Saabosphere – links we enjoyed this week

Following is a review of articles online about Saab that we enjoyed reading here at the Saab factory in Trollhattan. Please feel free to check them out for yourself.

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• Saab Rises from its ashes at the New York Auto Show (Haute Living)

An enjoyable look at the Saab PhoeniX Concept from the New York Auto Show.

The New York International Auto show wraps up this Sunday, concluding another round of the World Car Awards. While the World Car of 2011 and the World Green Car of 2011 respectively went to the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt, the luxury market was represented with victories by the Ferrari 458 Italia (2011 World Sports Car) and the Aston Martin Rapide (2011 World Design Car). In other words, no brand new concept or production debuts won any of the top awards, begging me to determine my own winner – the Saab PhoeniX concept car.

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• Saab assembly in Denmark (Saabworld)

Saabworld take a look at a rare piece of Saab’s history – the story of vehicle assembly in Denmark. It’s a very interesting read, including the little-known factoid about Saab’s largest export market from 1950 to 1953 being……. Morocco?! Perhaps that’s the biggest recipient of Danish assembled Saabs.

I haven’t checked any of this historical content with the Saab Museum, but it makes for some fascinating reading.

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The following video shows Toomas Heikkinen driving a car supplied by Saab rally legend and mentor, Per Eklund, at last weekend’s leg of the European Rallycross Championship. Heikkinen finished 6th in the A-Final.

As posted by Mike Jager.

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• 10 Cars Women Will Love

– Forbes.com

There are no explicit reasons given in the article as to why the Saab 9-5 appears on this list, but we’re very happy that it does.

We’d like to point out, however, that we’ve found that men love the Saab 9-5 as well.

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• Name a new Saab color (Saabs United)

Staff at Saabs United spotted a new blue color on a Saab 9-3 Convertible at the Saab Factory last week and held an open poll as to what the color should be named.

121 suggestions and counting……

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• Driven: 2011 Saab 9-5 Turbo4 Premium (Winding Road)

Winding Road published a road test of the Saab 9-5 Turbo4 Premium last week and the results confirmed something that I’ve long suspected – the Turbo4 will be a genuine value surprise packet for many.

VS. BMW 528i

Saab’s brand identity is more laid back and casual than that of the sporting and slightly stuffy BMW, and that shows through in a direct comparison with the 528i. Where the BMW offers a more aggressive engine note, and firmer, pointier handling, the 9-5 is relaxing and more comfortable over the long haul. The Saab certainly looks like a fresher face, too, though the all-new 5-Series is not unlovely.

Surprisingly we end up liking the Turbo4 just a bit better than BMW’s straight-six here. Not only does Saab’s turbo deliver up more torque (258 versus 230 pound-feet in favor of the Swede), but it also offers superior throttle response. The sweet-revving six still sounds better though.

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• How people-power saved Saab (Car Advice)

And….. without wanting to blow my own horn here, there’s a very enjoyable read about the foundations of this very website over at Car Advice, from Australia.

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