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I’ve been a Hirsch advocate for some time, ever since I took Jeff B’s Hirsched 9-5 for a drive back in Melbourne. It was a life-changing experience. The product is exceptionally good and I’d happily stand Jeff’s Hirsch against any Euro sedan and claim happiness, contentment and blistering acceleration. That car would be perfect for me.
Unlike my usual Hirsch-SaabUSA rants, however, today I’m not trying to get them to think about bringing the full catalog to the US market.
There’s several acknowledged areas in Saab’s current range that have room for improvement. They function OK and people are satisfied with them in general terms, but they could be improved. Some of these are quite complex, like the steering and shifter feel. These things take time, expertise and a huge investment to upgrade on a range-wide basis and the case for the investment has to be proven. I’ll leave that for another time.
Earlier today I published a number of photos illustrating some new Hirsch modified vehicles (9-3 and 9-5) from a dealership in Switzerland and those images got me thinking. There’s one area where the need to improve is acknowledged and a simple solution involving no investment, design or engineering costs is available right now…..
The interior of the Saab 9-3.
I still love the design of the 9-3 interior, despite them getting rid of that beautiful button dash (scroll down to the bottom). The new dash is simpler and easier to use, though not as sophisticated to my eye. Regardless of what I think, it’s a great design and right in line with saab’s ergonomic approach to design.
Most buyers will remain happy with it, but many who see it and use it comment on the materials. The Saab 9-3 dash does feature a lot of hard black plastics, which are also present elsewhere in the interior.
Hirsch have interior kits available in Europe right now that could address this issue. And what’s more, those interior kits would address it in a way that would put Saab interiors in a very competitive place relative to the competition.
Hirsch’s interior leather kit is made of full grade premium leather that’s embossed with a carbon fibre structure. They call it carbon leather and it looks fantastic. It’s totally unique, retains the ‘darkroom’ philosophy and would create a much more ambient experience for occupants. Further to that, it’d do away with the silver strip around the dash that aroud 50% of drivers complain about (not that I’ve ever found it a distraction, myself).
Here’s the carbon leather dash installed in a 9-3 Convertible. Click to enlarge.
As you can see, the difference is subtle, but much more elegant and premium in feel. I can’t imagine a 2007-onwards Saab owner who’s currently lukewarm about his dash materials not being impressed if they had this instead.
Add to that the other carbon leather accents that are available for door handles, handbrake and smartslot and you’ve given the 9-3 interior a subtle yet substantial makeover that justifies the premium tag (memo to Hirsch – please start work on indicator stalks!).
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Late last year I asked Steve Shannon about the possibility of bringing Hirsch to the US in a phone interview that covered various subjects. Steve indicated that right now they don’t see that happening, though he admitted that it had been some time since someone had looked at the business case for it.
I’m not aiming this at Steve, he’s just the guy in the chair at SaabUSA right now …. but someone needs to look at this and look at it properly. When I asked Steve about this he spoke about doing the sums using the number of cold air induction kits they’d be likely to sell etc, and it sounded like they were some sort of boy-racer tuning company with high-volume low-value products.
That’s not Hirsch.
And I’m sorry to say it, but it reflects on how little knowledge SaabUSA had (or have) about what Hirsch do. To be fair, Steve was still fairly new to Saab at that time and I imagine his tuning experience would be relatively focused on the US market and it’s suppliers. Regardless, there’s definitely a case to be made for Hirsch in the US.
This issue of Saab interiors is one area that could really be improved in Saab’s largest market by establishing the Hirsch relationship.
They’re not cheap, though, and if they were to be offered as standard (in an Aero, perhaps) then there’d have to be a buyer’s premium. Lifting prices is not an easy decision to make, but the brand perception would be lifted well and truly by the inclusion of this interior treatment, and I can’t imagine it would be a backwards step. The interior unit cost would likely be reduced by the added volume, anyway, so the hit wouldn’t need to be so large.
I just don’t see a downside here and the only barrier to it happening is a little bit of paperwork to establish the relationship. The component has already been designed and fitted to cars elsewhere. It won’t ever cause a mechanical issue that you’ll need to cover by warranty and it dramatically improves the cockpit of the vehicle.
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I’ve based this story around the US, but it could apply just as easily to Saab in any other country as well.
In fact, Saab could make things easier on everyone by making this a global product and taking each country’s relationship with Hirsch out of the equation.
10 responses so far ↓
1 North Toronto Punter
// Apr 1, 2008 at 3:42 pm
God yes! [Hotline - URGENT]
The perfect foil to the AMG/M/S lines. A 9-3 with (new style) Hirsch wheels + interior bits.
Alas, go to Saab.ca and try to customize a 9-3 :
“Accessories information not currently available for this vehicle. Please contact your GM Dealer about GM Accessories for your vehicle.”
2 saabyurk
// Apr 1, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I’ve always been of the opinion that they should at least offer the Hirsch appearance improvements. I especially agree with your last sentence about making it global. Sometimes I feel like they just don’t care.
3 cdp88
// Apr 1, 2008 at 10:37 pm
As great as those Hirsch interior bits looks I think they are let down by that steering wheel.
I just can’t bring myself to like the aluminium inserts on the current aero steering wheel. I haven’t touched it but i like the leather on mine so much that I can’t imagine aluminium would be any better.
If I bought a new aero I would fit the hirsch gear and ask them to just give me a standard sports steering wheel.
4 swade
// Apr 1, 2008 at 10:45 pm
The Turbo X doesn’t have the batwings. Just black leather, the way all steering wheels should be.
5 gildedsplinters
// Apr 1, 2008 at 11:20 pm
PLEASE at least make the interior bits available to start! My 06 Aero SC dash could use the love, and my hands would be much happier reaching for a leather wrapped door pull instead of GM parts bin plastic…they have enough of that with the batwing steering wheel. Then wheels, tuner parts, etc… saab is missing out on a market that is there, however small, it is there and loyal.
6 Kaz
// Apr 1, 2008 at 11:37 pm
The Aero in the UK does not have the the batwings as standard. They have to be ticked in the options box. Thankfully, they are not forced upon us. The leather wheel is SO much nicer to hold and look at. If only it was smaller!!!
I do not understand why Saabs have such a large steering wheel.
As for the gearchanges. I think the improvement between the ‘07 model and ‘08 models is massive with the 6 speeder on the V6. Alas, it still lags behind the competition. I don’t think GM actually have one decent gearbox in the entire firm! They should think about bringing in Getrag or someone similar methinks.
A DSG type gearbox would be just awesome.
The problem here maybe just two things, but, these two things are probably the most intimate tools when it comes to driving. The gearbox and steering setups are what tell us what the car is doing. Not only that, they are two of the key elements that allow us to tell the car what WE want it to do. If one feels detached from that, then one will have a detatched experience from the off. Heck, even Audi have improved their steering feel!! Which, with all honesty, REALLY needed improving.
The 9-3 steering is direct, and there is a bit of feel there, but it doesn’t feel as connected as say a BMW or a Mercedes C class.
I LOVE the new Merc C class in sport guise. Looks fabulous and is supposed to be a match if not better than the BMW 3 series in almost all areas.
The 9-3 is now lagging behind, not just because of the interior, but also because its rivals have moved the game on.
The new Audi A4 is now here, the BMW 3 series will always be a deity to magazines, and the new Merc C-Class has arrived and is fabulous.
A new 9-3 is still at least two years away, and XWD or not, that is a long long time.
There are a number of quick fixes that could perhaps help the 9-3. One of them is what Swade, myself and many others have been trying to get Saab and GM to see for what feels like a millenia. HIRSCH LEATHER DASH!! This one single addition would boost the interior quality perception by a massive amount!
The steering rack and gearbox are bigger fish. And I don’t think they will be changed until the new model, but they need updating.
I doubt the jiggly ride that is a bug bear of a few journalists (one which I find hard to replicate in my own Saab, perhaps they have marbles in the rear pockets?) will ever be fixed, and could be a psychological remnant of the Vectra hating section of the press, forever holding the image of a standard Epsilon 1 platform in their ape like minds. One example of this is Dan Stevens comment in his review of the Turbo X, stating that the underpinnings of the 9-3 were from the previous generation Vectra!! How utterly wrong was that comment. Problem is, if he is thinking that, then his mind has already made up the fact that the car will not be any good.
The 9-3 platform is a modified version of the current Epsilon, not the previous Vectra. Virtual slap to Autocar.
GM, sort out your geaboxes, please. It has always been a complaint of journalists and owners alike.
So, checklist to make the current 9-3 truly great?
HIRSCH!!! LEATHER!!! DASH!!!
Smaller, more tactile steering wheel, without wings please.
New steering rack with better feeling of connection to the wheels.
NEW GEARBOX!! Short throw and chunky please. Heck, have it wired into the speakers to make that ‘kerchunk’ sound that one hears in the fast and the furious
that would be cool. On a more serious note, just make a good one. Short throw, chunky…..Short throw, chunky……Short throw, chunky. Keep thinking that when you design the next one!
Hire me to sort things out for you
I think large corporations take market research too seriously now-a-days. A lot of common sense has dissappeared. Companies are detached from what the consumer really wants. All surveys can be skewed to a degree. Too much blind faith in a brand that will not succeed (uhum *cough* caddy *cough*) in a demographic that doesn’t want it is wasted effort that could give us things like decent gearboxes and steering racks.
And you know what would REALLY make me happy………………..XWD on the ‘vert dagnabbit!! Just not fair we will never see it for this 9-3.
7 shard
// Apr 2, 2008 at 12:25 am
Hirsch is supposed to have something or somethings for the Turbo X in May…
8 Alex
// Apr 2, 2008 at 8:20 am
Oh ho-ho Swade, looks like you dug yerself a hole with this one…
You just pointed out Hirsch’s greatest strength, as well as it’s greatest failing. Hirsch makes some phenomenally high-quality interior parts, parts that are easily OEM grade if not better than what Saab sells in their new cars. There is no reason why the Hirsch leather or carbon dash and interior treatments can’t or shouldn’t be available on every Saab at the dealership.
And that’s the problem with Hirsch in my eyes, they just don’t do anything that really jumps out to people who aren’t Saab lunatics. Sure we can all look at a Hirsch car and appreciate that it’s not stock, but to the average car enthusiast, even the most extreme Hirsch car just looks like it has an overpriced ECU reflash.
Personally I’d love to see Hirsch go all-out and do a concept that can stand up to some of the other cars that companies like Heico, Brabus, Dinan, Alpina, Kleeman, etc build. A 9-3 Aero XWD with forged internals, a FMIC, A large G-series turbo, custom wheels, Brembo brakes, coilovers and adjustable-damping shocks with the obligatory chassis bracing would be a great place to start. Throw in the excellent Hirsch interior and maybe some Recaro seats in the vein of the 9000 Aero seats and a suitably aggressive body kit and you’d really be cooking. Build it as a wagon and you’d really attract some serious publicity to the brand. Saab really needs to catch the eye of people who AREN’T Saab maniacs and become an object of desire to more than just the TS readership. A real balls-to-the-wall concept car from Hirsch would be a great (and reasonably cheap) way to pull this off.
9 swade
// Apr 2, 2008 at 9:28 am
Alex, I fail to see how I’ve dug a hole in any way. Like many things, I think we’re approaching this issue from very different angles.
You seem to want Hirsch to do something outlandish. I prefer them just the way they are, except distributed and marketed.
They’re distinctive enough products and they don’t need to stand out like trucknuts to be appreciated. See one in a showroom and there’s enough there to let you know it’s got something. Drive one and you’ll definitely know it’s got something.
Hirsch are all ready to go from what I’ve heard. They just need SaabUSA to open the gates, which SaabUSA don’t see the value in.
10 Alex
// Apr 2, 2008 at 10:07 am
Yeah they’ve got something, but that something isn’t the kind of awe-inspiring performance that people expect from Saab these days.
I guess I’d respect Hirsch more if I saw them decide to get their hands dirty and graduate from ECU reflashes, simple bolt-ons and interior mods. They’re nice but there’s not much that’s especially inspiring to me at least, though I haven’t actually seen or driven one of the damn things (thanks Saab USA!). I’m much more impressed by Maptun’s 6-speed gearset for the 9-5, Taliaferro’s various goodies and Abbott’s Viggin rescue kit. That’s what tuning’s all about, and I really want to see Hirsch do a complete car with that level of mechanical work.
Hell even a race car would be nice to see, like a Hirsch 9-3SS touring car, or a 9-3 Aero XWD hill-climb car to beat the Saab Pike’s Peak record. Along with their existing lineup, those sorts of things would bring some much-needed external publicity to people who AREN’T SAAB-O-PHILES! Given Saab’s current situation, I think it’s pretty obvious that attention and good PR should be priority 1.