My mates from CarAdvice.com.au have picked up some more photos of that Saab 9-4x testing in Michigan. Click on through to see the full shots. The car is rather heavily clad and you can’t make out much, but when has that ever stopped us?

The costume on this one is slightly different. It looks like the one that was covering a recent sighting of Cadillac’s sibling to this vehicle, the BRX. Makes sense as they’re on the same architecture, I suppose.

The first point of interest is at the rear. Those twin tailpipes are giving away a little more than just looks. The good news is that they’ve kept a fair bit of the concept car’s positioning and shape. It’s not merely two milkshake straws peeking out the back there.

The other news that I can pass on, for the first time, is that the initial offering for the 9-4x in some markets will comprise a base level car with a normally aspirated V6, whilst the Aero will have a turbocharged V6 similar to that in the Saab 9-3.

The NA unit will provide power in the mid-200hp range, whilst the Aero is tipped to come in at very close to 300hp. The base model will be a 2WD car whilst the Aero will have XWD as standard.

The concept car, of course, featured a theoretical four cylinder unit, turbocharged and running using Saab’s BioPower setup. This was as much an E85-driven marketing exercise as anything else, given the Coskata announcement that they made at the same time. You might recall that the Hummer concept unveiled at the same time also ran on ethanol. Whether this drivetrain actually sees the light of day in what will be a pretty heavy vehicle remains to be seen.

Of course, there’s also the diesel engine that’s coming from VM Motori. That will be the big seller in Europe.

The other point of interest from the photos as seen at CarAdvice is the wheels they’re running. They almost look like turbines, don’t they? Eggs will be pleased

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According to this article in the Auto Express (UK) , the accompanying photo shows a test mule for the upcoming 2010 Saab 9-4x.

I think that’s a fair assessment, given that the vehicle in the picture barely varies from the 9-4x concept, all the way down to the styling of the wheels. Barely visible as a slight contour in the white mesh is the unmistakable inverted trapezoidal grille that we all know as Saab, and it appears that this test mule retains the slightly raised grille position that we saw on the concept 9-4x. If you follow the hood line across the front, you can see that the grille opening is not on line with the engine compartment.

I can spot a couple of differences, too. The mirrors are a different, but, surprisingly are a little more radical in shape on the test car than on the concept car. I’m a little disappointed to see that the “nearly flush” A and B pillars are now raised and treated much as they are on current Saab models. Finally, I think that the wheels and tires on the mule are smaller than on the concept vehicle, which, in my view, deducts some of the muscular attractiveness of the 9-4x concept.

Given that automakers are now finalizing tooling and manufacturing processes for the 2009 model year, the 9-4x should be very close to production design if it is to debut in 18 months as a 2010. Therefore, I think that we can count on the 9-4x production vehicle being almost the same as the concept, at least outwardly.

Now, how much of that great-looking interior makes it into production will be an interesting question to consider over the next year or so. Here’s to hoping that it will be in the same spirit, because people everywhere will “want it”.

As all of you know, I’m not an SUV/CUV guy, but I could see a 9-4x in my garage if I needed the extra capacity. I’m just sayin’.

Auto Motor and Sport are featuring some 9-4x spyshots this week.

This come from the same set shown by Autoblog last week, but there’s a few different shots in there, too. In my 9-4x interior analysis from last week we saw the passenger side of the vehicle and door handles, which looked very much the same as in the concept vehicle shown in Detroit this year.

One of the photos from AM&S clearly shows that the gauge pod and surrounds will also be the same as the concept car.

Here’s the concept car dashboard. Those chrome-lipped gauges are prominent….

I just wish those spypiccers could get inside and show us the rest!!

We saw pictures of the Saab 9-4x a few days ago on Autoblog, and today it’s the Cadillac BRX’s turn over at Jalopnik.

These two are siblings on the same platform and will be built in the same factory in Mexico.

Interestingly, it seems that the Cadillac will see the light of day first, if the guys at Priddy are to be believed. They have the BRX commencing production in May 2009 with the Saab 9-4x starting probably some time around August.

It ain’t that much of a difference, but a difference it is.

The Saab Future Model Timeline will be updated accordingly.

The one thing I loved-Loved-LOVED about the Saab 9-4x concept vehicle was the interior. The photos look fantastic but they don’t do it justice. This really is fantastic.

Earlier today, Autoblog posted some spyshots of the Saab 9-4x production vehicle undergoing testing. It was full of body cladding etc but it was pretty clear from the grille shot that it was the 9-4x.

The most interesting part for me wasn’t the exterior. It was the interior and thankfully they got a glimpse of that as well. Click here to view the full side shot with interior glimpses. I’m going to risk the wrath of Priddy and post this composite for comparison purposes (they haven’t contacted me back yet so that I can buy a full shot from them).

Click to enlarge.

When I first saw the Autoblog shot I was pretty discouraged. It looks kinda like a sea of black in there. A proper look at the full concept interior photo brings some hope, however.

Firstly, the concept interior was predominantly white, with the seats and lower door trims all finished in white. As is the case with most concepts, that’s not likely to make it to production. There’ll probably be the usual offering of parchment and black options, I’d guess.

As was noted in comments to the initial entry on these spypics, a comparison of the vents and door handles shows that a fair bit of the concept interior was production ready. There’s definitely a lot of the same shapes in there.

The big question is whether or not the acrylic panel that so dominated the 9-4x interior dash panel will be production ready. That really was the high-point of the interior for me. I know it’d be a challenge for Saab to get that ready but I really hope they manage it. It was a real game-changer in my eyes.

Click below for another look at it in full. The switchgear and shifter are most likely to be concept only, but the feel of this cabin was superb and they need to replicate as much as they can from it.

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Another thing that I have to note from seeing these is that all of a sudden, the 9-4x feels a lot more real to me.

They’re actually making this thing and we’ll get to drive it some time in the near future.

That feels good.