It’s time for the February site stats, published to show Saab there’s some value in this here web stuff.

February 2008 was a red-letter month for Trollhattan Saab. It was the site’s third birthday for starters, but how’s this for a list of milestones. During February, the site

- published its 4000th post!
- received its 30,000th comment!
- blocked its 200,000th spam comment!

Here’s the graph for February:

During February, the site served an average of 8,979 pages per day to an average of 5,016 unique visitors per day. That’s quite huge in anyone’s language, especially for a single brand blog, and especially when that brand is a small one like Saab.

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There were 186 new entries written at Trollhattan Saab in February 2008. The biggest story of the month was undoubtedly the emerging interest in the Saab compact car concept to be shown in Geneva in March. But there was plenty of other stuff, too.

Some of the most commented on posts in February were:

Saab’s own showing of the 9-1 concept car silhouette – received 90 comments.

Kroum’s sad story of poor service trying to buy a Turbo X in Canada – received 60 comments.

My musings over committing automotive adultery – received 57 comments

An introductory piece on we Saab nuts being the General’s generals – received 64 comments

Richo’s call for help – Saab vs Subaru – received 46 comments

It’s absolutely mind-numbing to try and figure out why the Saab 9-3 isn’t selling well at the moment. The reviews have all been positive, especially where the XWD models are concerned – which might be part of the problem. I’m sure things will improve when XWD models become available.

Here’s a few more reviews for you Europeans to check out (or any of you multi-lingual types):

In Swedish:

Robert Collin from Aftonbladet was at the ice Experience test drive of the Turbo X and whilst the review is subscription only, it comes with the headline Hysterically Fun!

Expressen were at the Marseile drive event and scored the Turbo X as ‘22 out of 25′, saying that the Four Wheel Drive Saab is a Success.

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In Italian:

Quattroroute drove the TTiD Saab 9-3 and loved the low-down torque produced by the twin-turbo setup. They also seemed quite complimentary about the steering, which has been a point of contention amongst other writers. Coming from Italians, that’s impressive.

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And from Norway, Oistein wrote to me about his own recent drive in the TTiD:

I just parked a 9-3 Aero TTiD after a spin here in Oslo. That car impresses very much with its handling, power, comfort and as a stylish car! Outside the car you can hear that this is a diesel, which SAAB should spend some time to quieten down, but inside, it is just brilliant.

And that’s from a Saab guy, as well. Oistein is currently driving his sixth Saab, a 2007 model Saab 9-5 TiD Sport Combi.

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Hit the Road Tests category and you’ll see the 2008 Saab 9-3 is rating very well, whether with XWD or not.

Now they’ve just got to sell the things! That seems to be the hard part right now.

I posted pictures of this rather strange looking Saab last night and it certainly drew plenty of interest. I didn’t know exactly what the car was used for, only that it was some sort of rollover training.

CAM provided a little more info in comments…..

I’ve seen one of these before, when i was training for my rally license. We had to use a car in a jig like this, in my case an Audi A4, to simulate how to safely exit a car in an emergency situation

And they guy who provided the photos, Viktor, also provided some more information:

The training performed in this type of rig is how to escape a car once it’s inverted, something that can happen in a real world accident, of course.

The method used to escape safely (without landing on your head), is to put your feet and one hand on the windscreen or roof. Release the seatbelt, open the door and crawl out.

Almost every driver student in Sweden usually tries this once before getting their licence. The link i provided you with is from a traffic safety day in the Swedish army. Lots of our young soldiers drive heavy trucks and tanks during their military service, and of course accidents happen when young boys are playing.

Thanks Viktor and CAM for the info.

Sales News

It’s the last day of February, which means there’s going to be sales data come in early next week.

Saab is down worldwide so it’ll be interesting to see how the major markets have gone. I’ve a feeling it’s not going to be pretty.

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On a positive note, sales increased by 37% in Romania last month….

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Saab Canada and Australia

I sent emails to Saab Canada and Saab Australia last night to try and confirm the Turbo X prices we saw on the web yesterday. I’m quite confident they’re accurate, but I had some other questions for Saab Canada as well.

So far, all I’ve heard is the sound of tumbleweeds.

It’s notable that neither country has held a big whizz-bang launch for the Turbo X yet, a possible reason for the silence on prices. Having said that, other markets have released pricing information prior to conducting a launch.

Apparently the Turbo X is going to be an auto show in Edmenton soon, so we may hear from Saab Canada at that time.

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Saab 9-1 or 9-x concept news

Earlier this week I posted a note to the effect that the concept car I’ve been referring to as the Saab 9-1 concept may actually be called a 9-x at the Geneva show next week. Many were a little skeptical, myself included, but that was the message I’d received.

Just in case you missed it, this turned up in comments to a subsequent post:

I live in Switzerland and my local Saab dealer sent me an invitation letter for Geneva’s car show just today.

Without surprise it announces the 9-4x Concept, the 9-X BioHybrid (I guess the 9-1 concept) and the Saab 9-5 Turbo Edition.

Looks like there’s some definite substance to the idea, then.

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It’s Friday and there’s still no images of that concept car, and it’ll be showing next Monday.

My inbox is ready and waiting if anyone’s got something to send. You probably know that already, but I’m just saying….

Yesterday we saw some excellent images of the Turbo X from northern Sweden.

Now, we have the first reports from media attending a special Turbo X Ice Experience. This report has just come online at Edmunds Inside Line.

I was a bit worried that he was complaining at the start….

we had to fly all the way to Sweden, sleep in a hotel made of ice and drive all day on a frozen lake to find out [about how the car drove].

I’d say there’d be no shortage of volunteers who would like to trade places

Fortunately, the whole experience seems to have been quite worthwhile. XWD continues to get rave reviews and again, there’s no complaints about the power on tap.

Here are some snippets:

Once you switch off the ESP stability control, the Turbo X will hold a four-wheel drift until the fuel tank runs dry. Per Eklund, a Saab works rally driver from 1970-’79, was there to show us how it should be done, and we did a pretty good imitation….

….Driving on snow-covered ice is a good test of an all-wheel-drive system’s capability to respond to quick changes in wheel speed, and we came away impressed by the XWD system’s overall cooperative nature.

….Power from the 2008 Saab Turbo X’s 2.8-liter V6 is ample, with its full 280 horsepower arriving at a relatively low 5,500 rpm. A twin-scroll turbocharger fortifies midrange torque to a maximum of 295 pound-feet, which is on tap from 2,150-4,500 rpm. Squeezing the throttle reveals an engine with a character that’s at once stout and relaxed, like it’s never really working hard.

They’re going to reserve judgement until they get to drive it on a proper road, but needless to say they were pretty impressed with the car in the slippery stuff. They got one lap of the ice curcuit in a Turbo X pre-production model and then extended time in a XWD Aero.

It’s a good read, and another positive view of what I’m sure is going to be a vehicle that’s somewhat more sought after once it’s sold out.

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Edmunds have some more photos from the Ice Experience, too. Similar to the ones from yesterday. Unfortunately, the links to enlarge them don’t seem to be working properly right now.

Bummer.

Look what I just got in my inbox:

Steven,

I’m pleased to advise that the Impreza WRX is scheduled to arrive in Tassie today and that **** **** of Performance Subaru in Hobart will be preparing the car for your use over the next month.

I’ve just tried calling **** and he’s out at the moment, but needless to say I’m quite excited.

It’ll be really interesting to give this car a run over the next month. You’ll be getting plenty of pictures, thoughts and comparisons.

March is my birthday month. Looks like it’s starting out in a very interesting manner

The US market will be getting it’s own Lynx Yellow special edition convertible in Spring this year.

I’ve managed to get some details through, as follows:

The Lynx Yellow Convertible Package will only be available on the 2.0T and it has these goodies included:

- 300W 10-speaker Premium audio system, w/ 6CD changer
- Rear spoiler (like the one on the Aero)
- Lynx Yellow exterior paint
- 17” 5-spoke alloy wheels (the MY06/MY07 Aero wheels)
- Both Parchment and Black interior available

Could be good in the sunny states. The color will definitely be a polarising factor, but I like it.

Pricing: $ 2,495

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In other pricing news….

By the way: you knew that the XWD Package will cost $ 2,645 and includes XWD, special 17” wheels and self-levelling suspension rear?

Now that’s going to be great value!

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I’ll keep the source of this info unnamed. Not an insider, but his dealer might take umbrage. I’ve confirmed it with a Djup Strupe, however, and everything seems to be on the money.

I posted a story way back when we had a month of Saab mod-loving in May last year. It was called the wheels maketh the car. It had a good tip about acquiring new wheels, too, so if you haven’t seen it, check it out.

Anyway, I’ve just been looking at these Turbo X pictures from the Ice Experience once again and I’ve got to say….those wheels are absolutely stunning!!

They polarised a few people when the car was first shown, but seeing them captured in motion like this, well, they’re just magnificent. Yet another instance where the wheels really do make the car stand out that little bit more. Thank goodness Saabs have almost always shipped with really good wheels.

I wonder how these would look on a Viggen????