Mercs and the like, they actually pulled off a great win in their Saab!! Their diary of the event is here and it makes from some pretty interesting reading:

We set off from the hotel in Ashford and made our way done to Dover. We were advised that French police were aware of our event and were at Calais, so we made a decision and arrived at Dunkerque to miss the police.

Interesting stuff, to say the least. There’s a €900 fine and a year’s driving ban in there too for those who click through.

All that was back when their 9-3 was tuned to around 320hp.

This year, they’ve done some additional work on the car and it’s now sitting at around 420hp with around 550Nm of torque!

Here’s the mods list:

Make and Model:
Saab 9-3

Year:
2000 V

Colour:
Silver/Blue

Engine Size:
2290cc Turbo

Modifications:
-Maptun Software
-3″ Downpipe for GTBB turbocharger
-Cat back exhaust system
-Tubular equal length exhaust manifold
-UpratedWater/Oil lines
-Inlet pipe GTBB
-Performance Conical Air filter
-Performance Camshafts
-Uprated Pressure plate
-Uprated Clutch disc
-Uprated Aluminum Intercooler
-Uprated Fuel injectors
-Uprated Fuel pump
-Uprated MAP sensor
-Uprated GTBB 30 Turbocharger
-Uprated Cooling Fan
-Nitro Methanol Single Point Water Injection
-Silicone Hoses
-Bailey Dump Valve
-Data Logging System
-Custom Twin Oil Coolers
-Thermotech Manifold Copper Heat Wrap

Chassis:
-Seam Welded Chassis
-Poly Bushes
-Rose Joint Suspension Bushes
-Custom Spider Chassis Brace
-Alluminium Bulkhead Brace

Suspension:
-Adjustable Front/Rear Shock Absorbers
-Abbott Racing Springs

Braking:
-355mm Grooved and Vented Floating Front Discs
-330mm Grooved and Vented Floating Rear Discs
-6 pot front discs
-4 pot rear discs
-Competition Brake Pads
-Braided Stainless Steel Hoses

Alloys:
-18” Magnesium BBS Alloys

Interior:
-5 door Aero Leather interior
-Aero Steering Wheel

Styling-
-Xenon Headlights
-Xenon Foglights
-Airflow Bodykit

Total Power: 420BHP
Torque: 550Nm@6200rpm
Max Speed: ???MPH

This Modball gig is going to be an interesting one to watch. It gets underway on June 10 (otherwise known as MY08 Saab 9-3 Day) and continues through June 16th.

Good luck to both ModBall Saab teams. Travel safe.

Saffron Yellow it is!

I’ve just seen some internal GM bizzo that indicates the color Saffron Yellow will indeed be coming and I’d therefore take an educated guess and say that it’s the new Convertible color that’ll be announced later.

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There’s been a wildfire going around the automotoblogoshere in the last 24 hours. It’s called “Are BMW going to buy Volvo?”. I’m very interested in this, but not for the reasons you might think.

Are BMW interested? I have no idea. The official word is that there’s no talks going on and that Volvo’s not up or sale. Personally, I don’t think it’s going to happen and the reasons why are all well documented here at The Car Connection.

What I’m more interested in is whether or not this is an example of the internet gone crazy. This isn’t a new story. It was covered around three or four weeks ago. The recent wildfire was kicked off when it was covered in a newspaper in Goteborg. I haven’t seen that report, but the Reuters coverage of it doesn’t include much (if anything) that’s different from the original report from three weeks ago.

Could it be that it’s the exact same report but it’s been given a new lease of life because a report from a Swedish newspaper about a Swedish company gives it that extra credibility?

Time will tell.

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It’s all about Biofuels today….

Portugal are looking to ramp up biofuel availability and Spain are in the somewhat strange position of exporting gasoline so they can import more diesel.

Methinks that 180hp diesel in the new 9-3 might be a hit in Spain, a growing market for Saab even prior to this new model coming.

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In addition to all that, GM put out a press release that once again spruiks the benefits of Ethanol and the plans to have cellulosic ethanol in large scale production sooner than what most people think.

…..cellulosic ethanol – combined with the billions of gallons of corn-based ethanol already produced today – could potentially replace up to 30 percent of this nation’s demand for energy by the year 2030, according to National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Based on projections from biomass researchers, including Bruce E. Dale, director of the Biomass Conversion Research Laboratory at Michigan State University, cellulosic ethanol could be produced for $1.30 a gallon in the near future and around $1 a gallon by 2020. Both grain-based ethanol and biomass ethanol reduce greenhouse gas emissions — 29 percent for ethanol and 86 percent for cellulosic ethanol, according to Argonne National Labs.

The enticing thing about that is the “$1.30 in the near future” reference. Even if you factor in the estimated 30% mileage hit, that’s still around $1.70 a gallon.

Then factor in Saab’s turbocharging and engine management technology, which gets much better performance from the higher-octane fuel and you’ve got a recipe for some fun.

Getting off the corn base for ethanol is going to be a key for it’s success. Here’s hoping this optimistic press release is also realistic. Here’s hoping, too, that Saab can get BioPower into the US market sooner rather than later in order to get established with the right E85 message about environmental care and right-sizing of engines.

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Happy Birthday to Andy Rupert!!

As you can see he’s recently enjoyed an incident-free homecoming in his new Jaguar, but is keeping his Saab roots intact with the T-shirt his wife got him – Ivan’s rather cheeky “GM Free” shirt from the Saab Design T-Shirt Shop:

One of those things noted in studies about ‘brand communities’ was that Saab drivers would often wave to other Saab drivers and it wasn’t uncommon for a Saab driver to stop and help another Saab driver in distress.

I don’t think those elements are as strong these days, but if you live in or near Akron, Ohio, this might be a good opportunity to spread some Saab love.

Ted Y has emailed me this link, which goes to a video file. I’ll let Ted tell the story:

An elderly Akron, Ohio (USA) couple with life threatening medical conditions had their car stolen and burned. The full story is at the link below. However, the video ends by noting that they have a 1987 Saab sitting there, but it doesn’t run and they can’t afford to have it fixed. I just wanted to post this in case a good samaritan familiar with 87 Saabs might have time to take a look and help out. Could be it’s just something minor. I don’t live close, and I’m not familiar with that year of Saab.

Thier names are Dave and Helen August

The car appears to be a 9000.

As I mentioned, if you’re nearby and have the requisite knowledge to help them get it going, it’d be a great gift to these folks.

Maybe there’s a dealership nearby that would like to help out?

It seems that the Akron Police might be the intermediary to go through in order to get in touch. Or you could try the phone book, I guess.