Monthly Archives: January 2008

Saab Pride – New Mexico Style

Posted on by
16

Here’s another entry in the Saab Pride of Ownership competition and I don’t know what’s more breathtaking – the car or the scene.

It’s from Peter S, who I’m sure is thanking Elkparts even as you read this.

——

This is my 1989 900 turbo sedan, which in the States is getting to be quite rare. It has been in the family since 1997, and has been mine now for seven years. No, it does not have a name. I love it far more than I probably should. My ’06 SportCombi Aero is faster, smoother, quieter, and has far more buttons, yet it has not and will not replace the old one. If I eventually have a son, and he proves himself worthy, then maybe, just maybe I’ll let him take it to the prom.

The setting for these shots is my current home, Albuquerque, New Mexico. We have an impressive landform called the Sandia Crest, a prominent outcropping that I figured would be the only way to get a decent picture when considering a whole world of Saab-lovers and interesting locales. A curvy road leads you up towards them and just before the La Luz trailhead I chose a pulloff at sunrise to try and capture my car. On the way back down towards the city you can see forever, so there is a shot in that direction as well.

Cheers to a great 2008!

Saab 900

Saab 900

Saab 900

Saab Pride – sea kayak style

Posted on by
2

It’s time for yet another entry in the Saab Pride of Ownership competition, which is soon to come to a finale.

As always, my thanks to Elkparts for the support. Get your Saab gear there.

Today’s entry comes from Igor Y, living in Connecticut in the US.

——

Please find attached the pictures of my ’07 9-5 Aero. It is my fifth Saab. I have owned Saabs since 1996. My first Saab was a ’91 white 900 coupe, which I had in Switzerland where I lived at the time. Several moves around the world made me part with my trusted friends. The first classic was followed by two NG 900s (red and black) and a black ’02 9-3 SE 5-door. Although I hated to part with the hatch design, the need for a roomier car made me opt for my current Aero earlier this year. I did that with a bit of apprehension at the outset, as I wasn’t sure if I will fall over the current 9-5 design, but over the several months I had my Aero, it has grown on me. And as far as driving experience, this one is the best I have ever had.

The pictures were taken on the shore of the Long Island Sound in Stamford, CT. Not much of a landmark, I must I admit, but this is what we have here.

That day I went on my last sea kayaking trip this year and my two faithful friends: the Falcon and the Aero were here with me. This morning, December 31st, I actually went skiing in the Catskills, again with the Aero. Rain or shine, snow or suddenly hitting ice puddles at 80 MPH (as happened in Quebec last week), my Aero always gives me the sense of certainty like nothing else. By the way, I completed my Aero academy course earlier this month, what a bliss!

It does snow in New England, hence snow tires on non-Saab rims, I hope you understand.

Happy New Year!

Igor Y

Saab 9-5

Saab 9-5

Saab 9-5

Video: GM’s ethanol partnership

Posted on by
1

The following video covers the announcement of GM’s partnership with Coskata in a new process for the manufacture of ethanol, a process that’ll use waste resources rather than corn, will use much less water, and will cost less as well.

Saab’s own Kjell AC Bergstrom features in part of the clip, talking about Saab’s BioPower engines and ethanol as a fuel source.

With Bob Lutz being so bearish about diesel in the US recently (more to come later) it appears that BioPower will be the next ‘new thing’ after the XWD rollout later this year. Hopefully Coskata can get the process online asap.

——

And by the way…..

Our own 1985Gripen did a phone interview with a newspaper in Los Angeles today.

Gripen’s been an early adopter of E85 in his company-provided Chevy Impala and I had the pleasure of riding in it, with E85 in the tank, from LA to Santa Barbara a few weeks ago. The LA Times did a hatchet-job on ethanol not so long ago, but now that the fuel is actually available in LA they seem to have more of an open mind in exploring the E85 experience.

The interview went well and hopefully we’ll have something on the site as soon as it goes online.

Wednesday Quick Snippets

Posted on by
17

They’re trying everything to move Cadillacs in the UK.

Now you can get the BLS wagon for the same price as the BLS sedan.

The BLS wagon is an abomination compared to the 9-3 SportCombi it’s based on. Funny thing is, though, the 9-3 SportCombi isn’t selling that well in the US and all the US-based people on Autoblog who are commenting on this story are pleading for the BLS wagon to be brought stateside.

——

A GM source told me that the push for Cadillac in Europe is based on a desire to take on the premium sector in Mercedes, BMW and others’ top line models. They advocated the Cadillac push by saying “do you really think Saab can take on those high-end models?”

With the right investment, I’d say ‘yes’.

——

Saab’s US website has been ranked in the Top 10 automotive websites by JD Power.

Again.

——

CAM’s had a little fun with the Saab 9-4x concept in order to look into a possible Saab 9-1 design:

Saab 9-1

——

Despite the consternation in comments over the Turbo X -vs- XWD Aero post from last night, I’m still very confident on the Turbo X.

I think the whole exercise goes to show that there’s little short term gain to be had in chassis and drivetrain enhancements. The short term gains come from horsepower and demostrable improvements therein. Long-term may well be a different story, however.

A lesson learned for Saab? Let’s hope so.

Preview: Lane Motor Museum Visit

Posted on by
6

I’ve only lived in Nashville, Tennessee most of my life. But things going on here still escape me from time to time. Yes, they escape even me (eye roll).

Right now, I’m pretty pumped about a small motor museum that recently opened here in the Music City. If one may include five years ago as “recently”.

Lane Motor Museum is a small automotive museum located near downtown Nashville, Tennessee in the old Sunbeam bread bakery building. Their collection consists of 300 cars, mostly rare and unusual European automobiles. They claim to have the largest collection of Czech-built cars outside of Europe.

How did I miss this the past five years?
Continue reading →

Saab Turbo X -vs- Saab 9-3 Aero XWD

Posted on by
51

I got an email last Friday from Saab USA. They’re concerned that there’s still confusion about the Saab Turbo X. I won’t reproduce the contents here as Ryan at Saab History also got it and published it verbatim. I didn’t publish it straight away as I had one fundamental question to ask – the question I’m trying to answer here.

The presentation shows how, as an enhanced model, the Saab Turbo X is a greater special edition than the 9-3 Viggen was relative to the OG 9-3. This is a reasonable thing to discuss and shouldn’t be devalued, but devalue it a little I must, as it completely misses the point.

No-one’s shopping the Turbo X against a Viggen, so whilst that discussion will be a good one for a future Saab Owner’s Convention, it’s of limited relevance in the here and now. The one question people want answered about the Turbo X is “Why should I buy one instead of just getting an Aero with XWD, or waiting until 2009 when the Aero with XWD will have the eLSD (at least in the US market)?”

Saab Turbo X

I pointed this out to SaabUSA and they’re not able to provide the answer to that at the moment, primarily because the 2009 specs haven’t been set. Fair enough. But if they want to clear the air on the Turbo X, they’re going to have to address it some time.

So here’s a brief Trollhattan Saab comparison, based on known information about the cars.

Exclusivity

I don’t list this first because it’s the most important, not by any means. But you’ve got to start somewhere. I had a question on the site a few days ago asking if the Turbo-X would be continued in to the 09 model year, so it’s relevant to mention here.

The Saab Turbo-X will be limited to a worldwide volume of just 2,000 units for the 2008 model year only. Each country has an allocation, so if you want to get one, it’s not one in 2,000, it’s one in 600 if you’re in the US, one in 500 if you’re in the UK, one in 30 if you’re in Australia. I’ve got a number of national volumes listed here (along with everything else you need to know about the vehicle), but if your country isn’t listed you need to check with your national Saab organisation to see how many you’re getting.

Continue reading →

EnG 1999 Saab 9-5 SE Update

Posted on by
31

As regular readers know, I bought a 1999 Saab 9-5 last month, and I’ve enjoyed driving it.

But I must say, I’ve not enjoyed fixing it.

—————————————-
UPDATE: I guess that I thought that it would be understood that since I bought an 8-year-old car, I bought into a few repairs (see comments on stereo, motor mount). As I said in one of the summary paragraphs, I expect to get my hands dirty a little. I went over this car pretty well at the time of purchase, I missed a couple of things, but my lament here is about two specific things: one, dumb luck that a few parts that worked well at the time of purchase failed in the first month of use, and two, that some of these failures are due to poor designs and/or manufacturing processes.

That is, this isn’t so much a “woe is me” whining rant as it is a frustration that our favorite brand is bitten by the same bug as many other manufacturers have fallen prey to: cheaper parts and less attention to longevity for better margins and/or competitive pricing. That’s all.
—————————————–
Continue reading →