Tag Archives: Saab 9-4x

End of the Canada Trip megasnippets

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We’ve come to the end of another fantastic Canadian holiday and I’m a little sorry that it overwhelmed content here in the last few weeks, but such is the way of these things.

Lance, I’ve got your emails and will get back to you as soon as I land in Oz.

So, on to some Saaby topics before I pack up the laptop and head upstairs to pack my bags and leave the northern hemishere.

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Normally, when a new Saab concept or new Saab model shows it’s face, I end up writing a column here explaining my thoughts and feelings about the vehicle. I haven’t done that with the 9-X Air for a couple of reasons.

a) On the day it was released, I had one hour to get the press material on the site before we loaded the Buick and headed for Vancouver Island. Consequently, I’ve probably seen and read less about the car than anyone.

b) One of my main points of interest is with the convertible mechanism, which we still haven’t seen yet, as far as I can tell. I’ve seen it with the top down (stunning) and with the top up (wearing the toupee), but I haven’t seen the journey from one to the other. It seems Saab are holding that back for the car’s debut in Paris.

My one overriding hope is that with the adjustment in the size of the 9-3 in the future, this will be the template for the convertible version of the car. I think it looks fantastic over all, and it’d be a shame if the entire “noughties” decade yields little more than a number of concept cars for Saab that never got built.

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Further to cars and motor shows, several news sources are reporting that the production version of the Saab 9-4x will not be shown in Detroit early in 2009, as originally assumed. Rather, both Autoblog and AMS in Sweden are hinting that it’ll show late in 2008 at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

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I haven’t updated the Saab Future Model Timeline in a while now. I’ll look to do so with the most recent information when I get back to Australia.

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Saab will also show the 9-3x SportCombi at the Paris Motor Show. I can’t wait to see it. Having just spent a bucketload on fuel in a Buick Rendezvous for a week, I can tell you that the trip would have been just as well travelled (in terms of load carrying) in a Saab 9-3 SportCombi. The addition of XWD and some extra rugged bits should make it a genuine SUV alternative.

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Forbes announce that the Saab 9-5 is apparently the worst selling car in the US, though I’m sure they have deliberately discounted high-price low-volume marques such as Lamborghini when they tallied the numbers.

Fortunately for Saab, they consider the 9-5 very much worth a second look for anyone looking for a safe, well equipped four door saloon.

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If you, like me, are a little down on Saab’s current development and loss of heritage and character, then please remember that things can always be worse. You could be a fan of the storied, race and rally winning marque that is Lancia.

Fiat have done some great things in the last few years (Alfa 8c, Fiat 500) but the latest from Lancia must make an enthusiast tremble.

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Consumer Reports have been driving the latest Eurodiesels and predictably, they find them to be a great alternative with smooth, torquey engines.

Of course, the cars they drove were samples provided by Audi, BMW, Mini (think BMW) and Chrysler (think ex-MB). The emergence of the diesel car in the US will really come to the fore in the next couple of years and it will be synonymous with a rise in the US perception about European vehicles.

If GM wants to (quite rightly) raise Saab’s profile as a European manufacturer selling vehicles in the united States, it should be preparing Saab’s excellent TTiD engine for release there. The spoils will go to those first into the market.

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As mentioned earlier, I recently drove the family around for a week in the Buick Rendezvous. I won’t do a full review of that car here as it’s pretty much irrelevant to the Saab demographic.

A few quick thoughts, though.

1) It got us there and back, covering just over 1,000 kms with no problems whatsoever. Kudos for that.

2) It had plenty of space for us three and all our gear for a week-long trip. Kudos for that.

3) If I were to identify a negative about the car (and you know I will) it’s the car’s complete lack of identifiable character. If I had to take this vehicle as a representation of what Buick is, then I’d have to ask “what’s the point?”

They have a reputation as an old guy’s vehicle and as such, I assumed it would be well appointed, comfortable and quiet. It was definitely quiet. The appointment level and comfort, though, were what I’d expect from a base level brand and a base level vehicle. Cloth seats, column shift auto, climate controls that were reminiscent of a 1980s Toyota……

In short, the Buick Rendezvous is quite possibly symptomatic of the identity problem facing GM right now with eight brands to manage in it’s US portfolio. There just aren’t enough distinct vehicles to go around.

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News from the 2008 Saab Owners Convention

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The 2008 Saab Owners Convention has been taking place this weekend in Devens, Mass, and whilst I couldn’t be there and didn’t ask anyone to do anything on TS’s behalf, Alexandre was kind enough to take some notes and pass them on.

This are notes made from conversations with several Saab staffers on site, as well as from the roundtable Q&A session.

If you attended the event and have something to add, please do so in comments.

Thanks, Alexandre!!

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About the potential for a Saab 9-1:

- My Question: what would it take to officially put the 9-1 on the table? Need money. Only enough development dollars to go around and there isn’t money for this at the moment. (this was the main answer from both John and Steve in separate conversations)

- The answer isn’t “no” just yet. Even on the Delta platform, (this from Steve). Delta is flexible enough with long and short wheelbase versions to accommodate both the 9-1 and 9-3. They deliberately did the showcar to use existing platform components to shorten development time if/when there’s a green light.

- Another question: with current sales strength and future growth areas consisting of markets that typically go for smaller cars (Europe and Asia), wouldn’t this play to the strengths of Saab and help the case for the 9-1? (smirks from Steve and another PR gentleman who’s name I forgot to write down (possibly Jan-Willem Vester?)) Answer: Yes, and the case for it is getting stronger every day.

About the potential for TTiD in USA:

There’s great interest in bringing it over. With EU diesel standards getting closer to US diesel cleanliness standards, the likelihood is getting stronger. Technical differences will thus narrow between a European version and a US version. The main issue is (again) cost. The TTiD price premium in the US might be too high with diesel pricing trends the way they are (~20% higher than gas). A related problem is that Saab buyers are more likely to run the numbers than most car buyers. If they don’t see a personal justification for the engine, it makes the economic justification for GM making it available more difficult.

About a 2.0T engine in US 9-4X:

No clear answer given, “looking at lots of engine options with nothing ruled out yet”. Steve kind of fudged the answer so he might not be really on top of it.

Bringing back the hatch:

Current 9-3 concept drawings are closer to the hatch shape than a station wagon/current shape. 2 door is likely.

9-5 sedan vs. combi:

The future 9-5 combi is much more sporty looking, almost looks like a different car.

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And for those who’d like to see a few of the Saabs that gathered for the event, there’s a few photos here at Flickr, and I’m sure more will show up in the coming week.

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Monday Snippets

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This past weekend wasn’t just full of Olympic action, it was also the weekend for European Saab nuts together in Latvia for IntSaab 2008.

Hopefully there’ll be some images and stories floating around the internet in the next week or so.

If you’re readying your 2009 calendar, please note that IntSaab will be held in The Netherlands and I believe they’re awaiting advice from Trollhattan as to the dates for the Saab Festival so that they can tie the two events together. I’d suggest you block out a few weeks in June for the Saab time of your life!

UPDATE:

The IntSaab2009 website is now up an running. I’ll prepare a separate post on the event.

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Autoblog Green are featuring some photos of the 9-4x out testing. I think they’re from the same drive session that Auto Motor and Sport captured last week.

ABG, however, are still holding out to the hope that it might go through unchanged from the concept car shown at Detroit, including the engines available. Well, we featured the 9-4x engine news here at TS some time ago and there’s not a BioPower four cylinder in sight – not for the US market, at least.

Sam from ABG, the RSS button is in the left sidebar.

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I got an email from Golfhunter over the weekend about his beautiful Saab 96 cabriolet featuring in the Saab Car Club of Australia magazine. I hadn’t seen it, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a scan of the page on his Flickr site.

SCCA’s magazine is one of the best car club publications you’ll ever come accross. Kudos to Steve B, otherwise known as sab, who’s been putting it together for around 10 years straight now. A Herculean effort.

And kudos to Jeff on the car, again.

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1985Gripen hooked me up with this video of Steve Shannon, which was shot by the guys at Kelley Blue Book earlier this year at the New York International Auto Show.

It’s actually quite a good little interview and there’s a lot of promise when you hear Shannon’s thoughts and prognostications like this.

The problem? We don’t hear it enough. According to the KBB site, this video had only been viewed 313 times in around 5 months. Need. More. Coverage.

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Any of you still play long-play records instead of CDs? Fans of the big black discs will talk your ears off for hours about how the sound from vinyl is warmer and richer in tone than the clinical accuracy of digital sound. I agree to an extent, but I like the compactness of digital.

I’ve occasionally wondered if the same argument would eventually be made about digital and film cameras. I know from personal experience that I got more satisfaction from a good film shot that what I do now from a nicely retouched digital shot. The main problem with film for me was that I only ever got 4 or 5 good shots from a 24-exposure roll of Fuji.

The caption on this shot from Flickr states that it was snapped with an old crappy Kodak camera, some time ago. I’m going to get all old fashioned and sentimental, and assume this was a film shot and that it’s been scanned in directly without retouching.

Nice.

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Not so nice are these apparently OEM headlamp protectors, posted by Zonovar at Flickr, who I believe hails from Sydney and has graced these pages before.

I guess it’s one of those form-follows-function things that didn’t turn out so nice. I’m sure they’re effective, though.

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Per Eklund raced in the European Rallycross Championship once again last weekend. The event was held at Maasmechelen in Belgium.

Per had some trouble throughout the weekend’s event, having to deal with a troublesome gearbox, poor conditions and some drivers that like to hit his car.

A 12th position finish ensured. Mike Jager has all the details and next weekend the European Championship moves to The Netherlands.

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AMS score 9-4x spypics

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Auto Motor and Sport in Sweden have unearthed some new Saab 9-4x spyshots today. Click through to AMS to see the full size shots.

Click to enlarge

This interior shot shows much of what we’ve seen before with the dash vents and instruments remaining faithful in their basic form to the concept vehicle. The dash materials seem to be different, however, and more generic. I also note in this shot that the seat doen’t look like a Saab seat with the active SAHR headrests (see the AMS shots for the seat detail).

The car is wearing the usual padding disguise, the same wheels we’ve seen previously and it seems to be towing some sort of trailer with some unknown equipment on it. Load testing?

As mentioned before, click on through to AMS for all three photos, which are so huge I’m amazed the internet is big enough to hold them :-)

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GM to build Saab in North America? Not the 9-4x?

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Several news agencies are reporting a double-pronged story: that GM has buyers lined up for HUMMER, and that Saab are here to stay and a future Saab may be built in North America.

That’s where it gets fuzzy.

Reuters reports it as follows:

Wagoner said GM was committed to its Saab brand and planned to make an upcoming Saab model in North America, in an attempt to improve the brand’s profitability.

“Saab has been a critical part of our European portfolio and has the potential to be quite a good moneymaker for us, Wagoner said.

Whereas AFP are saying this:

General Motors will begin building Saab vehicles in the United States rather than put its Swedish subsidiary up for sale, GM chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner said Friday…..

….we’ve got a number of new (Saab) products coming up beginning in the third quarter next year and it will have a new product portfolio for the first time in a long time.”

Wagoner said one of the new Saab models would be built in the US starting next year.

“Part of the idea would be to balance out their cost footprint. That should help out Saab quite a bit,” Wagoner said.

So it’s Saab building a car in North America vs Saab building a car in the United States. Unfortunately, neither news service provide the exact quote where Wagoner mentions it, so we’re left to figure it out for ourselves.

My first thought was that he was referring to the Saab 9-4x, which we’re quite sure is earmarked for a GM plant in Mexico. It’s close enough to what we commonly refer to as North America to give him a pass (you know, ‘mericans and geography) and it maintains a feeling of quality that a Made in Mexico tag might not convey.

But what if it were something else?

The new Saab 9-5 is going to be built on the Epsilon II architecture. The only plant that I’ve heard will be building on this architecture at this point is the Russelsheim plant, but GM do build vehicles on Epsilon in the United States, the new Malibu being the main player, being built in Kansas City and Lake Orion, Michigan.

The next generation of Saab 9-3 is going to be built on a new generation Delta architecture. There are four plans in Europe that could do it, but it’s widely believed that Saab’s own plant in Trollhattan will be the location. The currrent Chevy HHR is built on the current Delta platform in Mexico. I’m not sure if the 9-4x and Caddy derivative being built in Mexico is a replacement for Delta vehicles, or as additional production, but if it’s additional and they upgrade to the new version of Delta…….given that the 9-3 will most likely be Saab’s volume model well into the future, it’d make sense to get the production costs and currency fluctuations to a minimum.

There’s the possibility of a Saab 9-1 in the future. It hasn’t received a green light yet, but GM Europe’s head honcho stated just a few days ago that a 9-1 being built on GM’s Gamma architecture is “imaginable”. The best reference I’ve got for this is Wikipedia, which states that any future Gamma vehicles are earmarked for production in places other than the US.

I’m willing to bet it’s the 9-4x and that Rick Wagoner was just being a bit cute.

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Other than that, it’s good hear that Saabs may not be selling beside Hummers in the near future. Good times!

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Saab at the London Motor Show

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It’s definitely looking like Paris for the Saab 9-3x allroader.

Saab’s presence at the London Motor Show will be reasonably subdued. The “news” for the show is the already-known addition of XWD to the four-cylinder range for the Saab 9-3.

The 9-X BioHybrid and Saab 9-4x BioPower Concept vehicles will be there to lend some interest for the local enthusiasts. Get your head inside that 9-4x and get a look at the interior I fell in love with in Detroit.

The official London press release follows:

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Saab Highlights at London Motor Show 2008

Saab extends the availability of its innovative all-wheel-drive system for Model Year 2009, while also expanding its Aero range to include BioPower flex-fuel technology. Saab’s latest concept cars – the 9-X BioHybrid and 9-4X BioPower – signal the Swedish premium brand’s intention to enter all major segments of the global car market.

• Class-leading Saab XWD teamed with signature four-cylinder turbo power

The Model Year 2009 Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan and SportCombi line-up now features XWD as an option for 210 hp, 2.0-liter turbo models, in addition to the top-of-the-range Aero 280 hp, 2.8V6 turbo engine. A rear eLSD and a sports chassis package can also be specified.

• Saab BioPower added to Aero performance range

Saab leads the automotive sector with its BioPower engines that deliver increased power while exploiting the environmental benefits of bioethanol (E85) as a sustainable fuel. This unique flex-fuel technology is now offered for Aero variants in both 9-3 and 9-5 product ranges.

• Latest Saab Concept cars on display

The 9-X BioHybrid – a vision of what a future compact car from Saab could look like – and the 9-4X BioPower Concept – announcing Saab’s imminent entry into Crossover segment – share signature Scandinavian styling themes while showcasing future developments in efficient powertrain technology. They symbolize Saab’s commitment to enter all major segments of the car market with distinctive premium products.

• Top-of-the-line Aero 2.8V6 Turbo engine Uprated.

Now delivering 280 hp/206 kW and 400 Nm of torque, this engine is offered with both front and all-wheel-drive (Saab XWD) in the 9-3 range. A sports chassis set-up, as developed for the Turbo X Limited Edition, is offered with XWD.

Saab 9-4x concept VS Saab 9-4x

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GM released a small-ish and disproportional image of the Saab 9-4x last week. Small-ish and disproportional it may be, but it gives us that all-important point of comparison against the vehicle we have seen for real – the Saab 9-4x concept.

Turbin’s given the new image a little nudge to get it back into perspective and he’s also dug out a concept picture with the vehicle set at a similar angle.

Here they are. Click.

Bear in mind that this is most likely an Aero version of the production vehicle that we’re seeing here. The base model will probably be dressed down a little and I can tell you know that the base version will have 18-inch wheels whilst the Aero will have 20-inch wheels as standard.

This image of the production vehicle shows Aero-X style turbines, which even the concept vehicle didn’t have. I’d be very surprised if it turned up with these wheels. The wheels on the 9-4x concept have been seen on several test vehicles and I’d suggest that these are more likely to be the wheels seen on the production model.

This Aero version is certainly showing plety of bling and muscle. The silver paint on the production version emphasises the bulge of the wheel arches, almost to a point where I’d suggest that a white car might be preferable. Other exterior bling can be found on the foglight surrounds, rear view mirrors and side vents.

Although we never got to see them in action, the concept car featured light pipes that tracked from the external top corner of the light cluster, down the indicator lenses and along the base of the headlamps. It’ll be interesting to see if the production version features this sort of setup, or if it follows the 2008 Saab 9-3 lead and has the light pipe across the top of the lamps.

It’s quite obvious that Saab’s promise of staying very true to the concept vehicle has been realised in this image of the production version. On the outside, at least. We’ll have to wait a little while longer before we see how much of that beautiful interior has made its way into the production version.

My thanks to Turbin for putting those two images together. It’s certainly some good food for thought. Although I find it hard to get excited about SUVs or crossovers in general, I do remember leaving Detroit with good feelings about the Saab 9-4x. I suspect that those who are looking for this type of vehicle will have a lot to look forward to.

For the summary article on the Saab 9-4x concept, including features and specs a ton of pictures, click here. Bear in mind that that’s the concept vehicle, though. The production vehicle will look similar, but will come with V6 petrol engines only in the US, and a combination of petrol or diesel engines in other markets.

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Friday Snippets

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GM head honcho Rick Wagoner showed off some of GM’s future offerings a few days ago, including the Saab 9-4x. The image that went around at that time was small and got very blurry when enlarged.

A new version of the image has popped up at Edmunds and whilst still not print quality, it gives a much better idea as to what the front quarter profile of the production car will look like. It’s not much different to what we’ve already seen in the concept car, to be honest. The greater interest will be in the back, where they’re sure to tame down those tail lights.

Click.

Saab 9-4x

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I got a few emails overnight about this one: Mercedes Benz to Introduce Fully Turbocharged Lineup by 2010.

I’ve been saying for a long time that Saab should have established ownership of the Turbo segment ages ago. First BMW brought out their 335i and now Merc are going to go full-on into it too. I guess everyone is.

It’s pleasing to see some Saab defenders in comments there (Go David!)

It’s good to see Saab emphasising turbocharging in their recent advertising. They really, really need to hammer this home.

And speaking of that…..

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Saab History has noted that SaabUSA have made some modifications to the “Recycle” TV ad that was featured here last week.

The voiceover, which repeated the script three times in the initial ad, has been edited to cut it down to two repeats (it’d definitely have potential to get on your nerves showing six times an hour during the Tour de France coverage) and the tagline at the end has changed as well.

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Andy Rupert is the voice behind the “Release Me” video, a former Saab 900 owner (and I know deep down he really, really misses it) and as of a few months ago – a Volvo sales guy.

With the recent featuring of “Release Me” in the video widget (see the right sidebar), the song got a new lease on life, especially at Andy’s workplace, where they managed to entertain themselves with some high-volume repetition and a Volvo adaptation.

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There’s been a bunch of recent Turbo X reviews come in:

* You can click here to download Go Auto magazine, an excellent Aussie publication, which has a review of the Turbo X based on the same session as the one I attended at GM’s proving grounds here in Australia. If you only read one of these reviews, make sure it’s this one.

* Drive.com.au cover the same event:

The test drive finished with a burst around the dirt circuit, where the Turbo X demonstrated a higher degree of sure-footedness than the front-wheel-drive Aero we were benchmarking it against.

A lap of the dirt track at rally car speeds with Johansson behind the wheel shows just how capable the Turbo X can be in skilled hands.

* Walkerton.com, from Canada, give a great insight into the good old days of Turbo in the X-review:

Count one, two, and then bang as the boost came on. You had to anticipate this rush because there was a phenomenon called torque steer.

Those were the days…..

Potent and sexy, the only real problem with the Turbo X is that only 100 are allotted to Canada and most are already spoken for.

* Autoweek have a “short stint” as well:

Most impressive is how it handles rounding turns. The all-wheel-drive system and sport-tuned suspension do a great job of keep the car planted when attacking corners. There are some signs of understeer when you push it hard, but for normal to semispirited driving, it provides all the grip you need. The stiffened suspension isn’t too harsh, either, for day-to-day motoring.

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And finally……some Japanese Chinese towing images that I got via email. Unbelievable.

Thanks to Ying for the correction!