The Independent drives the Turbo X
Yet another Turbo X review has been published, this time from The Independent in the UK. It seems they took part in the Marseille driving even rather than the more recent Ice Hotel event.
The review concludes in a way that invites a rather serious question: Would Saab drivers welcome the rear end of their cars hanging out around corners?
I’d suggest not. I’d dare say that it would be fun now and again, but that overall, Saab drivers prefer to have their fun within a set of parameters that doesn’t include tempting fate at every corner.
I’d love to know how many rear-wheel-drive cars have been written off and the occupants injured or worse due to the driver’s self belief exceeding their real ability to control a car through a corner.
So I’m burbling along a fast, straight road, and I steer from side to side to feel what happens. The eLSD nips each wobble of the tail in the bud, pushing the Saab straight. You really can feel it working. Now some bends: the nose points into the corner, the tail obediently follows. If I try to turn more tightly, the Saab obliges. If I decelerate while doing so, the Saab turns no more tightly than before because its tail is tied down by technology and isn’t allowed to drift out. That’s good, isn’t it?
Not entirely. It’s actually better if the tail moves out a little to help tighten the cornering line. It also makes a car more interactive, more alive, more fun.
That’s the Turbo X’s problem: it’s objectively capable but subjectively a bit dull. The picture could well be different on the snow and ice on which the Turbo X was partly developed, but on dry roads it needs to cut loose a little if a driver is to love it.
Our writer seems to suggest that its ability to oversteer at will and thus tighten the corner (and lose some speed, I’d suggest) that makes a car lovable. I’d say bullocks to that.
What got me to love my Saab was a combination of effortless hillclimbing, the turbo rush, great comfort and immense practicality. They’re not all cornerstones of a Turbo X sedan, but I could well imagine it being a very satisfying drive for my tastes.
Don’t let my initial coverage tarnish this review. It’s actually quite good, even if it does finish on a down note. Every driver and journalist has different priorities.
With a headline like “The 9-3 Turbo X puts the soul back into Saab” you know it’s going to make for some good reading. And it does. There’s discussion there about Saab’s identity and approach, acknowledgement that the ways of others aren’t necessarily Saab’s ways. It’s an edifying read over all, even if frustrating in part.
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That means the Turbo X is going to get crap reviews here in OZ. Cars here are mostly judged by how much you can hang the bum out.
Actually Motor previewed XWD last year and said it was pretty good except that the Saab badge would be a problem for some.
It’s bullshit.
Actually, how many people drive their car on daily bases by deliberately oversteer and drift the rear on the cornering?
I guess, it’s far from the normal driving style of most people.
The Turbo-X is not about the drifting and driving like rallye champions. It’s about the resonsible and safe driving in any situation even with hig speed.
That reminds me of those times Clarkson would say he’d rather have a [insert super car here] over a Ferrari because the new prancing horses are over-engineered….as if that somehow means it lacks passion and excitement…it just means you can push the car harder!
Who are they writing these reviews for? The Stig? He can’t read! Unless you’re reviewing for Track Car Weekly, what’s the point? The average driver wants something safe AND fun, not grocery-getter power slides.
As per the comments above, this means that the TurboX will be percieved as too clever and safe by journalists who drive like Jeremy Clarkson. On the other hand, this kind of control is why the car was so slick through the cones and apparently beat the Porsche Turbo.
If you like hanging the arse out, don’t buy a Saab. Its not what they are all about.
Journalists complain when the car’s too loose (Viggen), and they complain again when the car sticks too well (Turbo X).
I stopped reading auto reviews when I realized that I knew more about cars than they did. Anybody does, really, because auto journalists have disfunctional relationships with the cars that they review.
It’s just a blurry series of one night stands for them, so they only remember the party tricks, not the stuff that keeps you coming back for more every day.
Jeremy Clarkson actually gave the 9-5 a good review once and said he understood why people bought it. Perhaps he’ll do the same for a Turbo X?
The Oz version of Top Gear starts soon. It would be good if they could test a Turbo X on the first episode? I think they’ll have trouble finding anyone as acerbic as Clarkson to host it though!
That’s stupid. First of all, if you manage to make a FWD car tail-happy, you need to fire your engineers (coughC30cough). Second of all, who wants to put their car in a power slide in the middle of traffic? AMG drivers, but they have a death wish. If you’re looking for a fun car for drunken hoonage, look elsewhere.
Hmm, the issue here is not power slides in a rear wheel drive car, this is about lift-off oversteer in front wheel drive or four wheel drive cars.
Lift-off oversteer is a good thing - go into a corner too hot and the reflex is to lift off the throttle. The response from the car should be to slow down, let the tail come out and tuck the nose in; far preferable to understeering off the road (as cheap cars do).
I find that my Fiat 128, my Peugeot 306 XSi and my Saab 900S all do this beautifully. The idea that they’ve engineered the Turbo X badly in this regard is absurd. Maybe it’s just got so much grip that the journo just never found the limit?
@Anthony: all you need are an Alfa and a Citroen to round out your Garage o’ Obscurity.
Bernard, you described the auto junalists most beautifully.
Anthony, I would think the need for lift-off oversteer is not so present with the XWD, and that is possibly confusing some people. I’d imagine you would very rarely be in a situation where you actually need lift-off oversteer in a Turbo-X, the car would probably already have sorted it out before you notice it.
I think the new GT-R was also got some of the same critics - the car is a bit too good for the journos. They are like big babies in many ways, and they know how to cry when things are not like they expected…
Why don’t they give it to the Stig and see what he comes up with? At least, many of us don’t drive ‘em like that, do we?
I agree that it doesn’t matter in the real world, but he has a fair point, cars that are to sterile to drive are not as fun as more alive cars like the Viggen.
Probably no-one is still reading this, but I thought some more about it and wondered what the Turbo-X would actually do at the limit? (I agree it would take some guts to find it.) Would it be like a WRX and just throw itself sideways off the road? I doubt it, so it must either understeer or oversteer. I might go up to Motors at lunch time and ask when I can test drive one. lol.
(and as for my Garage o’ Obscurity… I have had an Alfa 33 4×4 wagon, and still have a Fiat 850 Sport Abarth and a 1958 Fiat 500. No Citroens though - they are too weird.)