UPDATE: Thanks to all for your questions so far. Please continue to pass the word around so that friends and other Saab contacts can have the opportunity to pose a question. We are chasing and preparing answers for you right now.
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We’d like to open the floor and invite your questions about what’s happening at Saab right now.
You can post your questions in comments here at Inside Saab, or on the Saab Facebook fan page. I’ll do my best to chase up answers and post them here on Inside Saab on Friday.
Be advised that there are some areas that we can’t touch on. We can’t give any hard details about deadlines, for example, because they shift with the circumstances. We can’t give advance information about the Saab 9-3 replacement. And I can’t diagnose your engine problems, either 🙂 .
But I will do whatever I can to get answers to as many realistic questions as possible about what’s happening at Saab, and then post those responses here on the website.
We had a poll recently, on Twitter and Facebook. It posed the Saab Catharina against the Saab 9x concept car. The voters wish was for detailed photos of Catharina. Here she is…..
The story of Catharina is pretty well known, but for those who don’t know…..
In the early 1960s, Saab’s legendary designer, Sixten Sason, penned his ideas for a personal project vehicle – a two seat sports coupe. Swedish company, ASJ, took an interest in the project and manufactured this fibreglass bodied vehicle based on Sason’s design and using the engine, gearbox and floorpan of the Saab 96. It was made in Katrineholm and accordingly, it was christened Catharina.
Saab also wanted a sports coupe after their fledgling plans for the Saab 94 faltered in the 1950s. They considered Sason’s design, along with another design from a company called Malmö Flygindustri (MFI). MFI’s design won the day and the Saab Sonett II was born.
Catharina now resides at the Saab Museum in Trollhattan, which is where I photographed it earlier this week.
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Click any of the photos to enlarge…..
Sason’s design included a removable Targa top, which was pretty uncommon at the time. The top clips out easily and it is stored in the trunk of the car, which has special little carpeted brackets in place just for this purpose.
You’ve all most likely seen this image before. It’s one of the better known images of the Saab 900 Turbo.
The photo was taken for Saab’s 50th Anniversary marketing campaign, back in 1997. A calendar was made featuring this image and a number of others like it. Remember the Saab 99 EMS in motion, or the Saab 92? All of those shots were taken around the same time and all were used in the calendar.
Today I had the pleasure of meeting Nicklas A at the Saab Museum here in Trollhattan. Whilst the majority of vehicles used in the calendar were owned by Saab itself, Nicklas has the rare privilege of being one of the few private owners whose vehicle was used in the photoshoot – his 1980 Saab 900 Turbo in black. The same car as in the image, above.
The car was purchased new by Nicklas’ father back in February 1980, from a dealer in Gothenburg. Nicklas was just five years old at the time and his kindergarten teachers were worried that he was telling lies at school when he told the other kids his Dad was buying a Saab Turbo (this was quite a boast for a 5yo in 1980 as the Saab was the hottest car in Sweden (and elsewhere)). Dad picked him up from school in the new car the day it was delivered and Nicklas’ integrity was restored 🙂
Mr A kept the car for 10 years and returned to his dealer in 1990 to trade it in on a Saab 9000. The trade-in figure offered to him was too low for his liking, and with a teenage Nicklas now only a few years away from getting his license, the car was stored until Nicklas took possession in 1993.
Nicklas used the car as his daily driver for the next four years and it was during this time that Saab came calling. Back in 1990, Nicklas’ father had bought his Saab 9000 from ANA, the big Saab dealership near Trollhattan. The salesman he dealt with back in 1990, a true Saabnut named Claes Robertsson, remembered the black 900 (from 16 years earlier!) when he heard that Saab were looking for a suitable car for the photoshoot. Claes put the company and the customer in contact, and before you can say “Spirit of Saab” there was a man with a camera knocking on Nicklas’ door. The photographer took the car and gave Nicklas a Saab 9000 Aero to play with for the day (which must have been a massive treat when it was brand new!). The result of that exchange is the calendar shot, above.
In 1997, Nicklas moved into central Gothenburg. The car was beginning to age and parking it securely was a more difficult proposition in the city. A decision was taken to move it to a friend’s property in southern Sweden, where it could be stored and eventually, renovated.
That renovation didn’t start for some time, though. Life moved on. Nicklas met a girl, got steady employment, had some kids, did the “growing up” thing that many of us do. Around 2007, though, he got the 900 itch once again and the restoration of the car began in earnest.
There was a little bit of rust to repair before the body was repainted. There was a fair bit of dedication involved in this, too. This early 900 hood, for example, features twin vents (most 900 owners would be used to seeing vents on one side only). The condition of the hood should have seen it condemned to the scrapheap but it was restored in order to preserve the ‘two-vent’ originality of the car.
The job was finally finished in 2010 and Nicklas has been enjoying his weekend warrior ever since. The turbo was replaced a few years ago, but everything else is original and aside from routine maintenance, nothing more substantial than a head gasket has needed to be done over the years.
I had the distinct pleasure of driving the car back to the Saab Museum after we’d taken it out for a few photos. This early 900 Turbo is very much like a Saab 99 Turbo. The engine is the same, but it’s mated to a 5-speed gearbox instead of the 99’s 4-speed. The interior of the car is the same as in the 99 Turbo except, of course, for the 900 dashboard. Seats, door trim, gearshift, steering wheel – all from the 99T. The bonus with the 900 is the addition of power steering, which makes it much more pleasurable to drive at slower speeds than the 99.
And driving it really was a blast. The car was rock solid. We had it idling or moving slowly for some time during the photo shoot, in 28-degree weather, and the temperature gauge didn’t move (a phenomenon uncommon to 99T owners like myself). The car is a credit to Nicklas and his father for the way it’s been preserved.
As I tend to do whenever I see a highly desireable car, I enquired as to whether Nicklas was open to receiving offers for it. He graciously declined, but offered to place me third-in-line after his two sons in his will. I won’t hold my breath 🙂 . It seems this 900 Turbo that was purchased brand new by his dad is destined to pass on to the third generation in the family, along with the calendar that made it famous.
I’ll have to take some personal consolation from the fact that I have his contact details for the 75th anniversary calendar in 2022.
Click any of the photos in this story to enlarge.
Notes for the gallery –
(1) the drivers seat has a different pattern, but was chosen this way deliberately by Nicklas’ father (anyone who’s owned a 99T with the ‘lederhosen’ seats will understand why) and the seats have been like this since new.
(2) The rear seat loudspeakers are original equipment. Very 1980.
Following is a video from the historic class, the flat-out version of the rally that doesn’t feature quite so many Saabs, but does feature a lot of action.
Enjoy your viewing.
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My apologies to a few of the Saab drivers that I missed. My camera was running so low on battery power towards the end that I was turning it off between cars. Sometimes it didn’t start up again quickly enough. There were at least two Saabs that I missed – a 99T and one or more 96’s.
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Going to the Midnight Sun Rally was a ton of fun. You’d need to be well organised to get to spectator points on a number of different stages, but once you’re there it really is like old-time racing.
People spill out and walk along the track in between cars. They’re gathered on the hills, some of them having picnics.
And then there’s the driving, which as you can see is pretty exciting stuff. Many of Sweden’s top drivers were there, including Kenneth Backlund from the Saab Performance Team, former Saab champ Stig Blomqvist as well as eventual winner, Kenny Bräck.
If you have an opportunity to get along to one of these historic rallies in the future, I recommend that you do. You’ll see some outstanding machinery, some ace driving and you’ll have a whole lot of fun doing it.
The 2011 Midnight Sun Rally ended just over a week ago and there were a lot of Saabs entered in the event. If you haven’t seen the Midnight Sun Rally photo album yet, then make sure you click on that link and check it out.
Most of the Saabs at the event competed in the Regularity Class. This is not full-tilt rally driving as you might know it. Regularity, as the name suggests, is all about driving to a regular schedule and being consistent in that. In the case of the Midnight Sun Rally, this meant driving to achieve an average of 50km/h over every stage of the event. Cars incur penalties for being outside the 50km/h average target.
This video shows most of the Saabs competing in Regularity this year. Because I was filming on some longer, straighter sections, this is more like a chance to see and appreciate the vehicles than to see some sideways action (that’s coming in another video a bit later!). Regularity is more about teamwork and precision than it is about flat out speed. It’s also less expensive than flat-out rallying, allowing greater access to a wider group of people.
Enjoy the cars! You’ll see a great range of Saabs here from the Saab 92 right through to late model Saab 99s (entries in the rally have to be at least 30 years old).
I’ve got a swag of photos from the Midnight Sun Rally, held around Västerås last weekend. I don’t have any of the cars on the dirt, though. I only shot video there, which I’ll post very soon. These stills were taken at Rally HQ in Västerås, where the cars would assemble at the end of each day.
I’m not sure if I got everyone, but I got a lot of them! Here’s a selective collection of larger images, with a more complete gallery below. Click to enlarge.
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This blue 99Turbo is the latest car built by the Saabs United Historic Rally Team. It’s a replica of Stig Blomqvist’s 1981 car from the Swedish Rally.
Many of you heard that would-be Saab investor Vladimir Antonov was entered for the race, which would have been the second year in a row for him. This is the team he would have driven in.
The three cars were prepared by Historic Rally Racing Service in a record time of just three months. All three cars feature sports suspension but are running non-turbo, single-carb engines. There’s scope for more performance in them, but for this build (in this timeframe), reliability was the goal. Also, competing in regularity, reliability is more crucial than performance.
The insides of one the cars, complete with chequered flag trim 🙂
Mr Antonov’s place was taken by a friend, Alex Fogilev and the Saab Museum’s Peter Backstrom was drafted in as co-driver.
This Sonett II certainly looked (and sounded) the part. I’ve always wondered why there aren’t more of these in historic rallying, but I guess their relative rarity and fibreglass bodies might have something to do with it. Should still be good for regularity class, though.
Lasse and Sibylla have competed in the last four Midnight Sun rallies. They always compete in period costume. The regularity class is at relatively slow speeds and there is no requirement for racing suits or excessive safety modifications (which is why they can carry suitcases on the roofracks and dolls as passengers in the back seat!). This is the first Midnight Sun they haven’t finished, suffering with a broken driveshaft on the final day.
This early Saab 96 was one of the most immaculate racing vehicles I’ve ever seen. You could eat your dinner off any surface you looked at. Incredible.
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Below is a larger gallery, featuring all the photos above and a bunch more (a few non-Saabs, too. How often do you get to see not one, but two Lancia Stratos?)
Click to enlarge.
Coming soon we will have some video of the Saabs in regularity class, plus all the other vehicles (and a few Saabs too) in the full-tilt historic class.
I just wanted to add this release to finish off our Best of the Road coverage. I really enjoyed the Wynns’ work and am so happy for them taking out this prize. They’re going to love that 9-4x.
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Rand McNally sponsors — “Best of the Road” — rally to 30 cities, with media partner, USA TODAY
ROYAL OAK, MICH., July 19, 2011 – Saab automobiles traveled across the U.S. in the Rand McNally “Best of the Road” rally presented with media partner, USA TODAY. Five two-person teams spent three weeks experiencing the best small towns in the United States in a mix of Saab vehicles as the final phase of Rand McNally’s search to find “Best of the Road” and the best small towns in the United States along with media partner, USA TODAY. The winning team was awarded a Saab 9-4X crossover at the finale event in California on July 15.
Jason and Nikki Wynn of Dallas, Texas were elated upon being selected to participate as one of five teams in the 30 city tour, but their excitement escalated when hearing they had won the rally and were being awarded a Saab 9-4X crossover. “We have always been longtime fans of Saab and feel honored and fortunate to have been given such a cool award,” said Jason Wynn.
The teams were judged on the number of towns visited along their route, the quality and originality of their journal and the quality of their category descriptions.
“The 9-4X is the perfect vehicle for the Wynns to continue their traveling adventures,” said Tim Colbeck, President and COO, Saab Cars North America. “We know their Saab will continue to provide them the ‘best of the road’ in safety, performance and thoughtful design.”
Driving a unique route from metro New York to Los Angeles in a mix of Saab 9-3s, 9-5s and the new 9-4X crossover, each of the teams visited towns which were selected online in one of the five “best” categories: most fun, most patriotic, most beautiful, friendliest and best for food.
Along the way from coast to coast, each team posted an online travel journal, combining blogs, Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, texts and videos, with the best journal earning a grand prize of a new Saab 9-4X crossover and $10,000.
Towns were nominated at the Best of the Road Web site and a panel of travel experts along with public reviews and comments narrowed the selections down to six in each category, including: Baker City, OR; Franklin, TN; Walla Walla, WA; Rapid City, SD; Park City, UT, and Lafayette, LA.
The 10 “rallyists” earned their way into the Saabs by submitting a one-minute video on why they deserved to participate. They teams were judged on the number of towns visited along their route, the quality and originality of their journal and the quality of their category descriptions.
And whilst you’re in the mood, check out the Saab 9-4x comparison table, which puts the 9-4x up against the BMW X3, the Audi Q5 and the Volvo CX60
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Driving (briefly) the 3.0 Premium model
I took the Saab 9-4x Aero for my 1,100+ km journey over a weekend. On the Monday morning following that weekend, I met up with a colleague from Saab to do a quick switcheroo. Fredrik had taken a Saab 9-4x Premium 3.0 non-turbo model for the weekend and we thought it’d be a good idea to swap cars for a brief period. I hadn’t driven the 3.0 Premium before and it was also Fredrik’s first run in the Aero.
That’s the Premium on the left and the Aero on the right.
The Premium model doesn’t come with everything that’s on the Aero, but it is still a very well equipped package. Smart shoppers can get the best of the options list and still spec up a very good vehicle for less than US$40K (disclosure: personally speaking, I’m not a big fan of sunroofs – they heat up my head too much – hence that’s not included in my calculation).
The 3.0 non-turbo engine still delivers a healthy 265hp but suffers from comparatively low torque. The end result is very decent power but a slower track to using it.
The other thing this 3.0 engine has – and something that made a huge impression on me – is an absolutely fantastic engine sound. It’s a really throaty V6 warble that animates the driving experience in a way that I didn’t expect. I’m a big fan of engine noises, which is one of the reasons I love the old 16v Saab 900 engine and many boxer engines from other manufacturers. It’s an emotional response point for me. I can’t tell you how pleased I was to hear the note on the 9-4x Premium.
The 9-4x Premium can be ordered with or without XWD. You’ll potentially take a grip penalty with FWD-only whilst gaining a fuel consumption bonus. If you don’t experience slippery conditions that much where you live, it’s not a bad way to configure it. If you want the best grip you can get, XWD is the only way to go as the system is second to none.
This particular 9-4x Premium had FWD, the darker interior with wood-effect trim and it was specced up with the navigation/infotainment system. It was pretty much exactly how I’d order a Premium edition for my own personal use.
The drive was only a 20-minute affair before we headed to work, but it gave me a good feel for the car and I liked it a lot. Price-sensitive shoppers who can’t stretch to an Aero should feel very comfortable indeed about looking at the Premium edition. Shoppers who would rather use this vehicle for comfort, who don’t require the flat-out power of the Aero, should also feel quite good.
This car is definitely worth your consideration.
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Conclusions
I was really excited to finally get some seat time in a Saab 9-4x Aero and the experience exceeded my expectations. It’s perfectly proportioned, the interior is great, the seats are fantastic, it’s very well equipped, the power was brilliant, and it is without doubt the best looking crossover vehicle in its class. The drive is crisp, the car is very responsive and of course, the Saab 9-4x has stuck with the Saab tradition of safety in scoring a Top Safety Pick award from the IIHS.
Are there some improvements that could be made? Quite possibly. If the car could shed around 10% of its weight to match the competition at just over 4,200lbs then it’d be even more impressive in terms of performance and economy. Some of the Aero’s weight comes from its generous equipment levels which would see competitors gain weight before they get delivered. But it’d still be good if it could be done.
Some say that Saab got into the SUV/crossover market too late, and that fuel prices will shut this market down. Sales in the US market indicate otherwise. The SUV market is still a hot one and the crossover segment within that market is gaining steam as more car-like vehicles take over from the small trucks of yesteryear.
Saab have got in as quickly as they could, and the best part of it all is that they’ve got into the market with one heck of a good vehicle that they’ve wisely chosen to equip and price very well.
I suspect that we’re going to have a lot of very happy customers over the coming years, thanks to this car. I find myself looking forward to work each morning just so I can see one in the carpark. Coming from me, a small-car traditionalist, that’s high praise indeed.
I thought I’d put this together as a supplement to the writeup I’ve been doing on my time with the Saab 9-4x. One of the things that impressed me about the 9-4x was that it had a very high level of equipment. As I started writing up my report, I had the SaabUSA web page open to look up various bits of equipment to see if they were standard or optional. I was amazed to see that just about everything on the car was standard.
In fact, on the 2011 Saab 9-4x Aero there are only three options:
Think of everything on this car – the powered tailgate, the XWD system, the satnav, HDD music system with iPod connectivity, Drivesense …… you name it and it’s standard equipment on the 9-4 Aero (and much of it is standard on the 3.0 Premium, too).
I thought it would be a good exercise to put together a comparative table, showing the 9-4x and how it weighs up against three of its European competitors: The BMW X3, the Audi Q5 and the Volvo XC60.
I’ve used the USA webpages from those manufacturers to specify similar levels of equipment to that which is standard on the 9-4x. In some instances, there are packages where you get more than the needed item, including some things that the Saab doesn’t have available (hello, thermal cup holders).
I think the exercise is a worthwhile one, showing just how good the spec level is on the Saab 9-4x Aero. We hold very little back and when you build up some competitors models to a similar level, the pricing is interesting to say the least.
Note: This is not a full spec sheet of features on the 9-4x or the other vehicles. Go to Saab’s US 9-4x website for that. This is just a list of some of the more interesting options and the contrasts between the four vehicles. There are common features amongst all of them that I’ve left off – e.g. electrically adjustable passenger seats – simply to save some time (it’s been a very time consuming exercise).
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Component
Price
Motor (Netgain Warp 9)
$2,395
Batteries (Thunder Sky LFP160AHA) - 45 in series as per recommendation
The Saab 9-4x Aero with its 2.8 Turbo engine produces 300hp (221kW) of power and 295 ft lb (400Nm) of torque. Believe me when I tell you that that’s more than enough to make this big momma get up and dance. This car goes and when pressed, it goes quick.
Saab’s Drivesense system is standard on the Aero and Premium models. This offers a two-stage map, the options being comfort and sport. Sport mode tightens up the suspension, steering and throttle response and offers quicker gear changes. Comfort mode, as the name suggests, provides a more comfortable drive.
2012 models will get a third option – ‘Intelligent’ mode – which will read your driving style in any given situation and change the parameters on the fly when it is safe to do so. If you’re wondering whether the lack of an intelligent mode in the 2011 model is a detraction, then fear not. I found that I enjoyed making the decision for myself and switching modes manually rather than leaving it on the ‘Intelligent’ setting as I might have otherwise done. In fact, switching manually is most likely how I’d personally treat a Drivesense-equipped car with all three modes (like the Saab 9-5) anyway.
Sport mode reveals the real Jekyll and Hyde nature of the Saab 9-4x Aero. Even in comfort mode, the car will easily overtake another vehicle at highway speeds. In sport mode, it’ll do it before the other car even realises you’re not there any more. The acceleration and responsiveness of the Aero in sport mode reminded me of what it was like to drive a Saab Turbo for the first time, but without the lag or torque steer.
The art of designing and engineering vehicles really has come a long way in the last 20 years. Just the difference in engine refinement between my 1991 Saab 900 and any Saab thereafter is amazing. The fact that Saab (and others) can get a vehicle with the height and weight of an SUV to handle like a car is downright astounding.
The Saab 9-4x can’t completely hide its size, but it does a darn good job of it. Here in Sweden, we have a lot of highway exits that involve very tight 270-degree loops to change to a different highway. The 9-4x handled these with aplomb, even if you could notice the weight transfer a little by the time you got to the final 90-degrees of the turn. It’s not a Mazda MX-5 in the cornering department, but for the amenity it delivers as a larger vehicle, it’s damn good (the MX-5 is no 9-4x in the load-lugging or comfort department – it’s all about suitability for purpose, which I’ll talk about more, below).
We spent the vast majority of our drive on the highway, but there was also a good portion of time on what you might call ‘B-roads’ heading to a rally stage outside of Västerås. The 9-4x showed its worth on this drive, covering the 200km+ drive that included some winding backroads with ease.
Fuel Economy
It should be understood that anyone buying a Saab 9-4x is someone who most likely doesn’t consider themselves to be a hardcore treehugger. The 9-4x is a larger-than-average vehicle here in Sweden and amongst all the regular sedans and wagons here, it certainly did feel like a big vehicle. Depending on specification, the 9-4x weighs in between 4,200 and 4,700 pounds. Whilst it behaves with extraordinary manners on the road, it’s still a hefty beast and requires a deft touch to eek out some good fuel economy for its size.
My journey involved a lot of highway mileage and I drove (generally) to the posted speed limits, which varied between 90 and 120 km/h. I wasn’t kicking it. It also involved a bit of ‘city’ driving in Västerås as well as some city cruising around the streets of Stockholm looking for photo opportunities.
Over the course of those 1,140kms, I averaged what I thought was a quite reasonable 10.5 litres of fuel per 100kms. That’s 22.4mpg in the US and 26.9mpg in the UK. The US is the only country with stated consumption figures for the 2011 model and those official figures state 22mpg highway, so getting 22.4mpg on combined driving (city/hwy) was pretty impressive for a vehicle of this size and power.
A word for the wise, though……. If you sink the boots in and make use of the ample acceleration and higher speeds that the Aero is capable of, you will notice it at the pump. Other 9-4x’s being driven by staffers here in Trollhattan – driven with a little more gusto, that is – are reporting consumption around 12l/100km (that’s 19.6mpg (US) or 23.5mpg (UK)). The good news is that you’ll cover the distance to the pump a lot quicker. The bad news is that you’ll need to.
It’s all about suitability for purpose. People looking for a 9-4x are looking for a bigger vehicle with a bigger engine and the driving experience that such a car delivers. People looking at the price point of the 9-4x should take into account the running costs and their driving style and do the math. Driving this car sensibly will deliver good fuel economy for the size of the vehicle. Driving this vehicle close to the limits of its capability will require a bigger fuel budget (and remember to use premium fuel, as recommended, and factor that cost in. Don’t spend the money on getting the right car and then skimp by using the wrong fuel).
