Last week, we found the film from one of these tests. It’s from August 1967, and involves a frontal impact test performed on a Saab 96 at a speed of 50 km/h. It’s enjoyable both from a technical point of view, as well as being a window back in time into how things looked and worked back in the late 1960’s. The track they use today for crash testing at Saab is still in the same location, though it’s now much more sophisticated – and indoors 🙂
There is no audio.
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I’m not sure I would have wanted to be the crash test dummy used in that test – both seat and seatbelt technology has come a long way since that time. I have to say, however, that the passenger compartment of the 96 help up remarkably well from the impact, much better than many other cars from this earlier era would have done.
It’s overcast here in Skellefteå so I can’t show you the midnight sun, but here are the five-minutes-to-midnight clouds and ambient light, photographed just fifteen minutes ago as I sit here writing this from the Scandic Hotel here in town.
Our ride for this day-long drive of some 1,058km was a 2010 Saab 9-3 SportCombi rental from Avis, which got fuel economy of some 10.5 litres per 100km running at occasional overtaking speeds 🙂 on 85% ethanol.
And the reason I’m here? I’ll get to that later in the week but it’s 15% northern exposure and 85% helping a friend – a long and slightly sad tale that will finally get its happy ending tomorrow.
I can tell you this much: the Avis rental is staying here and we’re taking another Saab model from the same year back home.
The photo was taken towards the end of summer, 2010, oustide the service department of their dealership. That particular day, they had at least one example of each model 900 and 9-3 Convertible in for service.
I guess the only dilemma for the service staff would have been which one to jump into first!
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Thanks to Joey at Just Saab in Dayton for the pics!
“Around 5:30 today, the first 9-4x’s were shipped from the factory at Ramos, where they’re produced. So they’ll hit dealerships by the end of the month.”
That means there are some very exciting times ahead for Saab and a for a number of future Saab 9-4x owners. Your vehicles are on their way!
This has become one of the most anticipated model launches in modern times for Saab, both for the additional segment the vehicle will bring to Saab’s range, and also because the Saab 9-4x has been so well received by the motoring press in reviews so far.
If you haven’t checked them out already, here are the the early reports on the Saab 9-4x…..
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Autoblog: “From its cantilevered roof to its sweeping “hockey stick” greenhouse, ice-block blue headlamps and full-width LED taillamp band that echoes that of the 9-5 sedan, Saab has done a remarkable job imbuing brand hallmarks old and new into this simple two-box form…..
…..the 9-4X clearly skews toward the sportier end of the luxury crossover arena, eschewing leather-lined kinschleppers like the Lexus RX and Volvo XC60 in favor of chasing sportier entries like the Audi Q5, Mercedes-Benz GLK, and BMW X3.”
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AutoGuide: “Saab hasn’t been cruising on easy street, but the 9-4X could be the x-factor that changes negatives into positives.”
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Car and Driver: C&D took a comparative approach, looking at the 9-4x in comparison with it’s sister vehicle at Cadillac, noting that Saab engineer Peter Dörrich was the chief architect behind both vehicles. You can see Peter’s view on the “Saabness” of this vehicle in this video, shot in Los Angeles last year.
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LeftLane News: “Unlike the SRX, the 9-4X’s steering felt linear and direct, if a little light on feel. Reactions were quick at any speed, with positive turn-in and good straight line stability. Despite the Aero’s big 20-inch wheels wrapped in performance-oriented tires, the 9-4X was nearly silent on the highway. That bling hardly disturbed ride quality, either, which was several notches above the SRX. Where the Cadillac is wooden and confused over undulating surfaces, the 9-4X happily took anything in stride. Body lean is modest, as it should be in a soft-riding crossover.”
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Motor Authority: “Cargo-wise, there’s lots to love here. Although the floor is a bit taller than you might expect, there’s a ‘hidden’ compartment under a large portion of it; rear seatbacks also fold flat, and they can be adjusted for rake to three different positions. The cargo management system is very useful, with a bar that can be configured to split part of the space off—to keep grocery bags from tipping, or suitcases from sliding around the space.”
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Winding Road: “The controls enhance this feeling of refined responsiveness. The steering has a well-chosen ratio with decent on-center operation. The brakes are firm, with a pedal feel that should be studied by some sports car makers. Best of all, the automatic transmission, especially in sport mode, anticipates the downshift you will need so that you seem to be in the right gear for acceleration much of the time.”
I love it when Saab fans come up with creative ways to enjoy their love of the vehicles we make.
Rolic is a Saab owner from Latvia and he recently posted a series of photos showing what he hopes to be his next car – a Saab 9-5 SportCombi – which he made from LEGO(tm)
In Rolic’s own words…..
This is a custom made LEGO SAAB 9-5 Wagon model. After creating my wifes one of the favorite cars in LEGO interpretation, I thought it is time to build a model of my favourite car. As some of you may already know, I am a fan of SAABs. I drive one currenty (9000 CS) and I wish my next car to be a SAAB too.. particulary this one – 9-5 Wagon.
I love the creativity and the execution.
My thanks to Rolic for permitting me to share it here on Inside Saab.
The Saab 9-3 Griffin is the latest iteration of the Saab 9-3 range and offers fantastic performance and value.
The Griffin range has four models – SportSedan, SportCombi, Convertible and 9-3x – and most body styles are available in both FWD and XWD. There’s also a huge engine range, including BioPower, low-emissions TTiD and Turbo4 models (depending on market).
New to the Saab 9-3 Griffin is the 2.0 Turbo4 from the Saab 9-5, a direct injection turbocharged engine that brings great responsiveness and sparkling performance with up to 220hp. Of course, there is also Saab’s low-emissions TTiD range of engines, offering 130, 160 or 180hp, with all three variants emitting less than 120g of CO2 per km (manual), attracting great tax benefits in certain European markets.
The car has also received a fresher look, inside and out, with new front bumper design, headlamps, new badging all round, as well as new leather and trim options inside.
Check out the Saab 9-3 Griffin at Saab.com or check your local national Saab website for market-specific information.
REMINDER – Those of you attending the New York Auto Show this weekend…… don’t forget to get your photo in so that you can WIN!
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A couple of notes about the New York Auto Show, which continues until its close on Sunday evening…..
What is your view of Saab?
If you’re attending the New York Auto Show, then make sure you track down one of the attendants at the Saab stand and get your hands on the Sony Ericsson Xperia in their pocket.
Saab and Sony Ericsson are running another photo competition at the New York Auto Show and there are some fantastic prizes available every day and a grand prize at the show’s conclusion. To enter, simply use the Xperia’s camera to take a photo at the Saab stand showing “your view of Saab”. You will be asked for an email address for the entry, but this email will only be used for the purposes of the competition (i.e. to notify you if you win a prize).
Daily winners receive a MW600 wireless HiFi headset that can pair with your phone, PC or provide music on the run with it’s built in radio.
The grand prize winner at the end of the show will win the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, the first phone to couple a Playstation control for gaming and a full-feature Android phone together in one slick device.
The photo contest has had a great reception so far and you can read full details about the competition, as well as seeing all the entries so far, over at Saab’s Facebook page. Here’s a sample of what you’ll see:
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Make sure you pick up a program at the show, even if only as a Saab souvenir.
Why? Well, take a look at the front cover (at right).
That’s the Saab PhoeniX concept dominating the program, which is a fantastic coup for Saab. It continues a long line of Saab concept car success, following on from the Saab Aero-X and Saab 9-X BioHybrid and 9-X Convertible concepts, all of which won accolades at their respective auto shows.
Years from now it’ll be the PhoeniX concept that kids remember first when they thumb through their copy of the program once again.
I’ve had an outstanding week in New York reporting on Saab’s presence at the New York International Auto Show. I have to thank all the Saab fans who came along to say “Hi” and support the brand at this important show. The north-eastern US is a crucial market for Saab and this is the biggest show in the region. Saab know this, which is why they bought plenty of eye candy for people to look at.
The week began with a nighttime photo-shoot with the Saab PhoeniX Concept for a major car magazine. The shoot was held in the meatpacking district of New York and whilst we can’t share any images from that night (yet), the reactions from passers-by were worth noting. You can read them at that link. The PhoeniX was a hit in New York, have no doubts about it.
That photo shoot culminated in a press introduction to the Saab PhoeniX Concept at Chelsea Piers. Jason Castriota led various members of the press around the car, explaining why the car was designed the way it was and the role that the car will play in terms of influencing Saab’s future vehicles. At that link, you can also see video of PhoeniX with the engine running and the car in motion.
Wednesday saw the first press day at the NYIAS and we took a first look at the Saab stand, beautifully presented as always, and well positioned amongst Volvo, Porsche, Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Acura and Spyker.
The rest of Press Day #1 at the NYIAS consisted of lots of interviews for the senior executive team present at the show. It was noticed that Saab’s retiring CEO, Jan-Ake Jonsson, was not at the show. This is the first major show I can think of that he hasn’t attended in the last 5 years and I guess it signals a changing of the guard – a difficult thing for a traditionalist, but that’s time marching on, I suppose.
The story at that link also took a look at just a few of the new vehicle details shown on the Saab 9-5 SportCombi and Saab 9-4x, which are being shown together for the first time – a wonderful sign for Saab’s future.
Press Day #2 saw Saab’s NYIAS Press Conference, where Matthias Seidl introduced the new Saab 9-5 SportCombi to the US market, Jason Castriota introduced the Saab PhoeniX to the US market and Victor Muller addressed recent events effecting Saab. That link includes full video coverage of the press conference (10 minutes).
I finished the day with some Saab Art photos and I have to say I was pretty pleased with the results, too (I love this new camera)
Friday saw the first day where the show was open to the general public and it got quite crowded at the Javits Center, quite quickly. The Saab stand was busy (see the time lapse video at that link) and the product guys and girls were doing a fantastic job attending to visitors at the show.
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The New York International Auto Show is off to a great start and I hope it only gets busier and busier. New York is a special place and it’s great to see Saab have such a good presence there for this show (holding on to that presence in the city itself has to be a priority task, now).
Enjoy your Easter holiday, and thanks so much for visiting Inside Saab during our first week!
I visited the Saab stand for a few hours today at the start of public day #1 at the New York Auto Show.
Given that it was a Friday, and the beginning of Easter, I was a little worried as to whether there would be many people there. When I arrived, around 20 minutes before the show opened at 10am, the lines inside the Javits Center were around 200 meters long. Worry no more.
I paid to go in just like everyone else and there was some palpable excitement amongst the visitors in the queue. Everyone was keen to get inside and have a look around. It was around 10:20 when I finally got to the Saab stand and despite it being some distance from the main entrance (Toyota must be paying a hefty premium for that front spot), there were already a good number of people buzzing around the place.
PhoeniX was as popular as ever…..
As was the ice feature (Wow! it’s real!)
The product specialists at the Saab stand were busy – that’s Maddie giving an overview of the Saab 9-4x, and Jonas leading a visitor through some Saab facts on his iPad….
Saab have changed the layout of the stand for the public exhibition. The 9-4x has moved to the other side of the stand an in it’s place is a Saab 9-5 Sedan (which puts the sedan and Combi in close proximity to one another.
The Saab 9-4x was constantly busy with visitors poking around, asking questions and getting a feel for the vehicle.
One lady spent around 20 minutes in the car, asking in-depth questions and generally looking around. She then came back with her husband and some friends/family and spent another 30 minutes doing it all again. Saab staffers were with her for almost all this time and she left with a brochure and a smile. I’ll be very surprised if her local dealer doesn’t hear from her quite soon.
I met Howard and Gail H at the stand and we had quite a conversation. Howard bought his first Saab in 1975. It was a Saab 99 EMS and he’s bought multiple Saabs since.
His Saab 900s saved his life three times after three seperate head-on collisions. He’s currently got a Saab 9-5 and he and Gail were looking at the Saab 9-5 SportCombi with some considerable amount of admiration. They would excuse me if I said they were ‘compact’ in size so looking at such a large vehicle might surprise you, but one of the reasons Howard has loved his Saabs is the ergonomics and how they always fit him perfectly.
Howard and Gail are waiting to hear more on the resumption of the European Delivery program as they really want to combine a visit to Trollhattan with a European driving holiday. I hope we can help them soon.
There was a little bit of celebrity spotting just across from the Saab stand, at the Spyker stand. It’s easier to get a closer look at roped off cars if you’re an NFL star with a very camera-friendly wife 🙂
I thought I’d have a little fun with some time lapse camera work. This is 30 minutes at the Saab stand on day #1, condensed into four minutes. I hope every other day is either just as busy, or even busier.
That’s not a statement of exasperation. It’s what I had for dinner tonight – one of the steaks that New York is famous for. If you’re ever here, check out Ben & Jack’s near the corner of 28th and 5th. You won’t need to eat for days, which is a good thing because you won’t have any money left for days, either.
No complaints from me about the price, though. First, I was the gracious recipient of a good friend’s hospitality :-), and second, you don’t mind paying a bit more for quality. I think there’s a lesson there somewhere……
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Today, of course, was press conference day and if you haven’t seen the press conference yet, you can watch our HD reproduction press conference video.
Some of you may be wondering why Inside Saab hasn’t commented on the supplier situation that Saab has been facing. It’s because Saab is a listed company and this is a Saab website, one that therefore can’t provide running commentary on an ongoing business situation when that commentary may effect the company’s share price.
Victor Muller did, however, address the issue in his message to the assembled media and you can hear his full message in that video (I strongly encourage you to do so). As one might expect from the Chairman in such sober circumstances and at an Auto Show setting, Victor was quite direct, open and up front about the situation and the pending resolution.
He had media interviews galore all day, so I’m sure there will be plenty of press reportage forthcoming.
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PhoeniX has been the star of the show once again, but of course this New York show also saw the US debut of the Saab 9-5 SportCombi, which has drawn plenty of attention from the crowd.
“The crowd”, in this instance, includes a certain Mr Robert Lutz when he got a guided tour of the stand, as well as a certain Mrs Castriota (who, incidentally, saw PhoeniX in the metal for the first time today, and loved it).
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I thought some of you might be interested in seeing PhoeniX’s classic-900-style hood in action….. almost. It’s not raised, but just moved forward a-la the Saab 900, prior to being raised. It’s great to see they went to that level of detail on a concept car.
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Finally, a little bit of Saab art. I got a new camera this week for use here on Inside Saab and I couldn’t help but use it to record some of the more interesting shapes on show around the Saab stand.
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I’d like to thank all of my friends from the Saab community who dropped by at the New York Auto Show to say hello and check out the Saab stand. They range from journalists, Saab salespeople, Saab dealers and garden variety fans of the brand. The number was somewhat overwhelming (as was the wide-ranging access to press passes!)
Tomorrow (Friday) is my last morning at the New York Auto Show. It’s also the first public day of the show.
I’ll be there until around 1pm. If you get the opportunity to come in, please make sure you come to the Saab stand and say hello.
