Friday Snippets
If you haven’t had your say in the Tell GM About It: the Saab 9-1 post yet, then please head on over and do so.
The more people, the bigger the voice, and this is a car that definitely needs a voice. In fact, you can help by letting other Saab enthusiasts you know who may not frequent this site about the campaign. We’re not trying to stir up trouble here and this is just a small pocket of people on the web, but GM have to know that there’s people who are keen on this car.
——
Karl Brauer from Edmunds is quite familiar with the individual nature of a good Saab. Until recently, he was the owner of a very nice Saab Sonett III. His publication is also one of the most widely used automotive resources on the web.
So when he says today’s Saabs should have more quirkiness, and for less cost, I think Saab should listen (despite my objection to the Q word).
In summary, he says that the Turbo X is a great car, but costs too much compared to its natural rivals and doesn’t offer enough of the individual traits that Saabs were known for in the past. I may not agree with his comparative analysis and I certainly don’t think a Turbo X is too expensive in the US (compared to what other markets are paying). But I definitely agree with the need for more individuality.
——
Scripps News has a really great review of the Lynx Yellow Saab 9-3 Convertible, including some yellow Saab history that I didn’t know.
A good read, especially for those interested in picking up a convertible in the near future. I’ve actually got a little bit of convertible fever myself at the moment, but a C900 Convertible is going to be more in line with my budget when it comes time to pull the trigger.
——
Jill Ciminillo from the Chicago Sun Times has also written a review of the 9-3 Convertible, and makes an interesting point about the top that I couldn’t disagree with more:
So, as far as soft tops go, the 9-3’s is one of the best. But still, a hard top would look so much better.
I’m yet to see a hard-top convertible that looks natural. The roof always looks a little out of place on the hard tops, like it wasn’t quite designed to be that way, but the necessities of physics made it so.
Nah, give me a soft top any day. If a car’s going to be a convertible, let it be a convertible. Why disguise it as a coupe?
It’s also a good review and definitely click-worthy.
——
I’ve gotta say……. I like the way GM are covering the design and build process of the Chevy Volt. This is a game-changer for them and despite my own frustrations with them and the way the manage Saab, I hope they hit a home run with this one and shut the critics up for a long time.
They’ve recently released a number of new images of the production version of the car, and have a dedicated section over at GM Media so that people can get the latest as soon as it’s available.
——
Here’s another reason why it’s great to have a successful motorsports program: you get to make cool videos like this one:
——
With just days to go before the big trip north, my previously trouble-free laptop decided to give me some trouble. Big Trouble. Trouble so big that the whole hard drive had to be reformatted and everything (EVERYTHING) was wiped and had to be reloaded.
The lesson: if you’ve got a whole bunch of great photos, say….photos from your trip-of-a-lifetime to Sweden, make sure you back them up externally before your computer decides to eat them.
-
More from this category
- Saab multi-car review in Boston Globe
- 11 year old reviews the Saab 900
- TimesOnline review the Saab Turbo X
- Tuesday night snippets
More from this author
Subscribe to this author
Recent Comments
- MarkoA on Saab rumours abound….
- Ken H on Wednesday Snippets
- Talonderiel on Wednesday Snippets II
- Joel on Aero-X in alt colors
- MitchbSC on Wednesday Snippets II
- me on Wednesday Snippets II
- tom on Wednesday Snippets II
- Jeff on Wednesday Snippets II
- swade on Wednesday Snippets II
- aeronaut on Wednesday Snippets II
That’s interesting to see a longtime Saab owner and enthusiast review the Turbo X, and it’s even more interesting to see that he shares my opinion of the car. I’m sure that he’s had the chance to drive and thrash the Turbo X’s biggest competitors like the G35, 335i, C350, and A4, and I think he’s right on the money.
The Turbo X is a fantastic car, and without a doubt the best performing Saab ever (though I think it sits behind the 99 turbo, 900 SPG, Viggen, and even the 9000 and 9-5 Aeros in the standings for “greatest Saab of all time”). The problem is that after sitting in one, I think it’s about 85% of the complete package that say the 335i or G37 are when it needed to be 110%. That wouldn’t be a big problem if the car cost $35k USD, but instead it costs ~$45k.
The great Saabs of the past like the SPG, Viggen, and 9000/9-5 Aero’s at least came loaded with dollups of that good, old-fashioned Saab quirkiness which helped to offset any of their fit+finish issues or performance deficits compared to the competition. Unfortunately, aside from the wheels and the location of the ignition the Turbo X is disappointingly quirk-free.
I think there are plenty of quirks. The problem is that if you are into Saabs then you start to forgetL
- Ignition key location
- refrigerated glove box
- joystick things on vents
- no vents for front passenger
- wacky pop-out cup holder
- odd parking brake popping out of no where
- pull-up reverse thingy on the stick
- funky pocket thing on the front seats under your legs
I could go on - but my point is that if you are into Saab you forget about many of these. People that are not are freaked out. My wife won’t even drive my car…which in my opinion is a good thing
beren
I’ll give you some of those, though Volvo’s also have those seatfront pouches and I’ve seen a bunch of cars with refrigerated gloveboxes (including the dodge avenger!).
It’s just missing some of the big, big things like the relatively upright windshield, dash-mounted SID, all those dash buttons, great slabs of wood trim, and even little stuff like the center-mounted window switches, rear heated seats, and the roof-mounted “fasten seatbelt” sign.
It still has it’s quirks for sure, but at the end of the day the Turbo X, from it’s sedan profile and it’s parts-bin interior to it’s “look at me!” flashy body bits and decidedly un-Scandinavian exhaust tips, it just feels painfully mainstream to me.
Oh, and bring back the black plastic trim on the bumpers and the doors, you have no idea how many 2008+ 9-3’s you see around Boston with those atrocious looking stick-on rubber bumper strips…
Beren - my wife does not enjoy driving my 9-3 either - for the simple reason she knows I am kind of particular about it and want it back in one piece.
And I agree, that is a good thing.
She does enjoy riding in it and loves the heated seats when it gets cold outside. I think that is her favorite feature of the car - which means she is missing the point of it entirely. And for the fun of it, we will forever debate that turning the seat on high gets it warmer no faster…
I forked out a good $60K (CAD, which is the same in USD now with parity) for my Turbo X and I could not be happier with my purchase. Journalists, who either love Saab or who don’t, have a completely distorted vision of the car market - they get to thrash cars for free and rarely, if ever, consider how those cars would perform in your daily routine.
So Karl (and Alex), I disagree. I bench-marked the X against the cream of the crop in that price range (335xi and S4) and still spent my money on the Saab. Was the Bimmer a very very nice car? Sure it was. I guess everyone else knows that since they are as common over here as Honda Civics.
Bottom line is, the Turbo X is a limited edition car, and a good one at that, too. So exclusivity has its price. Comparing the 335xi to the 9-3 Aero XWD would be a lot more accurate.
Alex wrote: It’s just missing some of the big, big things like the relatively upright windshield, dash-mounted SID, all those dash buttons, great slabs of wood trim, and even little stuff like the center-mounted window switches, rear heated seats, and the roof-mounted “fasten seatbelt” sign.
Except for the dash-top located SID and the millions of buttons (neither of which appealed to me), these are standard on the current 9-5 2.3T (no woody look inside the Aero, however). Get one while they last. So far, 44,000 trouble-free km in 1.5 years, room for adult-sized friends in the rear seat (a noticeable difference from the 9-3), and those 260 hp are real. SAAB dealers need a new 9-5 yesterday, but the old one’s special.
Cheers,
B
That Subaru video seems stupid. If they’re going to strip it down to the bare chassis anyway, why not just deliver a painted chassis instead of a whole car?
Sayonara, these guys are quick !
If I hand in my old gen 9-3, I’ll order a Eklund-Pikes-Peak-Replica … .
Hmm, they forgot to write that you could get a Monte Carlo yellow Viggen convertible
And that would be really rare … http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/dealerservices_photoad.jsp?did=22456&pageid=1&id=200821310654987 
I can’t see why everybody is complaining that the Turbo X is too expensive. Just look at what you get for the money, it’s a limited edition Saab with unlimited power
I saw a real cool ad in a Norwegian magazine the other day. Roughly translated, it read “Only 15 people need to read this ad”. And then the number was crossed out, and it said “We sold out all of our 15 Turbo X’ in 10 days”. If they managed to sell them all out in 10 days, then surely Norway should have been given more of these pretty beasts. And remember, if you Americans think $45G is expensive, try approx $170 000 which it costs here!
Hey Swade,
Have a great trip! Enjoy it!
~Peter