Category Archives: Saab Goodies

More from the Saab Design Shop

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Ivan’s been whipping the designers into action and the Saab Design Shop has turned out a few new badges to fire your imagination.

The first two are variations on the griffin badge shown earlier. The badge on the left uses a brushed aluminium finish and the badge on the right it a flat silver finish.

Click

Saab badges

Next we have a spin-off from the original Saab airplane badge. Cool.

Saab badge

And finally, this is a badge that Ivan’s custom-designed for the Hungarian Saab 900 Club. If you’re into custom badging, then something like that would look pretty darn good on a side window glass, or wherever.

Saab badge

Maybe your Saab club, or event, could use something like this?

Remember, Ivan can supply you with any of these (or any of these) OR he can custom design a badge or T-shirt to suit your requirements. Check out the TS shop page for all the T-shirt details.

All you need to do is get in touch with him on saabdesignshop@gmail.com

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Dataheads rejoice! Get your car’s diagnostics online,

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BSR have just put together a new product that you car junkies and control freaks will just love. It’s called the Riiport and like most of BSR’s gear, it’s a plug and play masterpiece in the making.

BSR riiport

Riiport consists of a fully automatic driver’s log that sends data in real time from the car’s various control systems wirelessly via GPRS to www.riiport.com. Riiport is also able to read all diagnostic trouble codes that inform you if something is wrong with the car, providing both the code and a describing text.

It seems like the Riiport is purchased as a three-year subscription. There’s no installation fee for the unit itself, but your data will cease downloading after three years. That period might be a little to do with leasing, as it’s expected businesses might take this up as a fleet control measure.

Reading all the diagnostic stuff will be of interest to many private buyers as well, though, especially those who’ve purchased some of BSR’s other products :-)

The Riiport device is currently only available for VAG vehicles, but Saab and Volvo are coming soon.

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Can’t get the car? Get the T-shirt!

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T-shirtBlack is the new black.

Black is cool, even when it’s hot. It’s dark, mysterious and deliberate. Black burbles through rhomboid exhausts. And it grips.

Seen a red door? Paint it black.

If you’re into black but can’t quite put the coin together for a Turbo X, the ultimate in black, at least you can console yourself by slipping into black.

The Saab Design Shop has special edition Turbo X T-shirts in both the European and North American shops.

One design. Lots of sizes.

Any color you want. As long as it’s black.

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Turbo X wheels on a Viggen?

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UPDATED!!! – Black Viggen below.

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I am the photoshop gimp.

Given that that’s the case, I was very pleased when Rogan whipped up a photochop of a Viggen wearing some Turbo X wheels. I love the “X” wheels and I have a Viggen getting repaired, so naturally I was very interested in seeing the results.

Here’s the image. Click.

Viggen X

Hmmmmmm.

The jury’s still out, in my mind. They don’t quite match up as well as I thought they would. Maybe they really need a black car to set them off properly? Maybe I’m just too used to seeing five-spokes on a Viggen, or Double-Y’s on that Saab body shape?

Something just hasn’t clicked here for me. It’s like seeing Paris Hilton at church or Dubya at a university. It’s just. not. right.

Thoughts?

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UPDATE

Thanks to JA37 we can see what they’d look like on a black Viggen. Much better! Click to enlarge, or click here if the re-size doesn’t work so well.

Saab Viggen

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Turbo X Wheels for sale at Speedparts

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I’m not sure if this is just one set, or an ongoing thing, but Speedparts in Sweden have a set of Saab Turbo X wheels for sale. (I think it’s just the one set, probably due to a project)

They’re 18 inches in diameter and shod with 235/45 Pirelli Zeros. Absolutely brilliant!!

I wonder how they’d look on a Viggen????

Turbo X Wheel

Thanks Matti!

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In other Speedparts related news……well, sort of…..

PA Johansson builds incredible drag cars out of Saabs. I’ve featured his work before (here, and here, for example) and actually listened to a seminar he presented at the Saab Festival last year. The build story on these cars is quite amazing.

PA recently took the 2008 version of his car out for a run for this first time this summer. Here’s one way to reduce weight – blow the boot off the car!! I’m not sure it’d help the aerodynamics too much, though.

Speedparts

Here’s a video of the day’s events. It’s straight line grunt and it’s not for everyone, but there certainly is some awesome Saab power on display here.

Thanks Mats!

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Hirsch newsletter for May 2008

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The good gentlemen at Hirsch AG have released a newsletter for May.

Here it is, folks….

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Satin chrome front grille for the Saab 9-5

The appearance of the bright chrome grill of the new 9-5 has been found not to be to everybody’s taste. With the new satin chrome grille from Hirsch Performance, produced by the same supplier and with the same high quality satin chrome specification as the new 9-3 grille, the front receives a more modern, sporty, understatedly elegant look, that better matches the car’s character.

Hirsch 9-5 grille

The Hirsch Performance satin chrome grille was recently shown at the auto shows in Geneva and Leipzig to critical acclaim. The product was received so well, that it could be introduced to the next model year production.

The Hirsch Perfomance satin chrome grill is available now for all Saab 9-5 MY06 and newer.

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Stainless steel dual exhaust system for Saab 9-5 1.9TiD MY06 and newer

The new Hirsch Performance dual exhaust system made of stainless steel gives the Saab 9-5 TiD a sporty appearance – a perfect match for example for cars equipped with a 175hp performance upgrade! Carefully tuned mufflers and bass-reflex resonators provide a powerful deep sound without being too loud, and the flow-optimized tubing reduces back pressure, and thus improves the pedal response. With the large dual tailpipes and the corresponding rear skirt, the Saab 9-5 also looks much more powerful.

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Hirsch Performance has a new logo, and now also a new vehicle badge

Elegant, premium and well integrated into the Saab car badging. Those were our objectives for our new chromed Hirsch Performance badge, which replaces our well known oval sticker. The new deer head badge, derived from the name “Hirsch”, which means “deer” in German, is the new subtle hint to look for to recognize a Saab with a Hirsch Performance upgrade. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, the way a high performance Saab should be.

The new badges are available for immediate delivery.

Hirsch badge

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10% Spring time discount on all Hirsch Performance complete wheels

The spring is not only driving people outside but also onto the open roads. This makes it the perfect time to either replace the winter equipment against sportive summer wheels or just to upgrade your driving experience with lightweight 18″ or 19″ wheels. To make the upgrade decision easier, we offer a 10% special discount on all complete wheels.

Hirsch wheels

Order today, as the discount will be available till end of May only.

Our previously sold-out popular 19×8″ 3 spoke wheel is now available again.

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Hirsch Performance merchandizing products now available at Saab Expressions.

Attention to detail is at the heart of what we do at Hirsch Performance. The quality of the smallest part often determines how well a system functions and how it is perceived. Likewise, a small but elegant accessory can have great impact on overall appearance.

Hirsch Expressions

Hirsch Expressions is a range of high-quality products specifically designed to accentuate your lifestyle and reflect the values of the Hirsch Performance Saab you drive. You are warmly welcome to explore our entire range at saabexpressions

Who uses the smart slot?

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I was perusing an accessories catalog not long ago and was reminded of the Saab 9-3′s Smart Slot.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Saab 9-3 Sedan, Combi and Convertible all have a handbrake on one side of the central ignition, and on the other side is a little thing called the Smart Slot. On most 9-3′s this has a ‘handle’ that mirrors the handbrake, but there were a number of accessories made to fit into this slot. These were as follows:

The CD holder:

Saab smart slot

The cup holder:

Saab smart slot

The Ice scraper:

Saab smart slot

These were all great ideas, but I’ve never seen any of them in use.

So who uses their smart slot, smartly? And how much do you love it? Or not?

And is there anything else that Saab should have made for the smart slot? A trigger mechanism for rotating number plates, perhaps?

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Mini-turbines?

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Introducing one of your new Saab 9-3 wheels for 2009. Saab have a long tradition of fitting alloy wheels as standard, and those alloy wheels being fantastic.

This wheel might not see the light of day until the later part of the 2009 model year and the spec that it’s part of looks fantastic (try an Aero specification level with the 2.0T engine in the US model).

It’s only a small image, but it almost looks like there’s an angle on those blades. Could this be the first production iteration of the turbine wheels from Saab’s concept cars?

I hope so. Once again, Saab’s managed to design some brilliant rims.

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Count this model news in with the new colors that’ll come on the 2009 Saab 9-3 and the way overdue arrival of Bluetooth for the US market in 2009.

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