Saab will unveil a concept version of its upcoming Saab 9-1 at the 2008 London Motor Show in July next year. It will be built on the new second generation GM Delta II platform, which will also underpin the next generation Astra and the upcoming Chevrolet Volt.
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Saab plans new small car for next decade
Two new SUVs from General Motors will be revealed sometime in 2009 – one from Saab and the other from Cadillac. They will be styled differently but will share a common platform and share engine options, which will include the new 250 horsepower 2.9 litre VM Motori twin turbodiesel V6. The Saab SUV will be called the Saab 9-4X, while the Cadillac will most likely be the new Cadillac BRX crossover SUV. The vehicles will be built at GM’s plant in Mexico for the world market.
“It is a growing segment and our vehicle will fit, size wise, between BMW’s X3 and X5. It has become important in the premium sector to have an SUV crossover, almost an emblem or a range standard-bearer, a qualifier for brand credibility. Although they will benefit from shared architecture, the Saab and Cadillac will be two very different vehicles in terms of looks and driving dynamics with no chance of brand confusion,” says Jan-Ake Jonsson, Saab’s managing director.
There will also be a yet to be named Buick crossover SUV to be based off this same platform and engine combination. The platform will essentially be a stretched GM Theta platform and will be able to be configured in either front wheel drive or all-wheel drive.
The new Saab 9-4X will likely be shown as either as a concept or as a production car preview at the 2008 Detroit Motor Show.
Once again word has surfaced on a small Saab to be positioned under the Saab 9-3 sedan. Saab’s last attempt at a sub-9-3 car was the Saab 9-2X or more fondly known as the “Saabaru”, which was a rebadge of the Subaru Impreza station wagon. Saab only sold that for 2 years – 2005 and 2006. Saab wants to try again.
“It might be the most dramatically styled. The idea is to have an iconic shape. It wouldn’t be a toy. This is not a two-seat exotic roadster. It would have a level of functionality. It could be a hatchback. We don’t know yet,” says Steve Shannon, Saab’s general manager in the US. He further added that the new small Saab would target active 20 to 30 year olds. A target release date is sometime in the next decade.
Early 2006, there was word of a Saab 9-1, a small car to take on the likes of the BMW 1-Series and the Audi A3. The Saab 9-1 was to be based on the upcoming GM Delta II platform, which will also underpin new cars like the Chevrolet Volt. You will find an artist’s impression of the new small Saab at the beginning of this post.
Saab has released a teaser image of the new Saab Turbo X, which was previously codenamed the Black Turbo. The name Black Turbo was used as a nickname for some of Saab’s old high-performance models back in the 70s and 80s.
This new modern incarnation of the Black Turbo is basically a limited edition Saab 9-3 with all-wheel-drive, a big performance upgrade and exterior styling touches. The base engine will likely be Saab’s turbocharged 2.8 litre V6, but upped to put out in excess of 280 horsepower, while the engine in stock form makes about 255 hroses.
Saab has unveiled it’s new facelifted C-segment premium sedan – the Saab 9-3, and it comes in Sedan, SportCombi and Convertible models! The boys at Trollhattan (what an amusing name for a place) have added all-wheel-drive to the car (called Saab XWD) as well as a line of engine with three different options of fuels – petrol, diesel, or bioethanol.
The top of the line petrol engine is the 2.8 litre V6 all-aluminium engine putting out either 255 horsepower or 280 horsepower in different status of tune. Unlike most V6 engines which use twin-turbos, this engine uses a single twin-scroll turbo, with the twin in twin-scroll being fed by 2 banks of 3 cylinders each. There is also an all-aluminium 2.0 litre turbo engine, in 150hp, 175hp, and 210hp form.
For diesel fans, the 1.9TTiD engine uses a two turbochargers to make 180 horsepower and a massive 400Nm of torque. A single-turbo 1.9 litre is also available, using a variable geometry turbocharger in two different tunes – 150hp using 16 valves and 120hp using 8 valves. The option for bioethanol-powered Saab BioPower engines use E85 fuel. The baseline engine is a normally aspirated 1.8 litre putting out 122 horsepower. Kind of bland, considering how amazing all the other engines sound.
The Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan and SportCombi has high torsional rigidity of 22,000Nm/degree, and almost 60% of the body weight uses high strength or ultra high strength steel. The 9-3 Convertible has lower torsional rigidity as expected due to the lack of a roof- 11,500Nm/degree. For the SportCombi station wagon model, there are structural rings around the C and D-pillars, and transverse beams in the floor and roof to compensate for the lack of sedan cross-bracing.
For the convertible, the tonneau cover has a unique two-stage operation cycle for quicker roof deployment. The soft-top cover (were you hoping for a hard top convertible?) comes up in 20 seconds, and uses a weight-saving design, with the frame, swivelling braces, and front header rail all made of magnesium. The seat upholstery also uses “Hydroblox” water repellent textile, just in case you get caught in the rain and your top doesn’t come up in time. It also has DynaCage rollover protection which uses pop-up rear roll bars, strengthened A-pillars, sills, and automatic seat-belt pre-tensioning.
No news of whether this new Saab 9-3 will be available for the Malaysian market for not, but it may make an appearance if there is a demand for it.
More photos after the jump.
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Saab will be unveiling it’s Saab 9-5 BioPower 100 Concept at Geneva next week. As you could guess, the 100 means it is optimised for E100 fuel – pure bioethanol. The result is a car powered by a high compression 2.0 litre turbocharged engine making 300hp and 400Nm of torque, pulling it from 0 to 100km/h in 6.6 seconds. E100 has a higher octane than most petrol, so a higher compression ratio despite turbocharging as well as more aggressive ignition is possible.
As the year ends, there are more and more car manufacturers holding promotions, either in conjunction with the festive season or to clear out old stocks. Some examples have been Volvo and Naza. Auto Eurokars, the distributor of Saab and Porsche in Malaysia also has something for car buyers, with great deals on existing stock Porsche and existing stock Saab cars. All new Saab cars are offered with 4 years/100,000 km warranty and 3 years/60,000 km FREE maintenance service, whichever comes first.
Interested buyers or fans of either Porsche or Saab or both can visit the Auto Eurokars Auto Fair this weekend, 16th and 17th December 2006 between 9am to 5pm at the Eurokars Centre in Glenmarie, Shah Alam.
There will be Saab and Porsche cars on display and available for test drive, as well as refreshments and fun activities for the whole family. You can also sign up for the Porsche World Road Show 2007 at the fair, as the deadline for registration has been extended to the 17th of December 2006.
For more information on the offers available during the Autofair, customers may call Eurokars Centre Glenmarie at 03-5032 9911 / 9595. The showroom is generally open from 9.00am to 6.30pm on Mondays to Fridays, 9.00am to 4.00pm on Saturdays and on Sundays from 11.00am to 4.00pm.
