Comments

• MarkoA said:
  

  I simply cannot believe this “#¤%#
  What are they thinking? The 9-3X is already way too late and they´re still holding it???
  I´d like to have a word or two with those beancounters behind the decision not to release it as soon as possible.

  Oh well. I guess I´ll do what I´ve been thinking about some time already. I´m going to replace my TTiD SC with Subaru Outback diesel. I´ve driven it several times and I must say, it´s impressive in many ways. And this doesn´t mean TTiD is not good. But for my needs it´s not the best solution. I was a bit too quick when I ordred TTiD. So, for me No XWD - diesel combination and the HUGE delay of 9-3X means bye bye Saab. Unfortunately.

  -October 2nd, 2008 at 9:31 pm
• Markac said:
  

  The 9-3 Crossover will have a very short lifespan. Two and a half years at best unless it’s carried over for a while when the next 9-3 is released? It makes you wonder why it’s taking so long for the car to be released since it’s been on the drawing boards since the current 9-3 was originally conceived. Unfortunately it’s likely to be a case of ‘too little too late’. The desirability of a crossover version of a six year old design is hardly going to be high, which sadly poses the question: why even bother?

  -October 2nd, 2008 at 10:45 pm
• Rogan said:
  

  Very disappointing to say the least. I hope Saab doesn’t end up delaying the 9-5 or new 9-3 any, I think we can all agree that either of those would be a disaster.

  Didn’t Wulf just buy an ‘04 or ‘05 9-5 Aero SC? Is this in addition, or replacing the old one?

  -October 2nd, 2008 at 11:08 pm
• Wulf said:
  

  I bought an ‘05 9-5 Aero SC earlier this year but decided that I would enjoy an automatic more than a manual transmission. The ‘05 found a happy new owner in Canada and I was ready for a vacation and road trip. I need to stop switching cars so often and this one should last me a long time. (CPO with 100K mile warranty). The ‘06 9-5 Aero has been an amazing car so far, even though it tops out at only 135 mph…

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 12:28 am
• Wulf said:
  

  If you think that it is stupid and irresponsible to do these kind of speeds in the USA and take pictures at the same time, you’re absolutely right. At least on public roads.. This was taken at the Bonneville Salt Flats so no laws were broken and Saabs were not abused or put in harms way.

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 am
• 1985 Gripen said:
  

  Wulf: I take it your tires are H, V, or Z-rated, right? Because if they are H-rated or lower you were exceeding the speed the tires are supposedly capable of!

  That must’ve been a hilarious sight for any onlookers: an automatic transmission equipped station wagon hauling @ss across the Bonneville Salt Flats! I wish you had a picture from the outside of your car while you were doing that!

  If you’d hired some Saab fighter planes to fly over you while you blared Ready, Steady, Go from your stereo system you could have re-enacted one of those lame Born From Jets commercials.

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 1:46 am
• 1985 Gripen said:
  

  Markac: the latest word on the next-gen 9-3 is that it’s been delayed. It’s now planned to go into production in late 2012 or early 2013. So that’s four, possibly five years of production they could get out of a 9-3X if they released it now. However, I don’t know what the point of this vehicle would be. It seems to me like it’d be taking sales away from the upcoming 9-4X. Given the choice I’d personally rather own the 9-3X than a 9-4X, but I’m not their target customer with this type of vehicle.

  As to your assertion that it’s “too little too late” is a valid one and unfortunately that term is used to describe Saab far too often. That and “a day late and a dollar short”. While it’s true the 9-3 is a six-year-old platform, they’ve got to stretch its usefulness another four or five years until the replacement arrives. This is why they did the refresh and retrofitted the XWD system (remember for years they were saying that AWD is impossible in Epsilon?) to the 9-3. They need to stretch its viability out as long as possible. I kind of doubt it’s going to be successful, and see 9-3 sales going the same way 9-5 sales have been the past few years. Hopefully the 9-4X and new 9-5 will pick up the sales slack.

  Why even bother? Because the 9-3X would give dealers another “model” to sell. For probably ten years now Saab has been saying that they’re going to correct the fact that they really only have two models with varying body styles to sell. They tried boosting this with the 9-2X and 9-7X, and the failed 9-6X. Now they have the 9-4X to replace the 9-7X, but that still means that in MY2010 Saab will only have three models to sell: the 9-3 (which will be 7 years old by then), the new 9-5 (which will hopefully be both a critical as well as sales hit), and the 9-4X (which will hopefully find a wide market, and not just be a niche market player). If they have the 9-3X they can tout this as another “model” for dealers to sell. I would think they just need to think of a way to differentiate the 9-4X and 9-3X…

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 1:56 am
• wilfried said:
  

  Paris, no close to production models ? A missed chance. But if they haven’t done their homework properly they obviously can’t show us something real.

  Not much turbo-pressure at 4500 rpm whlie driving 220 km/h … must be the camera mounted on the drivers chest that causes such strange measurements.

  Nice Viggen, I guess with RHD despite the german looking plate ?

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 2:48 am
• MarkoA said:
  

  I know there is (was..) many people out there who´d pick 9-3X over 9-4X any day. I´m really, really disappointed. I was hoping to see 9-3X production version in Paris Show and available for order right now. There´s not a single reason why they should hold it still. I feel like there´s someone who wants to harm Saab and makes really weird marketing decisions. But who am I to say, I´m not professional so I should keep my mouth shut.

  There was talk about diesel XWD being under development already more than year ago. I was too stupid to think that it would´ve come reality in late 2008.

  I hope 9-4X will turn out to be a good car and that it´ll get positive press.

  Saab makes fantastic cars, like dated 9-5. There´s not many as old designs as it is, that can still hold on against 10 years newer designs. Let´s hope that Brand center really tries to keep Saab alive and well and fight against the need to make all cars just General Motors…

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 4:42 am
• SaabKen (Author) said:
  

  Gripen,

  I’m hopeful Saab can adequately differentiate (marketing-wise) the 9-3X and the 9-4X.

  But the car buying public will naturally make that distinction for themselves. They see the 9-4X as a CUV, and the 9-3X as a rugged wagon-on-’roids. This works for the XC70 vs. XC90, A6 Allroad Quattro (now defunct) vs. Q5, 328 xDrive sportwagon vs. X3, Outback wagon vs. Tribeca, etc, etc.

  As far as the 9-4X adding a new model to the Saab showroom …. absolutely ! What’s different this time than the 9-2X/9-7X fiasco was is the 9-4X is a global model to be sold in all markets Saab is in, whereas the 9-2X/9-7X were only for the N. American market (9-7X was available in some Middle Eastern countries).

  So maybe a year from now Saab will only be 1/2 day late and $0.50 short ……..

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 5:21 am
• Jürg said:
  

  I like how Hawkeye’s placed his badge I put them the same way

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 6:09 am
• aeronaut said:
  

  That’s puzzling why your aero would top out at only 135mph/220kph. My brother while taking my 2000 aero for a test drive had it up to 230kph and it was eager to go faster. He would have gone faster but I kinda suggested he slow down. I would have thought the newer cars with more horsepower would be faster.

  It was a warm day at 78F, maybe the intercooler was maxed. That might explain it. Maybe there is a vacuum leak keeping the boost low.

  ps. I really like the look of the 06’s. Nice car.

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 8:12 am
• Markac said:
  

  Gripen: I agree with you about the 9-3 crossover versus the 9-4x. It’s the kind of car Saab should be making and not just trying to play the field with another SUV, but they’ve left it awfully late. Perhaps too late? Anyway I still can’t call the crossover 9-3 a “9-3x”. That name’s taken by a far more interesting car so I hope it ends up being 9-3CX or something.

  It looks quite like the crossover won’t arrive until MY2010 now which will still give it a compratively short lifespan, well by Saab standards anyway! You are right, by 2012 or 2013 9-3 saless will likely be much like the current 9-5 and the crossover model won’t make a lot of difference to that.

  There is a whole lot riding on the new 9-5 now. I hope it’s everything it’s cracked up to be and more. I may be wrong, but I’ve always believed that the 9-4x might only be a volume seller in the US. So I’m guessing it won’t help Saab’s sales figures as much as they’d like. I suppose time will tell on that one?

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 9:26 am
• Alex said:
  

  What about the production 9-4X? Saab has been parading those around almost uncamouflaged for a little while now, so maybe that’s the big surprise? I know if I were them I’d complement the more far-off 9-X Air with a solid production car like the 9-4X which we all know has been finished for a while now.

  At the same time I’d consider pushing the NG9-5 up from Geneva to Detroit while saving the 9-3X for New York or something, though a more global stage like Geneva might be more appropriate for the high-profile NG9-5. Though the trickle of 9-X cars makes me think that the design of the next-gen 9-3 is pretty finalized at Saab, so maybe they’d save another NG9-3SS-based concept for Geneva? Something with 4 (or 5!) doors would be cool to see for sure. Either way though it should be an interesting next few months.

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 1:03 pm
• Wulf said:
  

  Aeronaut: The car is limited at 135 mph. When it got up to 130 mph, you could feel it holding back a little and slowly went to 135 mph. At least it didn’t cut out abruptly. Perhaps it is limited because of the standard Pirelli P6 V-rated tires (up to 149 mph/240km/h).

  Gripen: The car currently has Dunlop Direzza Z-rated tires so that was not a problem. I couldn’t find any planes to fly along but I did have “Ready, Steady, Go” playing on a few runs.

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 1:32 pm
• 1985 Gripen said:
  

  Alex: you’re bringing up a good point. If Saab has to stretch-out sales of the current-gen 9-3 until 2013 possibly, they may want to introduce new body variants to keep things fresh. Finally give a lot of Saab buyers what they’ve been asking for: a coupe (2 door). And then give what seemingly all Saabers want: a hatchback variant. I’d like a 3-door, but a 5-door would be cool, too.

  Wulf: Jay Spenchian would have been proud.

  The Pirelli P6 V-rated tires are standard on the 9-5? Was that only in 2006 and later? Only on the Aero? The tires that came on our new CPO 2005 9-5 Arc SportWagon are Toyo Proxes TPT H-rated. I know those weren’t original, but I wonder what was. I guess I can’t replicate your 135 mph run at Bonneville w/o getting new tires.

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
• SaabKen said:
  

  Pirelli P6s are frankly very lowly-rated tires (check online reviews at 1010tires.com and tirerack). They come OEM on many brands but I’ve heard many accounts of people (myself included back in August) who found them so awful that they ask Saab dealers to exchange them (on CPO cars) for something else. I now have Bridgestone RE950 H-rated.

  -October 3rd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
• aeronaut said:
  

  wulf, just had a look at your pictures on saabcentral. wow. beautiful car and surreal scenery! to bad about the 135mph limiter. i wonder if it is a california car thing. anyway i think you can get around that with a tuned cpu from nordic or others. 2006 SAAB 9-5 Aero Sportcombi Stage 3 has a nice ring to it.

  -October 4th, 2008 at 9:30 am
• Wulf said:
  

  Thanks aeronaut, it is difficult to imagine the size of that place from pictures. It was surreal indeed and something I’ll never forget.

  To be honest, I don’t really care about the top speed limiter because I will never do these kind of speeds again. Unfortunately..

  -October 4th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
• wilfried said:
  

  Huh ? My avatar is gone.

  -October 4th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
• wilfried said:
  

  … in previous post.

  -October 4th, 2008 at 7:09 pm

Trackbacks

There are no trackbacks