I just wanted to post a quick note on the new wheels in the parking lot tonight.
This is my chariot for the next few days……. click
It’s a Saab 9-4x Aero – 2.8T V6 with XWD – and I’ll be taking it up to Västerås tomorrow for a few days of action at the Midnight Sun rally.
I’ll be arriving in the afternoon and taking in all the final day’s action, checking out all the Saabs in play and of course, sharing plenty of photos and maybe some video here in Inside Saab.
——
Mrs Swade and I took the 9-4x out for a nice leisurely drive this evening, taking one of the back roads out of Trollhattan towards Lilla Edet. It’s a winding, uneven surface and in the rain, there’s plenty of reason to be cautious (which I was). The 9-4x was totally planted, however, and didn’t miss a beat. It was an incredibly encouraging first run, even if just a short one.
The difference between Sport and Comfort modes is a marked one, as it should be. Comfort soaked up all the road’s uneven surfaces quite nicely and Sport turned it (surprisingly) aggressive. A real Jeckyl and Hyde, this one – in a good way. Those two modes should be different, otherwise why have them?
Can’t wait to get it out on the open road tomorrow. I’ve got my wife here, an iPod, a Saab 9-4x and 300+km of roads to travel. What more could you ask for?
I received the following via email over the weekend:
Would it be possible you to take some photos of new 9-3 Griffins especially 9-3Xs? Interior footage is the most interesting. It is hard to make decisions of ordering a new car if you don’t know how it looks like – dash, steering wheel, seats etc.
Griffins can be a little hard to come by at the moment, but when I was at the Saab Museum yesterday photographing the Saab 9-6 prototype, they happened to have a Saab 9-3x Griffin on display there.
‘Ice block’ headlamp effect introduced on the new 9-5 sedan now on the 9-3.
More prominent, wing-shaped central bar carrying the SAAB wordmark, again like the 9-5 sedan.
The SAAB wordmark replaces badging on the chrome trim at the rear, and all Sport Sedan variants receive a trunk-mounted spoiler.
Re-profiled front bumpers include a deep, trapezoidal air intake finished with black, ribbed bars, or a mesh insert for Aero variants.
Front fog lamps fitted as standard.
16-inch alloy wheels are now fitted as standard, increasing to 17-inch for Aero and Saab XWD variants. New 17- and 18-inch wheel designs are also offered.
Refreshed interior styling:
Titanium metallic-effect trim is introduced around the instrument panel, gearshift molding, doors and glove box, and as an option for the instrument panel fascia.
The Aero interior features a graphite fiber-effect for all these items, including the fascia. A brushed metallic effect is also introduced as an option for both standard and Aero variants.
Shark grey fabric inserts now complement both the black and parchment standard leatherette seats, while irregularly ribbed leather with contrasting stitching is introduced for Aero upholstery.
Engines.
The BIG news about the 9-3 Griffin range for many European markets is that the Saab 9-3 SportCombi now joins the Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan in offering a diesel variant with less that 120g of CO2/km. The TTiD engines offer up to 180hp and all three variants of the engine produce just 119g/km, offering significant ownership savings.
There’s good news for those who prefer gasoline engines, too, with the Saab 9-3 Griffin range getting the new direct injection engine as offered in the Saab 9-5. The new 2.0-liter gasoline engines offer 163 and 220 hp variants (market dependent) and include direct injection, variable valve timing and twin scroll turbocharging. Combined cycle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are reduced on average by 4% across the range.
That’s 10hp more, using 4% less fuel.
E85-compatible Saab BioPower variants of both gasoline engines are also available, and six-speed transmissions become standard across the entire powertrain line-up. Saab’s XWD system is also available with both gasoline engines.
The Saab 9-3 Griffin is the best 9-3 we’ve ever offered for sale and we can’t wait to get them out the door.
My wife and I did some west-coast touring today, taking in beautiful Fjallbacka and Smögen (I want to live in Fjallbacka – I absolutely loved it!)
The coastal towns certainly earn their living during the summer. There are people everywhere and when you spend a little time, you can see why. Picturesque villages abound and the shops, cafes and restaurants are sublime. Throw in a perfect summer’s day with lots of happy people and you can see why half of Norway seems to invade Sweden’s west coast during the summer months 🙂
We passed this small car park as we headed back to our street parking in Smögen and the lineup of cars here was typical of what we saw throughout the day. New-ish Audis, BMW’s, Mercedes and Volvos everywhere. Lots of the private holiday homes had Porsches and Jaguars, too.
As we passed this particular carpark, however, I was struck enough to take a picture of it (click to enlarge). It made me think right away of how the 9-4x would look amongst these vehicles. The answer – it would make them look decidedly second hand.
Like lots of people, I was a little slow to catch on to the idea of a Saab SUV. I’ve traditionally been into smaller, more practical and clever cars, and Saabs have always stood out to me because of the good use of space in the hatchback form. The more I’ve seen of the Saab 9-4x, though, the more I’ve come to like it. I’ve been seeing them around here, in Trollhattan, for the last few weeks now and the presence this vehicle has on the road is just outstanding.
I saw a lot of very classy cars today – all the marques I’ve named above were in plentiful supply on the streets and in the driveways of homes that I saw. Saab’s new products would have looked completely at home with any of them. When you think of where Saab were just a short time ago, from a product perspective – with one 6 year old car and one 12 year old car – it’s been a little while since we could say that with such confidence.
Below: The Saab 9-4x one day earlier – in a less idyllic setting – but in good company and still looking superb.
I always love to see what fans with photoshop skills can dream up.
X-Tomi is one such Saab fan, from Hungary. He refers to himself as a “virtual tuner” – a description I like a lot. If you have a look at X-Tomi’s website you’ll see a lot of different models receiving some treatment and they look great.
X-Tomi recently submitted this illustration of a Saab 9-5 morphed into convertible form for an online design competition. This was the base image.
First, I ripped the lid, I pushed back the door, a shorter wheelbase and length of the car, got new wheels, larger rear wheels, the grille is changed minimally.
Nice work, X-Tomi. Always fun to see.
My thanks to Yang for the tip on this one, and X-Tomi for being happy to have it shared here.
The highest known mileage on a Saab was recorded by a guy named Peter Gilbert, from Wisconsin in the US. Peter’s 1989 Saab 900 SPG ticked over 1 million miles at the Saab Owners Convention held in the US back in 2006 with then-SaabUSA President Jay Spenchian in attendance. That car is now in the Wisconsin Automotive Museum.
People still talk of Saabs with 200,000 miles or more as being “just run in”. My current 900 really is just a baby with only 176,000kms on the clock. I think the highest mileage I’ve ever seen on one of my own cars was around 300,000kms+ on a 99Turbo. Obviously neither of those are candidates to get close to Peter’s record.
So how many high-milers are still out there?
Comments are open. Remember to note whether your figure is miles or kilometers.
Almedalen Week is an annual political and interest group love-in held in picturesque Visby, on the island of Gotland off Sweden’s east coast.
During this year’s Almedalen Week there will be a display of electric vehicles, and of course the Saab 9-3 ePower will be included in that display. Moreover there will also be two more Saab 9-3 ePower vehicles available for people attending the event to take for a test drive (or more accurately, be taken for a test drive – only Saab staff at Almedalen are allowed to drive but visitors can go for a ride).
This is not the first time an electric Saab 9-3 has graced Almedalen Week. In fact, the Saab 9-3 ePower’s genesis in the form of the True Electric 9-3 Convertible was on display at the show back in 2009.
The Saab 9-3 ePower is a collaboration between Saab Automobile, Boston power (battery partner), Electro Engine (battery management), Innovatum (project management) and Power Circle (electrical expertise). You can also see a background article on the construction of these zero emissions vehicles, which are based on the Saab 9-3 SportCombi.
The Saab 9-3 ePower vehicles will be on display at Almedalen Week from July 3 to 7 and whilst we’re not there personally, we will try to bring you more coverage from Almedalen this week.
SoundRacer is a Swedish company that makes a fun little device that plugs into your car’s 12V outlet, tunes to your radio and sends a V8, V10 or V12 soundtrack through your speakers according to your vehicle’s engine revs.
The guy who runs Soundracer is Kenneth Palmestål. Kenneth is a Saab 9-5 owner and the company recently took part in the Gumball 3000 rally as a product sponsor. That means there was plenty of Saab 9-5 exposure in the heart of London at an event scrutinised by many, and that’s a good thing.
Thanks to Kenneth for sending through some images from the launch of the Gumball 3000.
Click to enlarge.
—
Saab is not affiliated with SoundRacer, but we enjoyed those pics. There are Soundracer videos from the event on Youtube, too.
Saab are in the midst of a challenging time. We have our fair share of critics in the world of business commentary, people who are paid to have opinions and duly express them.
Amidst all the doom and gloom, one of the main things that has kept me feeling very positive – as it did when Saab were being sold in 2009 – is the product portfolio. We’ve just got too much good product coming down the pipe for this company to do anything other than sustain and succeed. Aside from the dedication I see around the place every day, it’s the one thing that fuels me to “never, ever give up.”
One of those products that’ll be gracing the roads near you soon is the Saab 9-5 SportCombi. The following is actually an internal message shared between a couple of colleagues, but one guy who received it encouraged me to share it here. It’s actually pretty typical of a lot of the feedback we’ve been getting with our new releases in recent times.
It’s from Great Britain……
I helped out at the Three Counties Show in Malvern on Friday and also visited the site again on Saturday.
You would not believe the response to the 9-5 SW ……. It was amazing !!!!
I have done loads of Shows over the years and I have never witnessed anything like it! People were crawling all over it …Families …Couples …a wide and varied audience to be honest. A LOT of BMW owners……due to poor winter driving in them….Very Very keen……loved it.
It was a real buzz to see the reaction when people saw it and made a bee-line straight to it. Some even walked on to the Honda site next door and saw it on the plinth and climbed over the fencing …couldn’t wait to see it…loads of compliments on the styling build quality …. It was a real boost!.
THIS IS A WINNER!!!
Very encouraging indeed.
Coincidentally, I also found this video from WhatCar? today, where a group of their readers got to check out the Saab 9-5 SportCombi. The results are, once again, very encouraging.
—
Have you seen the 9-5 SportCombi for yourself yet? And if so, what did you think?
As mentioned the other night, I was up in northern Sweden for a few hours over the weekend, a town called Skellefteå, just over 1,000kms from Trollhattan. I was there with a couple of friends, Rune and Anna. We drove up there on Sunday and drove back on Monday.
The reason? Well, it all started back in the Swedish winter with an icy road, a bend, and a telegraph pole…..
This photo was taken in the dark with a cell phone, so it’s a little blurry, but here’s a look at some of the damage. This sort of damage isn’t something you could repair overnight, but it’s not impossible. Usually googling ‘auto repair shop Lynchburg‘ or something similar could help you find reliable mechanics. For our car, the work needed was extensive, so it took some time.
After the repair was complete, the first opportunity to pick up the car was last weekend. I came along to share the driving responsibilities so this story is part vehicle comparison, part road trip, and part lessons learned (more on that later).
