Autocar drive the Saab Turbo X
This is the closest thing we’ve seen to a review so far of the Saab Turbo X. Deliveries aren’t due to start for a little while yet, so I’d be interested to know if this is a pre-production vehicle they’ve taken for a spin.
Unfortunately for Saab, this first review is in Autocar - a publication that hasn’t given Saab a decent rap since Adam was wearing short pants. Maybe that was Saab’s strategy: turn around a skeptic first. If so….well….it kinda worked and it kinda didn’t.
It’s a pretty short affair. You’ll just get settled in and it’s all over (and I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere…..)
So. Autocar likes:
….a hot Saab that can put down its power on the road rather than wasting most of it in a flurry of front tyre agitation. Front drive V6 9-3s are a handful and feel clumsy – by contrast this is so much more competent and efficient, and makes a better job of using the available power.
And Autocar dislikes:
The steering is still vague and feels disconnected from the wheels, the steering wheel itself is far too large, the gearshift rubbery and the transmission still shunts and thumps at low speed in second and third like the car’s done 120,000 miles.
And naturally, Trollhattan Saab disagrees.
For starters, I’ll take the steering wheel in the Turbo X over the steering wheel in an Aero any time. Sorry to any Aero owners that might get offended, but the cleaner wheel on the Turbo X (i.e. without the Batwings) is much more appealing to me, personally. I’ve never felt that a Saab steering wheel is to big and if you’re going to prepare a short review and include that in your dislikes then it’s obviously a reasonably short list.
And I’ve never driven a modern Saab that feels like the transmission has “shunts and thumps” at any time.
They finish with:
…if you want a real sports saloon, one that you can thread through a road and one that’s going to reward, you’re going to be a disappointed with the Turbo X.
I’d suggest that if you’ve driven a modern 9-3 and liked it then the Turbo X will most likely blow you away. I’m not sure what your idea of a ‘reward’ is but my Viggen rewarded me every time I took it for a spirited drive and the Turbo X would run rings around my Viggen.
The single biggest factor with this car is the drivetrain and the way you get the power to the ground.
It’s new, it’s brilliant and it works.
More from this category
- One Owner’s Turbo X review
- Saab 9-3 Turbo X continues to generate press
- Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- Quite possibly the best 2008 Saab 9-3 road test report - ever.
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Autocar is disconnected. Right at the shoulders. They have absolutely no concept of reality.
0-62 mph 6.5 sec
Their eyeballs are disconnected, too, as looks like they just copy/pasted the stats for the FWD Aero model. Idiots.
It looks fantastic!
Whew. It’s freezing cold out there.
Speaking of steering wheels, I hope, or I’d like to see Saab introduce a heated steering wheel on the 9-1. I hate touching an ice-cold wheel.
19″ wheels? I thought the Turbo-X would ship with 18 inchers…(maybe just for the States)
And separately, Autocar needs an editor or two that actually proofread so that articles they publish don’t include glaring mistakes in their conclusions. What’s “a disappointed”? I think I might like to be one - maybe I already am one
Well, has anyone noticed yet but we have a POM testing a LHD Turbo X wearing a B hat !!! This guy goes on to state “the appalling ride we had on a 9-3 V6″. Anyone that knows clearly what Saabs are like and the truth will probably stop reading this article there as the V6 cars have never had such reports. This guy is full of manure to say the least as he defends again the B brand outright !!! The time quoted on the 0-100 is completely erroneous as he must have been still reading an old 9-3 Aero brochure. We are in 2008 pal btw !!!
The majority of people drive their cars to and from work each day and are lucky if they get to hit a few twisties along the way. It seems that a lot of these car reviews are reviewing the car as if its primary use will be at the track. The majority of people rarely take their car (whatever it is) beyond 5/10 of its performance capabilities.
All cars in the UK have an appalling ride as the roads are in such a bad state so I wouldn’t worry too much about that line. Love that shot of the front - looks great. My only concern is it costs as much as a 335i. But then again, maybe I shouldn’t be so concerned. Why? Saab Canada is getting 175 of them and I still haven’t heard from Saab how much they will cost so a ‘leftover’ Turbo X could be for me come late Aug 08.
Let’s face it, the only thing better to a motoring journalist than a free “B” cap is to drive a Ferrari F430 Scuderia. The F430 has an electronic differential which along with other electronic aids improves the performance dramatically so that it matches the Enzo round Fiorano. I hear another car with an electronic differential is the Turbo X…
I haven’t driven the Turbo X, but I have driven the 9-3 at Road Atlanta, pushed it way more than I have pushed my 9-5 Aero daily drive - if fact way more than any other car. Maybe if GM would give me the Turbo X to test I could drive it to work with Enzo-like performance and prove that Autocar motoring hacks don’t have the chops to give the Turbo X the credit it is due.
I am a little lost on the steering wheel comment. The Turbo X steering wheel looks nearly identical to the one in my 2007 SportCombi Aero.
As for the observation of the wheel being too large - that is one of the weirdest things I have ever read in automotive review. Maybe the reviewer was too large for the car and steering wheel got in the way?
All in all that was a fairly worthless piece of journalism.
Tedjs, I believe the comment about the steering wheel being too large was made with the diameter of aforementioned in mind. I will have to concur here, a sporty saloon could use a smaller steering wheel… At times, I feel like I’m the captain of a ship.
I have a 2007 9-3 SportCombi Aero and I wish the steering wheel didn’t have the bat wings and was a little smaller in diameter. But if I were writing a review it wouldn’t even rate a mention.
One nice thing about the larger steering wheel, and why I believe SAAB has designed it this way, is you can see through the steering wheel to read all the gauges without taking your eyes off the road for long.
My wife has a Lexus and the steering wheel blocks pretty much everything. It’s difficult just to glance down to see how fast you’re going because all the gauges are blocked by the steering wheel.
So if a bit larger steering wheel is the price I have to pay to see everything easily, at a glance, I’ll gladly pay the price every time.
I’m sorry but I have to say it in the midst of my furstration (I rarely sweare in public but can’t help it)……Fukc’m as this piece of jurnalism is worthless !!!
I thought I remembered reading somewhere that the Turbo-X has a “chunkier” steering wheel. That is to say that the portion you grip is wider. I could just be remembering wrong.
While I admire your faith in Saab, I’m surprised at the number of visitors to this site who have their name on the Turbo-X waiting list site unseen and without even having had a turn behind the wheel.
The only disappointing thing I noticed about the Turbo X at the motor show was that it didn’t have the Aero (Batwings) steering wheel.
The Turbo X should have everything all other models do plus more. The Aero wheel gives you the look of flying a plane.
Not to mention the positive comments from everyone that sees it. “THAT”S HOT”
I have ordered my new Linear Sports Biopower with a Aero wheel at a extra cost of $750.
As It looks so goooooood.
If he thinks that wheel is big, obviously he’s never driven a Mercedes produced after 1886……..
Wanker.
276bhp? That’s quite an exact figure. Do they know something we don’t?
The 0-60 of 6.5 time could actually be for the automatic option which as far as I can remember was what was written in the TurboX brochure (I’d check, but It’s at home somewhere). Could that be the reason for the gearbox comment? - I don’t know, never experienced a Saab auto, so I can’t pass comment.
I finally read the poor Autocar review, but also read the comments. I was pleased to find a nice counterpoint by someone named Beren which I’ll take the liberty of quoting here:
“Nice Reivew - too bad it is so short, but its the first I’ve seen so far of the real car. It is much appreciated.
I’m curious about your comparison to the BMW. I compared the X to several BMWs here in the States and there was, well, no comparison. A comparable BMW would be the 335xi and would cost 10-15K more than the Turbo-X. I also think the BMWs are too “pimped out” these days and seem to look more like Mitsu’s than the classic conservative cars of the past. Perhaps things are different in the EU.
I also looked at Audi (A3 and A4) and had similar feelings (lack of power and “pimping”).
I do agree about your comments on shifting, however some of this is just getting used to the Saab feel.Once you get the handle on the shifting then even the 9-3 Aero is really a ton of fun - more fun than a 328i rear wheel for sure - to drive. The Turbo-X can only improve on that.
I’m a German car guy having owned VWs, Audis, and BMWs - I’ve never owned a non-German car, but this time around the Turbo-X was a clear winner for me.
beren”
We should not be surprised by this piece of junk journalism! Autocar has always been known as the BMW handbook!!
Yeah, the Turbo X should have had carbon fiber batwings, that would be exceptionally sexy imho
Can someone look up that plate on the Swedish registry? Be interesting to see if that’s a real Turbo X.
The whole review seems like typical UK motoring magazine stuff - it’s not a BMW so it’s no good. They couldn’t even be bothered to get the economy and CO2 figures from the Saab website.
Now we have inane comments like “when are Saab going to do something new” appearing. I just don’t get that! If you ignore the brand new class leading XWD system and the massive facelift last year, the whole 9-3SS design is still only 1 year older than mighty-BMWs current 5-series but nobody moans about that being old.
Joe,
You mean the NYU 318 on the picture? Vehicle registry says 206 kW (276 BHP).
The writer of that review is being deliberately “bloody minded”. Get a grip, Autocar. A more accurate and insightful review could have been written by a chimpanzee. It’s typical of so-called “automotive journalists” to, for instance, whine about cup holders while failing to observe they’re driving a car with the most advanced safety engineering on earth. That’s not much of a public service. Talk to the hand, Autocar.
Thanks ctm. They got that bit right then
Had a look through my Turbox brochure last night to confirm the 0-60 time was (as I thought) 6.5 seconds for the automatic.
…According to the info on the price list, 0-60 for the automatic is actually 6.8 seconds! that’s a fair drop over the manual.
Crap, just realised that time could have been for the Sport Combi version. Will have another look over the weekend.
I have to agree, Saab steering wheels are too big and the rims are too thin. Mercedes were slated for years about it so it is not out of character for the magazine to complain about it.
The fact that the Turbo X is already advertised with £3k discounts says to me that the car has been over proced in the UK.
The AWD system will be great but the fundamental flaws of the 9-3 need to be addressed to keep the brand competative without resorting to discounts