2000+ words. Please forgive me.
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Last weekend I finally - finally - got some seat time in the Turbo X. Yes, it’s taken this long. Personally, that’s a pretty frustrating thing. I don’t want to blow my own horn here, but I’m quite sure I’ve helped Saab in their efforts sell a few of these cars in the last 12 months. To have to wait this long to get behind the wheel of a full production spec Turbo X is somewhat less than ideal, but that’s life as a blogger in a remote location for ya.
The occasion was our Saab Car Club event and as a special treat, our local dealer arranged to bring in Saab Australia’s only Turbo X press car, which is a SportCombi Turbo X with an automatic transmission.
I’ll get to the bad stuff later, because I’ve got to say right up front that despite the things that bugged me about this test vehicle, I still consider the Turbo X to be a magnificent piece of machinery and if I were so fortunate to be able to afford one, I’d get it in a heartbeat.
The look
This car has more presence than I’d remembered. It’s been a long time since I saw one in person. In fact, it was way back in January at the Detroit Motor Show that I last ran my eyes over one of these. The SportCombi is my favourite 9-3 variant and in Turbo X form it looks absolutely menacing.
The faux-titanium trims on the outside look much more subtle (read: better) than the standard model and the jet black metallic paint has to be seen up close on a sunny day to be appreciated. There were a lot of comments about the lack of rubbing strips down the side of the vehicle and whilst I can see the practical use for them, I’m personally quite pleased that they’re missing. I like the cleaner look.
Inside, I think that if anything, the carbon fiber accents are too subtle. It’s hard to see the grain in the material and there just isn’t enough of it, especially forward of the driver’s eyes. Maybe it’s me yearning for something to cover up the dashboard (which I’ll get to shortly), but my theory is if you’re going to go loud - then go LOUD.
The black leather seats are awesome both in looks and feel, but the best thing about the interior is the steering wheel. I’m no fan of the batwing wheel on the Aero, as you may know, so to have a chunky leather wheel in all-black suited my tastes perfectly.
The sound
Given the number of complaints I’ve read about the Turbo X’s exhaust note, the vast majority of which come from fillet-filled journalists looking for a bone to pick, I was expecting some sort of thunderous sound, as if a swarm of killer wasps were trapped with me inside the car.
To all of those journalists and complaining owners - pull your collective lips up over the top of your collective heads and swallow!
Both in motion and at rest, I found there was no intrusive noise whatsoever in the Turbo X. None. Zero. Zilch. In fact, at rest, I had to deliberately give the car a good kicking just to hear that sweet rasping noise from the twin rhomboid pipes.
All you complainers need to come spend a day at the wheel of either my Alfa or my Saab 900; now those are some cars that produce some noise. The Turbo X? It’s engineered so there’s noise when you need it. The exhaust note in the Turbo X is such a non-issue that I’d advise anyone who doesn’t like it to sell the car to someone who’ll appreciate it. Then call your mother - she’s duty-bound to care.
Maybe the reason I found nothing disturbing or irritating about the sounds coming from the Turbo X is because I had to concentrate so much by the time I got to drive it 
The drive
All attendees at our club event were given the opportunity to drive the Turbo X. The keenest punters got the keys first and endured a horrible morning ride amongst the Sunday drivers in their camper vans, who were climbing through the twisties at around 70 km/h.
I waited for the return leg and took the keys for the first highway section of the trip so that I could test out the raw acceleration of the car. A gent from our club who I like to refer to as The Hammer, with a 2006 9-3 Aero (the perfect combination of V6 turbo and button dashboard), decided to stick on my wing for most of this leg. The Turbo X had the power advantage, but you could barely tell and John managed to stay on my tail until I hit speeds that he felt a little concerned about on public roads. I figured it was worth the risk and as far as I could tell, the road was clear.
We stopped for another driver change and selfishly, I hung on to the Turbo X’s keys. This was the road I’d been waiting for all along - a 15km stretch of twisty B-road between the main highway and a little village called Colebrook.
I turned in and immediately, Craig Y in his Maptun-tuned Saab 9-5 Aero (a 2005 wagon) was on my tail. Craig and I are old sparring partners of sorts and each knew what the other had in mind. It was Turbo X test time. The unspoken challenge was for me to drive the Turbo X just within my limits and for Craig to stay in my mirrors. The sport button was on and we were away, clear of the other following cars within moments.
What ensued was around 10 minutes or so of automotive bliss. I had Matt the fudgepacker in the car with me (and yes, we know what that means in your part of the world) trying to work the video camera - hand held. I haven’t seen the video yet but I have a feeling you’ll need a barf-bag to watch it.
The speeds aren’t important. What was important is that the car performed. The Turbo X felt so planted through the whole drive; it even had me feeling like a competent driver!
Seriously, this thing can handle any B-road with the greatest of ease. It’ll give you buckets of fun, leave you panting whilst it smokes a cigarette and asks you when you’re going to bring your A-game. To put it simply - this car is far, far more capable than 99% of the people who will buy it.
Which leads me to the reason for the title of this piece, and a few things that bug me……
The concept
I’ll say it again: this car is far, far more capable than 99% of the people who will buy it. The problem: many of them won’t know it, won’t think it, and won’t appreciate the Turbo X for the true technological wonder that it is.
I’ve owned three 99 Turbos in my time. Actually, I’ve only owned two, but I bought one of them, sold it and then bought it back, so I’ve had three ownership experiences.
The 99 Turbo was a car that was at least as revolutionary as the Turbo X should be. It was one of the first mass-produced turbocharged cars and I have no doubt whatsoever that the people who bought it knew - just knew - that it was something very special. Watch this old video if you don’t believe me - part 1 and part 2. Legend has it that that journo actually went out and bought one after doing the story.
The Turbo X should have had the same effect and for a select few who know the full extent of what they’ve got, it will. The main problem lies between the seats of some Turbo X’s and is the main reason why a number of them remain unsold - the automatic transmission.
The Turbo X should have been like the Saab 99 Turbo and the Viggen that came before it - a manual gearbox proposition only.
This is supposed to be the monster car that debuts the best darn all-wheel-drive system on the planet. Make it a monster!! The Turbo X with an automatic transmission is well and truly capable of scaring the pants off you, but only if you know there’s a sports mode button on the dash and you proceed to stick it with a red hot poker. Otherwise, it’s a perfectly well mannered road car. That sort of balance is nice for Aero owners, but the decision to be a Turbo X owner should be a somewhat more deliberate step in the insane direction, like the 99T and the Viggen.
I overheard several people who drove the Turbo X over the weekend talk about how it was ‘nice’ but none of them said it was inspiring. I know it’s capable of being inspiring. The problem is that with an automatic transmission, the default setting of the car is ‘nice’. Why Saab Australia chose a vehicle with the automatic as their press vehicle is way beyond my comprehension. Every writeup in the country is going to be based on a car with a character far removed from the XWD designer’s intention (and I know this because I’ve been a passenger in a Turbo X with him at 170km/h - on dirt!).
I guess an automatic has to be an option these days, however, which leads me to the lesson learned from Craig Y’s Maptun-tuned Saab 9-5 Aero, which is also an automatic. I was fortunate enough to reacquaint myself with this car on the weekend as well - what a trip!
The beauty of this car - and other remapped cars I’ve been fortunate enough to drive over the years - is the aggressive posture they adopt when called to do so.
Craig’s car is perfectly capable of being a docile town cruiser when required. In fact, his wife has put many more kilometers on the car than Craig has, just doing around-town stuff. Press the sport button, however, and some of Maptun’s finest work is brought to life and the results are truly exhilarating. The car responds like a tightly coiled spring.
In contrast, pressing the sport button on the Turbo X is something a little less stunning. The car does go from mild to something-approaching-wild, but you’ve still got to wait a good second or so for kickdown to occur and the results to feed back to the driver. In the Maptun 9-5 it’s more of a case of going from mild to mayhem! It’s as if the car kicks down milliseconds before you press the pedal and the response it gives is just fantastic. You’re in total control, but the adrenalin pumps and you feel like you’re really……….driving.
The Turbo X should be absolutely barking mad when asked, and I believe in manual form it probably is. With the automatic, a trip to the good men at Hirsch in Switzerland is almost mandatory.
A final lesson from the 9-5 Aero - the interior.
This is an interior that’s well finished. It makes you feel like you’re driving a pleasuredome on wheels, even amidst the mayhem.
The Turbo X’s interior, casting aside my previous concerns about the carbon fibre being too subtle, is just a little too spartan when it comes to the dashboard area. This is not a problem confined to the Turbo X.
This isn’t a photo of the Turbo X, but the look is basically similar. This is the TiD I drove on the last leg of the trip.
It might just be me, but I find the black plastic on the Saab 9-3 dash to be not only hard to the touch, but also hard on the eye. What really irritates me is the filler bits they’ve used in various places. Just to the right of the radio, above those four buttons (nightpanel, etc) are two space-fillers that are just incredibly awkward to look at. The Turbo X has them as well.
Again, a trip to Hirsch is warranted for the carbon lather dash so that these abominations can be overcome.
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The conclusion
I started on a positive note and I want to finish on a positive note.
Despite my concerns about the car’s identity, its setup in automatic mode and its interior finish, the Turbo X is one heck of a car. I can only imagine how much more fun it is to drive when you have to row your own boat when changing gears (and manual owners assure me that it IS fun).
This is quite possibly the best Saab car ever built, which is quite a statement. It’s a shame that some waste so much energy wondering about it. It’s a shame Saab and GM gave them something to wonder about in the first place, actually.
I’d like to think that every Turbo X owner has a switch somewhere in the back of their brain that allows them to go into ‘bonkers’ mode. The good news is that the Turbo X is very much a car that you can do that in. Even the automatic version if you try hard enough.
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18 responses so far ↓
1 Robin M
// Nov 10, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Swade, I can agree with you about that bonkers switch. We totally enjoyed ours back in September and certainly put her through the paces on track and off. Hopefully our video will be ready soon, still getting edited between other jobs.
2 Me
// Nov 10, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Your are 100% right, the only TurboX I’ve seen are company cars for guys not willing to wait 3 months for an “Insignia”.
Cheers
3 alaero
// Nov 10, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Damm good write up Swadey.
I have to concur with the statment about having a autobox in turbo x press car, mind numbingly WRONG!!!
When the club has had the opportunity to have press cars, Sab and I always insist on having a manual but we seem to get lobbed with the auto.. go figure
a.
4 francoism
// Nov 10, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I love my Turbo X and I can’t wait for snow and ice to really try the XWD. It’s my first SAAB and I’m happy to know that I made the right choice. My X looks great with the SAAB ski rack I just bought. I’m in love.
5 Ned
// Nov 11, 2008 at 12:36 am
Great review. I agree about the interior, and you’re spot-on that the Turbo X needs a manual transmission. I understand offering the automatic, but the production balance should be 80/20 in the manual’s favor, because the car is clearly intended for the hard core. It’s a darned good manual transmission too, with a nice, short second gear I’d love to have in my 9-5 Aero.
You were probably having too much fun to notice the boomy exhaust note, which I can understand. When I was ripping through back roads, driving the Turbo X like it’s meant to be driven, I didn’t notice it either. But in steady state crusing with the tach around 2,200 rpm, the reverberations in the cabin made conversation difficult. I have the Borla-sourced sport exhaust on my 9-5 Aero, which is on the loud side, but never approaches the boom-and-thrum of the Turbo X. The boom occurs in a narrow rpm band, but because it’s in prime cruising territory, I thought it was a serious flaw.
Or, perhaps the automatic transmission eliminates this issue.
6 Bill H.
// Nov 11, 2008 at 1:15 am
TTAC has a new review of the Turbo X, US spec with the manual tranny. Three out of five stars. I’ll be interested in reading both reviews closely to see where the differences in impressions lie. But given that it’s TTAC, expect a fair amount of snark at the car and the brand.
7 Ned
// Nov 11, 2008 at 1:29 am
Hey, I just noticed that The Truth About Cars has added a Turbo X review. It’s on the harsh side, but in my opinion accurately identifies the car’s main shortcomings: boomy exhaust; cheap dash materials; and inherent limitations of an aging FWD platform when compared to the purity of RWD cars like the BMW 3 Series. But I’m not sure that’s a fair comparison, and I think the dynamics are outstanding in an absolute sense, and well beyond what most drivers will ever use. It simply crushes cars like the previous generation Acura TL, for example. My only beef about the car’s dynamics is that the XWD’s weight reduces the FWD 9-3’s light, tossable feel. I guess that’s the price one pays for the massive grip and expanded performance envelope.
I of course disagree with TTAC’s negative comments about the seats (which are superb) and manual transmission (see above).
8 RMinNJ
// Nov 11, 2008 at 2:17 am
A real bummer about the dash. I’m surprised in all the redesigning of the 9-3 line they didn’t totally redo the dash materials. They don’t have to redesign it.. just change the materials. To talk of replacing the dash materials (with Hirsch or anything) after you just spent all the money on the car
seem really bad.
9 Fasttrader
// Nov 11, 2008 at 2:52 am
Overall I am very satisfied with my Turbo X, especially the handling is a great experience and the XWD does it perfect. And I like the styling very much, what was one of the key decision-drivers when I bought it. The package it offers is great value for money if you ask me, I regret not one single second having bought it and I appreciate it today very much. But there are some minor points which I think are important to mention from the perspecitive of a daily-user. One of these is the exhaust note which sounds great indeed, but it is way too loud. It is fancy and impressive for the first one, two three hours and for some 100 kilometers, but not from Monday to Sunday over 15′000 kilometers since May. Especially as it becomes louder with almost every kilometer you put on it. I am very used to loud cars as I had a hirsched V6 before and this rumbled the neighbours out of bed. But the Turbo X is much louder than this one and please don’t forget that it is still a passenger car and not a Porsche.
Another point was the engine which was nothing to compare with my previous hirsched Aero V6. And that’s why I upgraded to Hirsch’s 300 hp version (thanks god I live in Switzerland). Now I am very happy as it does its job excellent.
I think the Turbo X is a very good car, but Saab missed the chance to get the non-plus-ultra out of it and to make it a “must-have” car for everyone. That might be the reason why still a fairly high amount of cars is available for sale.
10 shyang
// Nov 11, 2008 at 3:32 am
The Turbo X should have come with all the Hirsch bits right from the start. Intercooler, air filter and ECU upgrades for performance. Leather dash, door handles, handbrake and smart slot will add alot to the interior of the car.
One of my major complaints about the Turbo X is the rear diffuser. It looks fake and I am pretty sure it does absolutely nothing. The Hirsch rear diffuser for the Aero is a much better option, pity it won’t fit because of the shape of the exhaust.
As for the exhaust note, I find it to abit loud when the engine is warming up but after a couple of minutes, it settles down to an amazing sounding purr that is just right.
At the end of the day, the Turbo X is a great car.
11 Ron57RC
// Nov 11, 2008 at 4:54 am
I passed the IAM, (Institute of Advanced Motorists), advanced driving test in 2002. The overall requirement is to give a drive which is safe, smooth and progressive. Swade, from your report it sounds that you were leaning heavily towards the progressive. Well done; SAABs are there to be driven. Thanks for the great review.
12 Johnny
// Nov 11, 2008 at 5:11 am
I am not so sure about adding interior carbon fibre bits here and there - when it’s not coupled to any particular function, I find it somewhat removed from the good old “form follows function” idea. And these days I even find it a little pseudo-exclusive as you can find such things in almost any hot hatch. It is beautiful to look at if it’s there to really reduce weight/improve strength, but otherwise I’d personally rather do without it.
What I really liked about the Aero-X concept was the use some almost shockingly functional elements, such as the anti-slip rubber features on the floor and so on. That’s the kind of approach I would like to see for future Saab interiors, even though I can see the difficult balancing act between sportiness, luxury and innovative ideas.
One thing is for sure about Turbo X though - it is a performance car, and as such the press vehicles should have been equipped with manual gearboxes.
13 kwaw
// Nov 11, 2008 at 9:18 am
I would like to defend automatic transmission.It requires more effort to use all TurboX power, I agree.
But it’s… comfortable, if you use the car not only for sport rides, but also for sightseing during holidays.
Especially as ‘tiptronic’ works perfectly — mountain roads in Switzerland were veeery entertaining because of it
14 David
// Nov 11, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Great write-up
I just returned from a 3 day trip in the mountains of Colorado with my turbox (auto) covering about 700 miles and got about 26.4 mpg. This included spirited driving (got my first turbox speeding ticket), over many mountains passes up to 11,500 feet in elevation and snow covered roads and we loved it! We were a bit concerned with the snow depth and the low stance of the turbox but it survived. The draw back is the sound quality of the xm radio set up, but we’ll live with it - it’s more about the power, the safety, rareness, versatility of the combi, xwd, and the overall design of the turbox that is so satisfying for me.
15 Barry
// Nov 11, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Excellent write up ..
My feelings about the comments are …
I’ve gotten use to the exhaust note. Rear seat passengers say its more boomy back there .. Oh well I guess its just me in the car
Dash material … Other than the infamous squeaky drivers seat molding (soon to be addressed), I don’t mind the interior. Sure it’s not Audi quality, but I think it’s just as good as any BMW (IMO). Oh yea, Bose Radio .. B-
Engine, I’ll probably be VTuning or BSRing my beast in the spring. I want at least 10000 miles on it before I go ape. Gas mileage, well for the meantime I’m REALLY enjoying $2.40 for premium. Sure beats $4.15 when I got it.
Handling, telepathic on rails. Even in the rain, on leaf covered roads, I can’t believe the grip and confidence it inspires … Sometimes I can’t believe what it can do … Other times it leans/rocks a tad much for the seats/seatbelt setup. I wish I could have attended the academy. Oh well. It would have helped if the car came with shoulder bolsters too like my on 9000 Aero; and had a firmness setting. Guess I’ll have to look for 5 point harness. It’s gotta be cheaper than a seat
Then I wouldn’t feel like Im trying to hang on …
Back end … It’s a little gimmicky but then again no ones watching it long
Tail lights look best in black because I dont like the stripe effect.
Front end style (best damn front facia to come out in eons).
Tranny … I have a manual - nuf said … Would have only thought about an auto (and I mean thought) if it had DSG style setup. Shifts are tooooo slow in all SAAB automatics. If the manual was smoother in all shifts that could help.
Each SAAB I have bought over the past 25 years has made me forget my prior one (almost) with in 30 minutes. The Turbo X made me forget my tuned Aero wagon, in 10 seconds. Wish I could put more fun miles on it. My commute is only 7 miles.
Barry
16 Joe Lobo
// Nov 11, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Thinking of or even owning a Turbo X in Auto set up is as much of a sacrilege as on any predecessors Aero. As a matter of fact any well equipped European that is threading on performance must be a manual. When I was selling my beautiful (I still miss it a lot) 9-3 Coupe Aero I learned through the Meloburne colleagues (Alex and Steve) that only 4 of each model year were brought to the country in manual mode. What a surprise and also, what a coo to have owned one. But, when speaking to other Saabatist they see this as a negative. Surprisingly the buyer that took it only saw it once, drove it once and then bought it. His other car is a 335 Manual. He had to take it as he was looking for a manual !!! In his own words: “you can’t drive any Saab Turbo in automatic mode, you loose ½ of the rush and fun of it”. I can not imagine the disservice that any Turbo X will get as an auto however, at Lang Lang we were in an Auto and that thing moved very well. I wonder why ???.
17 Jörgen Trued
// Nov 12, 2008 at 5:59 am
Tasmania is just about the antipode of Sweden http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Antipodes_rect2160.png
Even if everything is “different” down under, summer when it is winter, people should be falling off the globe etc. there are som things in common globaly among SAAB people.
- The joy Turbo X driver get behind the wheel the feel of control and dynamics
- The sadness the car even came with an auto transmission, the Turbo X should as mentioned eralier had come with the Hirsch interior. Would have been cheap way of getting the media attention away from the usual talk about “does not feel like Audi” etc.
I LIKE my Turbo X but the marketing people could have had added som more nice touches to the interior in particular.
I am waiting for the first snow to fall here in Sweden. Not becuse I like it in general but in particular for the excitemet of commanding 300+ bhp in snow.
Will be back with information on that.
Two great option for all Turbo X people to get what my friend Walt at ODOT Salem Oregon calls my Turbo X ” I sinister car, a rolling crimescene”
Add dark Solarplexius panels in the windows - http://www.solarplexius.se
Add Visualeyes Rayzer lightsystem for the “Policelooks” http://www.rayzerwidebeams.com/
Picture from inside my car http://www.garaget.org/?car=110968&image=1122317
18 aeroo
// Nov 12, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Interesting comments , here is a Melbourne Australia comparo on Saab Turbo X XWD Vs BMW rear drive , here we have as part of our public transport system electric trams that share the road with cars and run on steel tracks (2 sets ) down the middle of the road, there is probably a 100k or so of track in the suburban area. The tram tracks are notorious in the wet and dry for cars and motorcyclists to drop there bikes if you happen to speed or turn quickly on the tracks ( l know from experience) There is a section of the road near where l live that has a sharp left turn that you must take over the tracks.
A few weeks back a Beemer was in front of me and accelerated into this left turn on a wet night - probably showing off ( Fitzroy st entering upper Esplanade for locals who know this corner ) , l saw his face - twice as he spun out , l stopped, and luckily he didn’t hit anything but he looked like he needed a change of underwear . Recently on another wet night same area l deliberately accelerated through this corner on the tram tracks ..the initial feel was that l was starting to oversteer and needed to correct , then the XWD kicked in with the result that kept the car turning into the corner but the feeling of off center drift was not there … l did it once more to convince myself that this was the car not me.. same result. This XWD is a serious bit of technology and deserves to be on a Saab
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