Yet another Turbo X arrival in the US, but this one’s slightly significant

Posted on May 20, 2008 by swade

I’ve posted a number of Turbo X delivery stories now and I’m always pleased to do so – this is a really important rollout for Saab and the impressions left by this car are going to generate a lot of word-of-mouth and excitement for the future. But I digress…..

Most Turbo X stories are pretty similar, but this one’s significant for US customers for one reason only – it’s a left coast delivery

All delivery stories up til now have been concentrated in the north-eastern US so it’s great to see this Turbo X making its way to Michael F’s driveway, by way of Saab of Santa Ana in California.

Congratulations Michael!!

If you’re in the western states, start making your enquiries. FWIW, Saab of Santa Ana had 4 left after delivering this one.

The Saab Turbo X index

Posted on May 19, 2008 by swade

Supply and demand boffins at The Economist use the Big Mac Index to judge the purchasing power of people in a particular country and whether the currency’s valuation provides some fairness. This should give you an idea, from the most recent BMI published at The Economist:

the euro is overvalued by 17% against the dollar. How come? The euro is worth about $1.22 on the foreign-exchange markets. A Big Mac costs €2.92, on average, in the euro zone and $3.06 in the United States. The rate needed to equalise the burger’s price in the two regions is just $1.05. To patrons of McDonald’s, at least, the single currency is overpriced.…

So, taking that whole theory a whole lot larger, and not taking into account any taxes (and thereby rendering the whole exercise useless as a real measuring tool) I thought it’d be good to list the various Turbo X prices around the world in a common currency so that we can see how much we’re all paying in relative terms.

Let’s work in US dollars and make our comparative model a Saab Turbo X sport sedan, manual, with no options fitted. I’ll do my currency conversions via Yahoo Finance.

I’ll start with a few known prices here. Please add your market’s Turbo X price in comments. I’ll then add it to the list in the front page here.

UPDATE – All of those prices were gathered from Saab press releases previously mentioned here – The price quoted from Saab in that country. Some manufacturers are compelled to include certain taxes and charges in that price (such as the luxury car tax here in Australia).

OK, here’s the initial graph…..click to enlarge and see how many greenbacks you’ll need to secure your X

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I couldn’t find an official Norwegian price, but would be very interested to know. From the Norwegian review I just posted, it looks as if the Norwegians pay more in vehicle taxes alone than what many markets pay for the entire vehicle.

Norwegian Saab Turbo X review

Posted on May 19, 2008 by swade

Different places have different needs in their cars. Most of the reviews I cover here are from the North America, due mainly to sheer volume of reviews written there as well as the language barriers I face with reviews from other places.

It’s great when I can get some perspectives from other places, though, like a snowy and very expensive Norway.

This review was sent in by Kristian. It comes from Dagens Næringsliv.

Thanks a bunch, Kristian!

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A short summary:

The journalist calls the car the greatest thing to ship from Sweden since the Wasa in 1628, though in a positive sense. (Never mind that Wasa sunk…) He wonders how the company that produced a “SAAB” based on a subaru and on a trailblazer could come up with this.

The usual bashing of the front wheel drive follows (we do live in Norway, with snow-covered roads), and he claims that it is about time SAAB came with the four wheel drive-system. He claims it to be an excellent system, and that one hardly notices the system at work.

According to the journalist, this is the car that should bring SAABs to the mainstream drivers looking for a fun and great looking drive.

He calles the car a bastard, with an engine from Holden, Australia, brought to Sweden for tuning. The tuning gives it a “beautiful sound you just cant help falling in love with”. It has a body that has a lot in common with the Vectra, and the oh not so great Cadillac BLS. The four-wheel -system is from Haldex.

The car is tight and sporty to drive, but he deducts points for the slow gearbox (automatic) He calls the automatic transmission “slow, and not optimized for ‘sporty driving’ ”

The interior gets top marks, but for the cheap plastic on the door handle. He says the CO2 emissions are a bit on the heavy side.

The car is then compared to the BMW 335XI and the Audi A4 quattro. In Norway these cars would be almost as expensive as the SAAB Turbo X, but not nearly as unique. A fun alternative. The price in Norway is about £92000

He also has high hopes for haldex on the cheaper models, hoping they can bring life back to SAAB.

And for the highlight of the test, the “10 point check”

Drivers environment: Top seats, high quality but for the door handle

Passenger comfort: The car is a little small, and the roof is a bit low in the back. Acceptable for four. Comfy.

Design: Rugged and though. Cool spoilers and styling

Sound insulation: Premium class. The engine is perfect in the coupe (??? – SW).

Loading/Cargo space: OK for a sedan.

Performance: Grate engine with plenty of fun. Emissions of CO2 TOO HIGH!

Second hand value: Only 15 of these in Norway. Still, the potential for loss is high.

Value for money: Heavily equipped. High emissions and large engine allows for a tax of £53000 to the government piggy bank.

My favourite: Brand renown: SAAB is accepted even amongst those who despise the concept of a car. It’s never wrong to drive a SAAB

On the road/ Handling: One of the best 4wd systems on the market. Tight drive and lovely engine. Go for manual transmission.

That is the essence of it!

Check your new Saabs

Posted on May 17, 2008 by swade

UPDATE: Example #2 is in comments. Sorry to hear it, David.

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Maybe this is one reason dealers love to sell directly off the lot? No pesky orders to worry about.

Cast your mind back and you might remember that one of the reasons SaabUSA has sidelined the European Delivery Program is that they were implementing a new electronic ordering system and apparently they wanted to integrate the EDP into that system. The EDP has been around for a long time. I think I’ve seen material on it that dates back to the 1960′s and despite GM’s takeover of Saab 8 years ago, it was still an internally organised operation, separate from any other parts of the vehicle ordering system.

GM has been quite gradual with their integration of Saab. They only moved SaabUSA into GM’s Detroit headquarters a few years ago. Now they’re integrating ordering systems, marketing and dealerships so that Saab are closer to GM than ever before. The end result should be some value for money, some back-office savings and the realisation of some synergies. That’s what it should be.

So far we’ve had the cancellation of the EDP, supposedly just for 2008 and now seemingly indefinite, we’ve had little to no marketing in 2008 so far (though that’s slowly changing) and no increase at all in the marketing budget for 2008 despite XWD coming on board, and now we have this….

The first delivery of a Saab Turbo X into the US that I covered here on Trollhattan Saab featured a minor error on the car. The sill plate inside the door read “Turbo X” on one site and “Vector” on the other side. This was no big deal and the dealer, as soon as they knew about it, ordered a new sill plate from Sweden (where the right plate should have been fitted in the first place). Small error. Fixed.

I’ve recently heard from another dealer that there may be a number of other Turbo X problems afoot. No problems with the car itself in terms of engine or build. It’s just that some of the cars that have been pre-ordered aren’t coming off the line in the right specification. There may be up to half a dozen cars so far that were ordered with satnav, for instance, that have come off the line with satnav missing. A dealer can’t retrofit satnav, by the way, so either the customer’s got to wear it and buy a TomTom or maybe the dealer can phone a friend and see if another dealer has the correctly specified Turbo X in stock.

Remember, we’re talking about Turbo X’s here. One of the most important launch vehicles there’ll be for Saab in the naughties.

Whether the fault lays in Detroit or in Trollhattan is undetermined, but it definitely seems like there’s a language barrier still there. If you’ve ordered a Turbo X, rest assured that all reports suggest that you’re going to get the drive of your life. Just check it over and make sure it’s arrived with the features you asked for.

Saab Turbo X – initial review from owner

Posted on May 12, 2008 by swade

We’ve been following Beren’s purchase story for a while now.

His Saab Turbo X was one of the first photographed having arrived at a US dealership and it was also the subject of all those fantastic undercarraige photos that showed you the XWD system, the big exhaust, etc. Beren purchased his Turbo X from site sponsor, Saab of Hunterdon, in New Jersey, and they supplied those early shots.

Beren now has his Saab Turbo X at home and has written his initial thoughts for everyone’s perusal on his personal blog.

Here’s a brief snippet:

Handling in the car is really amazing. While I haven’t pushed it too hard yet, I can move through corners and turns easily where my previous ride [not a Saab - SW] would be straining and dipping just getting through…..

….Overall this is a great car. I haven’t found anything about it that I don’t like – its got personality and funk and it has guts and performance. If Saab keeps producing cars of this quality then there will certainly be a bright future for the company and its enthusiasts.

It’s a great read and highly recommended. Click here to read the writeup in full.

Another Turbo X – in Philly

Posted on May 12, 2008 by swade

If you mention Philadelphia and stand something in front of a grand old building and I immediately hear Rocky music, even if it’s not the right building. Maybe this is the vehicle that’ll lead them to an improbable place atop the European heap – it’s the fighter vs the thoroughbred and all that stuff

Ken B has just added himself to the list of Turbo X owners and whilst he hasn’t had a chance to take it for a proper drive yet (Mother’s Day will do that to you) he was kind enough to snap a few photos and send them in:

These are all shot in the main part of Fairmount Park, the city park in Philadelphia (2,300 contiguous acres in this part; 8,800 acres for the entire park). Memorial Hall was constructed for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The Japanese Tea House is behind the hall and in the Horticultural Gardens of the park. The skyline picture is shot from Belmont Plateau, a high point in the park and the site of a mid-1700’s building now housing the Underground Railroad Museum at Belmont Mansion.

Congratulations, Ken!! Enjoy it, and keep on punching!

Turbo X view-a-thon in Boston

Posted on May 9, 2008 by swade

Below is a copy of an invite being sent out to potential customers by Herb Chambers Saab in Boston. The event comprises two feature nights for the Saab Turbo X on May 20th and 21st. I assume they’ll have a fair chunk of their Turbo X fleet on the ground by then.

Click to enlarge.

If you’re in the area and interested in going to the event, you can email an RSVP to saabsales@herbchambers.com. Tell them Trollhattan Saab tipped you off in your email. And when you’re there you can tell the people at HCS how much you’d appreciate them sponsoring Trollhattan Saab on an ongoing basis.

Car and Driver do a quickie on the Turbo X

Posted on May 7, 2008 by swade

Car and Driver have posted their first drive article on the Saab Turbo X. This is just a short review of the Turbo X rather than a full-on test and it’s a good reminder as to why Car and Driver consistently give me the sh!t$.

The good news is that they barely find any fault with the car at all:

Although the Saab’s front-drive architecture is usually a recipe for understeer, the XWD and the eLSD do an effective job of masking this trait.

For those who didn’t recognise it, that was a compliment. They even go on to pay the ultimate C&D compliment:

Playful oversteer is easily invoked with simple throttle modulation.

Oversteer!! ooooooooh.

On the downside is this:

Turbo X sedans start at $42,510; add $800 for the SportCombi wagon. At those prices, the Turbo X is by no means the deal of the year, especially with faster cars such as the $41,575 BMW 335xi on the market.

Yes, C&D manage yet another BMW reference. Ka-ching! And it’s a flat out description of the BMW being faster (and by implication, better) where recent testing by a former Formula 1 driver in both the Turbo X and the 335xi showed the Bimmer to have a lap time just 0.33 of a second faster in the dry and slower in the wet. It’s got a second rate AWD system and is as ugly as abashed crab. And that price on the BMW is before you even glance at the options list. Did that get a mention? Noooooooo. Mustn’t upset the BMW gods.

Second is the mis-information on XWD equipment. C&D imply that the eLSD will be an option on the 2008 Aero and will be available for all Saab 9-3s on the 2009 model. That’s in direct contradiction to what I’ve been told both via email from Saab Sweden and whilst sitting in a car in Detroit with product manager for Saab USA, John Libbos.

The Turbo X is the only 2008 model with eLSD available, and it’s standard equipment. The 2008 XWD Aero has no option of getting the eLSD as they’re still tuning the system to the Aero’s specific setup. For the US market, the eLSD will most likely be standard with the XWD Aero in 2009. I haven’t heard anything about whether it would be available on the 2.0T when that comes with XWD in 2009, nor if it will be standard or optional if available.

Tossers.

At least they had nothing bad to say about it, which should mean that they’d actually say something good. Not to be. Not yet, at least.

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