Saab 9x BioHybrid - that’s the name
As this goes to print, we’re around 24 hours away from the unveiling of Saab premium compact concept…..
One thing I think I can confirm now is that the name of the vehicle will be the Saab 9X BioHybrid Concept.
Saab are obviously looking to cash in on the link to the very well received 9x concept car of years ago. As Gripen mentioned in comments, it may lead to some confusion in the future, but I guess the BioHybrid part will have to be the differentiator. I don’t think there’s be an OG9X and an NG9X 
There’s still no imagery in my inbox, so Saab have closed ranks very tightly on this one. I’ve asked for some images in exchange for honoring the embargo, but I haven’t heard back yet. Sure, I’d love to break pictures out first, but if they’re not forthcoming from Djup Strupe, then it’s more important to me that you, the Saab enthusiasts, get to see them right on time rather than waiting for me to download, format and then re-load them.
We’ll see what happens. Not much time to go.
More from this category
- Tell GM About It, part II - Saab 9-1
- Saab 9-X photoshop fun
- How many doors on the Saab 9-1?
- More talk of the next Saab 9-3
More from this author
- Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- Thursday Snippets - rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated, for now…
- Let Saabs be Saabs
- Nordic adventure in Åre, Sweden
Subscribe to this author
Recent Comments
- Joel on Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- zippy on Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- Beren Erchamion on Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- Beren Erchamion on Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- BrianL on Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- Ken B on Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- SaabLance on Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- Kroum on Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- Adam on Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
- joemama on Edmunds provide puzzling Saab Turbo X road test
dissapointing, wish they would have named in 9-1. im hoping this concept isnt a old 9x with an aero-x face.
Swade, do you have the Euro time of the launch please, Ta.
Exiting countdown.
If saab doesn’t give Swade the opportunity to publish things in time, you could try and look at those sites, but before any presentation nothing will be visible, I guess:
http://www.gmeurope.info/geneva08/saab.php
http://www.gmeurope.info/geneva08/press_conference.php
http://www.gmeurope.info/geneva08/press.php
http://www.gmeurope.tv/webcast/index.php?amount=10&channel=webcast
Meanwhile,I tried too figure out something at webcam 1 & 2 on official site of the expo, but untill now without any success.
http://www.salon-auto.ch/en/
So, it’s wait and see…
I would have preferred the name -and the concept- had a link to the coming(?) production car, not to a seven-year-old concept car.
We wants pics, Swade have your contacts abandoned you?
Lets not forgot its a concept so any resemblance to the actual production product will be purely coincidental.
So it means that those pics of the concept were probably real. Im very confused if they have used OLD 9x again in some form. It should have quite many changes from inside to outside being a todays Saab.
But we will see very soon..
robin its 5.30 swiss time, so 4.30 english time i think. I was really hoping it was called the 9-1 too, because then that would’ve meant a whole new start whereas the 9-x sounds like the 9x just with a different engine and slightly different front, as mo says, I was really hoping that this was going to be a stunning, all new concept car, but as its getting closer with this name, makes me think its going to be another stale bread concept from Saab, slightly like the 9-4x which I do like, but Saab could’ve done so much more…… heres hoping anyway
Are you sute it’s 9x and not 9-X? All other sites call it the 9-X BioHybrid.
Also found that “[t]he 9-X BioHybrid also features a unique load-carrying system.”
Don’t be shocked if it’s the 9x with only minor tweaks… I won’t be, for sure.
Exciting countdown.
If saab doesn’t give Swade the opportunity to publish things in time, you could try and look at those sites, but before any presentation nothing will be visible, I guess:
www dot gmeurope dot info/geneva08/saab dot php
www dot gmeurope dot info/geneva08/press_conference dot php
www dot gmeurope dot info/geneva08/press dot php
www dot gmeurope dot tv/webcast/index dot php?amount=10&channel=webcast
Meanwhile,I tried too figure out something at webcam 1 & 2 on official site of the expo, but untill now without any success (all black and webcams are in hall 5 & 6, saab stand is in hall 1). www dot salon-auto dot ch
So, it’s wait and see…
“So it means that those pics of the concept were probably real.”
I dont know about that. The side by side teaser shows a little to many structural differences. Not one shared piece of sheet metal visible:
http://www.nordesjo.se/pics/saab-9x-comparison.jpg
ken h, thats how i feel. as time comes closer to reveal i just have a feeling that all the hype will be dissapointment.
martin your pics are making me feel bad now. the pics have the exact same roof line.
The official invitation from Saab (Suisse) has this “picture”.
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/02/saab91teaser2_450-op.jpg
Ok everyone stop now… Stop shooting the whole thing down before anything has been released.
And no the comparison pictures DON’T look the same. the wheel arches are different and the roof line is flatter… It’s about the same as any car has 4 wheels in each corner.
Well, if it is an updated version of the 9X concept car, I think it’ll be really great. This concept is supposed to be an indicator of what the production 9-1 will be like and I think that the 9X would have laid a foundation for a great small production car for Saab. The only pity in this is the recycling of the name. I guess the “X” in this case will be indicative of AWD (not XWD, as likely the front wheels will be driven by the ICE and the rear wheels by the electric motor), whereas I don’t expect to see the production model with AWD, at least not initially. Too expensive.
If this concept does indeed turn out to be a refresh of the 9X I think Michael Mauer should get some credit, even though the styling will likely be updated with Nesbitt/Lo styling.
Remember a while back Steve Shannon was saying something about the next-gen 9-3 convertible having some sort of revolutionary top design? I wonder what that was about.
I sure hope this 9-X BioHybrid and the production model that comes out based on it has the revolutionary cargo hauling design (with removable roof and fold-down tailgate) that the first 9X concept had.
WooDz, you’re right. Let’s give them a chance. They’ve only screwed up the name yet, not the car.
It couldn’t be based on the old 9x, if the new one has the front-engine FWD Delta platform while the old one has a typical front mid-engine RWD architecture…
Tiago Do Vale. I think you need to revisit the 9X spec sheet. It wasn’t mid engined and certainly NOT RWD.
Facts: Technical specifications and performance
Chassis:
Two-door sports car with floor-mounted rear tailgate, monocoque construction; aluminium/steel.
Engine:
3.0-litre high feature V-6, turbocharged, four OHC, 24 valve. Aluminium construction. Front, transversely-mounted
Max. power (projected): 300 bhp/ 224 kW @ 5,500 rpm (EEC)
Max. torque (projected): 410 Nm/ 302 lb ft @ 2,200 rpm (EEC)
Engine management:
Saab Trionic (ignition timing, turbo boost and throttle control)
Transmission:
Six-speed, sequential, manual gearbox. Four wheel drive
Steering:
Rack and pinion, power-assisted. 2.5 turns (lock-to-lock)
Suspension:
Front: Struts, lower A-arm, separate gas-filled shock absorbers coil springs, anti-roll bar
Rear: Independent, multi-link, gas-filled shock absorbers coil springs, anti-roll bar
Brakes:
Front: 350mm, ventilated/drilled steel discs, 4-piston Brembo calipers
Rear: 330mm, ventilated/drilled steel discs, 4-piston Brembo calipers
Wheels:
19 x 8.5 inch, five-spoke alloy
Tyres:
Front and Rear: 245 x 45 Michelin R19
Kerb weight (projected):
1330 kilos
External dimensions:
Length: 4156mm, Height: 1365mm, Width: 1820mm Wheelbase: 2700mm, Track width (f): 1570mm, (r) 1570mm
Load space:
Volume: 230 litres (rear seat up), 600 litres (rear seat folded)
Length: 495mm (rear seat up) 955mm (+ rear seat folded) 1155mm (+ floor extended) 1540mm (+ tailgate down) 2480mm (+ front seat folded)
Performance (projected):
Top speed: 250 km/h (limited) 0 - 100 km/h: 5.9 secs
Chief Designer Anthony Lo, who led the team, is our guide. “The whole team has found it very exciting to provide a first glimpse of what is to come from Saab in the future,” he says. “This is not just another show car, it has been developed with the serious intention of production.”
I understand what you’re saying: I have read the specs.
But if you “read” it’s profile, you’d understand that the 9x had it’s engine behind it’s front axle (hence the front mid-engine architecture). That position is impossible for a FWD architecture, not only because it requires a different transmission concept, but specially because a FWD car with the engine in that position would have huge difficulties trying to have some traction.
And you can also see that a huge amount of the wheelbase is wasted in a way that enhances the posture of the car (elongating it’s bonnet) while being realistically an impossible waste of interior space and engine bay management for a production car (The engine doesn’t take half of that bonnet, even if it was placed longitudinally, which it isn’t.)
So, it’s a 4WD (if they say so: I’m not sure that spec is only hypothetical) but it’s based on a RWD platform, which is the only one who would have an advantage on that weight distribution.
And I can guarantee that the Delta platform will always have it’s engines IN FRONT of the front axle. (No room for an engine there, on the old 9x concept.)
Saab has wet our appetites numerous times over the last couple of years with stunning conceptcars, but we still haven’t seen any new production car yet. But at least Saab’s future seems very promising at this point of time.
I too think the car should have been named 9-1, but as it is only a concept, I don’t mind too much. The real car must surely be called 9-1?
Whatever they call it, when it’s promising and good designed like their previous concept cars, it must go into production (as they should have done before with the 9X, the 9-3X, the Aero-X and recently the 9-4X).
I’m curious and tension is building up.
Give us a sign swade ! Do you have something ready to publish in the very near future or are you still awaiting …. ?
I have nothing, Wilfried. They’ve kept it very quiet this time around. If they do give me something so that I’m ready to go right when it’s released then I’ll let people know here, but will honour the embargo. Until then, I’m waiting like everyone else.
OK Swade, i’ll believe you.
At least, with building up the tension, saab shows some (premium) class here, keeping it all top secret, not leaking (by purpose) any picts and in doing so, not spoiling the ‘party’ they are giving with their Premiere Night at the Parc des Eaux-Vives.
No matter if it is a 9X,9-X, 9-1 or a 9x BioHybrid, it will be some sort of revelation.
Does any of the trollhattan-readers/commenters actually goes there or is visiting the expo in Geneva ?
The name is a mouthful and would be difficult to market. Hopefully for a production version it will be simplified? Much as I like the original 9X concept, I’m not sure if an updated version would work. Saab needs 3 and 5 door hatches. I can not conceive how you would make a 5 door out of the 9x shape? The 9-3X shape is easy to make into a 5 door hatch. In fact I’ve seen a few CGI renditions of this. If Saab go down the 3 door only route, they will only get a third of the potential market that they could have if there are 3 and 5 door versions, and this would be a costly mistake.
I love coupes/3 door hatches and that is what I would buy, but I know there’s a whole lot of buyers out there that would want and need a 5 door variant also.
I guess we will have to wait to tomorrow to find out?
While I am excited about seeing what is on offer it’s only a concept car - I want a real car!
zippy: I agree. The Saab 9x BioHybrid has to be at least as close to production as the 9-4x.
Talk of a 3 or 4 year lead time and buyers will go elsewhere.
they should call the final product 9-2
9X - Great legacy. I would have to say that barring a production run of the Aero X, there isn’t a more modern statement that Saab could make that it has finally arrived
BioHybrid - Have we not forgotten what happened with Grrreeen yet? Forbes Auto just published its top 10 most fuel efficient luxury cars…Volvo has multiple slots and Saab none. How many European aircraft engineers does it take to get a reality check? Saab is wasting their precious dollars chasing failed technology when they should have won that slot between the S40 and the A4.
Tiago do Vale, you are talking business.
One could add: The old 9x had a back seat for midgets only (and NO legroom). A versatile tailgate leading into tiny luggage space. No rear visibility.
That’s not a good basis for a compact Saab. (A Saab Solstice maybe, but not 9-1/9-2. And that’s why recycling the old layout would be bad news.
Mo,
“the pics have the exact same roof line.”
Well… yes. And so does Aero X.