Saabosphere – links we like in the middle of this week

It’s a little unusual for me to do a Saabosphere in the middle of the week, but there were a few good things out there worth sharing.

Via Saabworld, here’s a great video from Autoweek.nl. They travelled to Trollhattan recently to have a chat with some Saab employees, as well as some of the locals. Their interviews gauged feelings about the recently announced Memorandum of Understanding with Youngman and Pang Da. It should be noted that the interviews were conducted before General Motors made their preliminary announcement of not supporting the deal.

The video is mostly in Dutch, however the interviews are conducted in English.

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Is it time for another poll?

Auto Express have also written a story about the Saab/Youngman/Pang Da deal, with their focus being on future Saab models.

They claim an image of the Saab 9-3 replacement vehicle in the story, however it should be noted that it’s not an official image and not one that we have any comment on. All images claimed or shown by magazines should be viewed as their own. We’ll show ours when we’re good and ready 🙂

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The Snap Up a Saab competition continues……

Seriously, if you’re within reasonable distance of Saab of North Olmsted and you haven’t submitted an application for Week 4 of this competition, you’re missing out on what is possibly your best opportunity to win a new Saab of your choice.

All it will take is a week’s hard work, showing the car around and getting your friends and connections to share the vehicle as well.

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Life with Saab has an interesting post about real-life fuel consumption figures in the Saab 9-5 TiD.

The author, Arild, has achieved fuel consumption figures under 5 liters per 100km. That’s 47mpg for you folks in the USA and 56mpg for folks in the UK.

That’s pretty darn good for a car with that much space. Sure beats the carrying capacity of a Yaris.

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And last but not least…..

A study of the modern history of the Saab front grille. Do you have a favourite?

Saabosphere – Saab links we liked this week

Inside Saab now has a video page where you can watch all the groovy videos we produce.

We also have a playlist on Youtube.

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Saab participated in a fuel economy challenge in Spain just over a week ago and ended up winning a comparative test during the event.

The ALD Ecomotion Tour was hosted by ALD Automotive Company, a group dedicated to leasing and fleet management. The test involved nine different manufacturers. Vehicles were assessed according to their manufacturers fuel economy ratings and were driven to see how far below the stated fuel economy the driver could achieve.

It’s not stated in the reports that I’ve seen, but I’m told that the Saab 9-5 participating in the test was a Saab 9-5 2.0 TiD 160cv Vector Auto. The car was driven by a journalist accompanied by a member of the team from Saab Spain. Driving the 9-5 along the 350km course, they managed to achieve a 17% reduction from the fuel economy rating stated on the vehicle sales sheet – the biggest reduction achieved by any of the manufacturers participating.

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The 2011 Saab 9-5 Aero Sedan has been driven and reviewed by Motor Authority:

We’re glad we finally got the chance to get a first drive and spend some quality time with the 2011 Saab 9-5 sedan, as it’s quite possibly one of the best new efforts of the model year, with a cohesive design that takes a different direction than the main luxury sport-sedan current; an excellent, spacious interior; and a great mix of supreme isolation, driver involvement, and uniquely Saab character throughout.

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It looks like Motorexpo in London was a success, with a record 410,000 visitors attending the event at Canary Wharf. The Saab 9-5 SportCombi was in attendance and if you went to MotorExpo then I hope you enjoyed seeing the next addition to Saab’s lineup.

There’s some related good news in this for Saab fans in eastern Canada.

MotorExpo is expanding and will be on in Toronto from the 20th to the 24th June. That’s just a few days away from now and yes, Saab will be at the show. I’m not sure what range of vehicles will be there for visitors to see in Canada (it’s not the same vehicles as were seen in London) but it’s great to see Saab at this show.

Motorexpo will also be on in New York later this year.

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It’s nice to see the Saab 9-5’s IIHS Top Safety Pick award for the 9-5 Sedan getting some coverage on the web.

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For a bit of deeper reading, try out James May’s assessment of the role and function of the cup holder.

He has an opinion on the Saab cupholder, of course, and unfortunately it’s not a favourable one. That’s OK, as the cupholder had a two-fold purpose – to hold drinks and to make people go “wow”. It does both quite well, even if it doesn’t win big scores in James’ pedantry tests.

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Have a great weekend!

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