Sunday Night Snippets and Flickr run
Apologies for the lack of material in the last 24 hours. The reason why can be summarised with one word: Bravia.
Oh, MAMA!
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A little while ago, I wondered out loud about whether the US market was going to get a low-pressure turbo again - a 2.0t engine. This was due to the engine being mentioned in a press release for the 2009 Saab 9-3.
I’ve received confirmation from SaabUSA that the US market will not be getting this engine. It was just a typo and will be corrected.
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A guy on Autoblog this morning learned the value of 1) driving a car before he disses it, and 2) knowing when to shut your piehole.
Autoblog covered Forbes’ list of top 10 family cars. The Saab 9-3 SportCombi Aero V6 was on that list and our Autoblogger, Chris Tutor, wondered why it was there in place of the VW Jetta. He conceded the power advantage held by the Saab as well as the space advantage, but still wondered why it was there given that it had comparatively poor mileage.
Thankfully, there was a number of commenters at Autoblog who set him straight. The 2.0T still enjoys more power and space than the VW, which much better mileage than the Aero.
It was quite pleasing to read comments about Saab on Autoblog that weren’t snarky or derisive. (update: I first read through the comments some 10 hours ago. They’ve since delved into the usual depths that come with anonymity and a keyboard. It was nice while it lasted)
Thanks Loughlin!
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I know I’m not supposed to mention Alfas much here, but there was a record set recently, with 240 Alfas on a track a one time.
Now that would have been nice. Pictures here.
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Time for some Saab awesomeness from Flickr. Click through on the associated links for bigger versions and folders with more stuff:
From Santinet
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From T.Jashari
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From Mehugtree
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From CarMad Economist
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From Mad T
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A Saab quilt from JunieFlickr
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And finally….. Robin M is still doing his set of Saabs for 2008 - a different Saab each day for a whole year. This is #187.
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More from this category
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- Images of a Saab at LeMans
- Welcome to the new TS. Same as the old one really.
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It would be nice if RobinM would be kind enough to blank the reg plate of the cars he takes pictures of.
Theoretically, but last time I checked when you drive around every day, millions of people can see the number plate on your car, so…
Swade, you can not mention bravia without, well, <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP5J4W5GQ3w”BRAVIA!. Unfortunately YouTube massacres the whole thing. You can imagine how much better it would look on your Bravia. Looks like they’ve added some more too, but that’s the original.
WooDz if I have a photo of yours there with the plate showing please let me know and I’ll delete it. One problem with taking the plate off is people will think I’ve put the same car up 2 or more times. There are millions of pictures of cars on the internet with plates showing. I’ve seen my car on other peoples on-line photo albums and it doesn’t worry me.
My car has been published here and I didn’t mind the plate being shown. But some people could get annoyed when they haven’t been asked if it is ok to display the reg plate.
People can be fickle and I would say the we Brits are likely the most fickle of all.
What can you do with a license plate number, other than look up some boarding history about the cars registration?
Too bad about that 2.0t. That would be a huge boost for sales. In the U.S., you can buy a Saturn Astra at 30mpg or a Ford Focus (not your European Focus) at 35mpg for about the same price. The Astra excels in every respect except mpg. Ford has added a new shift at the Focus plant and there is a backlog of Belgian built Astras piling up at Saturn dealers. I see shiny new Focuses (Focii) everywhere I go.
SAAB could easily deliver a 9-3 that gets 35mpg in the EPA’s artificial test. It doesn’t matter if it is a strangely programmed light pressure turbo or a non-turbo car (2.0t, 2.3i, 1.8t?). In the U.S., many shoppers are looking at the EPA reports and buying cars that get 35mpg or more. $4.00 per gallon is a shock when you had budgeted for $2.50 and people are responding.
WooDz - License plates are completely public, the people that get annoyed over having them photographed need to learn that before they buy a car.
Gordon - A Focus is also about $3k less than an Astra if you equip them the same (which means adding a/c to the Astra).
Swade - I read that article, too…IF one doesn’t care about the car and ONLY wants a wagon to haul the family around in AND doesn’t give a rip about performance…then, yes, the Passat is probably a better choice. Still, the author probably should have just kept his mouth shut :p