TurboRush

I didn't see any interesting posts on the upcoming Turbo-x or Black Turbo so here it is. http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2008-saab-turbo-x/391859/ supposed to be limited production 280 HP turbo V-6 with XWD... 0-6 mph in 5.7 sec Intelligent Saab XWD for superb handling and roadholding Rear eLSD gives torque transfer up to 40% between wheels 2.8 V6 Turbo with twin-scroll turbocharger, variable valve timing Sports tuned chassis optimizes all-wheel-drive benefits Engine: 2792cc. V6. Aluminum cylinder heads and block. Twin-scroll turbocharger, intercooled. DOHC, 24-valve. Variable valve timing (inlet). Dual-mass flywheel. Bosch Motronic ECM Max power: 280 hp (206 kW) @ 5,500 rpm. Max. torque: 400 Nm @ 2,150 - 4,500 rpm Bore/stroke: 89.0/74.8 mm. Compression Ratio: 9.5: 1. Max. Boost Pressure: 0.8 bar. Transmission: Saab XWD, all-wheel-drive. Electronic rear limited-slip differential (eLSD) 6-speed manual or automatic gearbox Suspension: Front: MacPherson struts and gas shock absorbers. Anti-roll bar. Hydroformed sub-frame. Rear: Indep, four link, incl. toe-link. Coil springs and self-levelling shock absorbers. Anti-roll bar. Sub-frame. Steering: Rack and pinion, hydraulic power assistance. Turning circle (curb to curb): 11.7m.Lock to lock: 2.75 turns Wheels, Tires: 18 x 7.5" , 235/45R18, 19 x 7.5" , 235/40R19, Brakes: Hydraulic, dual circuit, vacuum booster. Discs: 345 mm / 292 mm (all ventilated) Performance Data (preliminary figures) 0 - 100 kph: Sport Sedan: 5.7 secs (manual) SportCombi: 5.9 secs (manual) 80 - 120 kph (5th gear): Sport Sedan: 7.9 secs SportCombi: 8.3 secs Top Speed: Sport Sedan: 250 kph (manual) SportCombi: 250 kph (manual) Fuel consumption/CO2 (combined cycle, L/100km): Sport Sedan: 10.9 / 259 gm/km (manual) SportCombi: 11.0 / 263 gm/km (manual)

More photos of the facelift - in convertible form at the following link http://www.leftlanenews.com/2007/02/21/spi...lift/#more-4818 and closeups of a facelifted 9-3 SC ( wagon) with a pic of the underside showing a rear drive axle and talks of AWD??!!! (nevermind talks, it shows in the pics) omg! lookiieeee here: http://www.leftlanenews.com/2007/02/06/spi...-inspired-face/ [

Wow, nice to see what everyone thinks and I agree with most of you. All I have to say is never rebadge another GM product as a Saab cuz it spels disaster AND dont even think of selling the brand cuz it will hurt just as it did with Oldsmobile.

True.... I was simply making the association to more parts to worry about as well as complexity with D.O.D. considering its overall gain in eficiency vs. a turbocharged or supercharged powerplant of smaller size. Allot of factory turbocharged cars have torque at the low end and dont even need to be brought up above 3-4 grand to get what you need, therefore no buzz. It'll give the 4 banger (or 6) a flat torque curve at relatively low rpm..... someone mentioned that earlier about turbodiesel engines. Thers allot of great engine designs and combinations out there, weither it be a supercharger, turbo, vvti, dod, v-tec or any others, the ones that are most eficient and incorporate a simple proven technology should be mostly considered for advancement! I also have a concern with the longevity and long term maintenance costs of DOD.

Well, this sums it up quite nicely.... and personaly, juging by the way things work in the world, technology advances and people evolve. Sure people like their big rumble and their big V-8 but when it comes to your kids, and then theirs, there won't be enough V-8 glory for anyone to care to bend over backwards for. If a person can get the same power out of a smaller, less complex and more efficient powerplant, then that would seem to be the logical direction to throw yourself in. By having 2, or even 4 extra cylinders your adding that extra amount in weight and raw materials. If you want to add D.O.D. then you add complexity to that weight... not practical.... Success seems to lean more towards quality, not quantity.

Whoa.... I could have sworn I remember reading 2.2L somewhere in the specs a while back.... I did take a quick peek under the hood but didnt spend much time looking at it since it was just a big plastic cover over the engine. Well then, this puts a new perspective on the 2.4L for me! But yeah, its a heavy car for that engine I guess..... Can you tell I havent been following much of this lately? lol

Wow, its been a while since I've started a toppic, let alone post here! I prommised Ven that I'd write about the G6, so here I am. Basicaly, 2 weeks back, my 9-3 went in the shop for some warranty work and they needed the car over the week end. After speaking with the sales guy, he agreed to pay a rental for me over the week end. I was lucky enough to get a G6! YAY! I had never got in one and haven't driven any new GM vehicles in a loooong time except for my dad's silverado and 9-5. The only thing I could compare it to, to see if they had improved a great deal was my long gone, '99 olds alero. I'll get right to it... Car: 2006 Pontiac G6 4 door, base model? (had the 2.2L ecotec) upholstered and painted in a sandy/ gold colour in and out. Interior: Loved the seat adjustments, especialy the power up-down button (very convenient as I am rather short). Interesting and intriguing gauge cluster arrangement. GM corporate stereo was very decent and fairly easy to control. Clean and crisp sound quality. I did get confused with some of the buttons though but got use to it in a jiffy. Rear legroom and overall cabin space was better than I expected. Exterior: Styling is nice and clean. Thank god Pontiac has no more clading! Panel gaps and alignment of parts are better than before although will have to see in a fiew years of usage, how well it holds up. A reasuring thump of the door hints at a good seal and substance to the doors. Drive: The car was smooth and handling was very good for its class in my oppinion. This would be what I call a car for dummies as far as driving goes because it is so easy to drive and has barely any feedback regardless of what you throw at it. I remember reading complaints about how the electric steering has a lack of feel and is unpredictable. I loved it. you could feel its speed sensitiveness slack off when you came to a stop and then tighten up once you picked up speed. Effortless steering. I wish I had electric steering in my 9-3... but shes a whole other beast on her own ;-) . I have got to say though that I wish the 2.2L ecotec had more to offer. You could barely notice it was even there sound wise when the windows are shut, but open them up and she moans and groans like she doesnt even feel like lugging you around. I did like the immediate torque response from the throttle on acceleration but that's all you got.... It's downhill from there. I would rather the 2.4L that I had in the Alero. Overall: This was a great improvement over its predecesors and I love the direction GM is going with this. We all know Lutz is the one to thank for this. As far as the competition, this car is right on par with "the others" in my perspective of quality, package and feel. I would need to realy go out and test a bunch and do further research to realy get to the nit & gritty. All in all, the car would need the new 2.4L Ecotec to get my stamp of "Impressed". Cheers!

well, I always said it this way.... with the short "E"..... maybe because I'm french canadian...eh?!

how about Built Like Saab

what is the point of doing a poll if you want us to mention our car brand anyways if its not up there? You could have started with all of GM's brands offered here in north america, then all of ford's brands and DCX's brands..... No point in participating 4 me

I realy like the G6.... especialy the new coupe...... but not shure I like the stripe though.

Thanks guys... not shure.... the SE has the crome handles on the interior and the S has black plastic handle with a white line on it. Or are you talking about the door pull? I could get the door puls in carbon fibre to match the dash overlay.....

I'm not too woried about how it measures up to what is currently on the market..... Styling wise, yes its sort of outdated but then again, it is a USED car. And being that I got it right from the saab dealership, they do all of the certified stuff like new brakes, new tires, new battery, new allot of things realy... but anyways, it was a bit more than I wanted to pay, I was looking at another that was automatic with basicaly same package and 10000km's more on it and that one was only 179000$. The 5 spd's are more in demand and the dealers tend to sell them for a bit more than the autos. So this one I got for 20500$. He had it right on the lot and was ready to go. I needed a car by last friday and he couldnt get me any other untill a week later. So I took that one. Note that I dont have any regrets what so ever on getting this particular car.

I love the canopy top.... its a great idea for ease of entry and very unique in a style aspect. On the other hand, it could present long term problems with seal deterioration, more hinges to lube and worry about.... generaly, more moving parts means more maintenance and expenses for repairs. Regardless on how afordable GM could make it or how durable, it will still be subject to speculation and doubts from buyers who think long term. The average rich guy who can afford anything and wants this car wont care, but GM needs volume right? Like someone else has said, it could become a huge success or a flop, like the aztec. I relay do like the car though..... just I dont think its the wisest idea just yet. More devellopement needs to be made with Saab first with the 9-5 and 9-3... like others have mentionned and a smaller compact like a 9-1 or something to compete with bmw 1 series and the like...... This car could do it but not in its present configuration. Maintain the same shape and design cues but add more practicality and get rid of a fiew gizmos to make it afordable for the 1 series crowd. Or, like I mentionned earlier, stretch it out, add 2 more doors and make it a 9-5 replacement.

Alright... so after everything happening and all the recent changes/moving...etc.... I needed a car. Also will be putting on tons of mileage with the new job so.... here it is: For anyone who cares to know, it's an '02 9-3 SE..... the SE in 2002 had a 25th aniversary Turbo package. Came with 2.0L high output turbo rated for 205hp and 210 ft-lb of torque. I love stick!

I could definately see in what direction they are headed with this car..... I could imagine a production model looking similar but things like the flip up canopy won't make production...... I can definately see this make a replacement 9-5..... it has the familiar high raised rear end like the ol'9000's had. stretch it out a bit, add a second set of doors to make 4 and make a bit wider..... you have yourself a replacement for the 9-5 that has styling queue's from the 9000 and the sonnett....... bonus!!! it offers twin turbo v6 and AWD!!!!

spongy material in general is what it is... spongy. things that are spongy all react in the same way..... they are all flexible to movement and cushioning but will eventualy tear given enough of a blow with the right object. It doesnt take something sharp... but if you did take something sharp to spongy material it is most definately going to have an adverse effect on its looks. Hard plastics are generaly more resistant to that. And we are talking about manufacturing cars in general here..... not somuch just GM and its lucern. PPl look for soft feeling plastics and all this cloud 9 dreamyland stuff....... what happened to utility/functionality...... spongy material is the sugar coating on the cake..... its the extra little candy on top of th ice cream...... to tell you the honest truith, there are a gazilion things in a car I look at an have priority over the section of dash that has a hard plastic. I wined over the candy on the ice cream and the icing on the cupcake when I was 6, maybe as far as 8 years old........ time to move on from being loly-gaged and sothed all the time. Gime a firm but comfortable ride, nice seats and a nice layout of instruments all wraped up with a good powertrain all in a nice decent package and the dash density, molecular structure and scientific makeup will be the last on my list.... in fact, never has been on my list..... just a slight bonus where the dash is made in special feeling material. Its a car. seat, engine, ride, performance.

Like I said... fracture points make the plastic open up in a piramid/triangles of plastic open up and one part of the triangle has a smaller or non-existent fracture point and stays attached to the rest of the dash. That way, the pieces open up but the bottom part of the plastic stays attached to the dash

whoa..... I think in a way I'm glad I didnt get to see it because of all the recent changes in my life..... but I cant wait to see it when it comes out on DVD..... I havent seen it anymore at the theatres here

The hard plastic has fracture points that cannot be noticed to just looking at it. usualy there are fracture points underneath the material. Why put the groves on the prety side? about the scratching and tearing of spongy material, you can be carefull all you want but if you plan on putting on miles on your vehicle and getting good usage out of it, you will think long term and AANYTHING can happen. You can't predict that. I had an Alero once and thers quite a nice feeling spongy dash to it but I had noticed 2 spots where there were tiny rips in the spongy material over only 18 months of ownership. Some models can be more vulnerable than others. Like I said, it depends on the shape of the dash and where they use the materials. Some compromises have to be made in certain areas for durability/long lasting good looks reasons. And a piece of hard plastic shatering because your head hits it will shater horisontaly and not jagged towards your face. If thers an airbag well, like I said.... fracture points regardless of hardness if plastic and britleness of plastic. It has obviously been tested for effectiveness.

there is cheap hard plastic like that in almost every car. It all depends on the dash's shape if its going to be more in contact with or not. Croc, do you realize that if they put nice cushy dash padding in that area that yes, it would be nicer when you aply your hand on the dash or if you end up in a colision you may have a bit less scaring.... Under those nice cushy dash pads, there is a cheap feeling plastic. GM was smart in NOT making that portion of the dash spongy and its because that part of the dash is subject to getting nicked, ripped, scrached..... Imagine a friend or relative getting into your car and her purse buckle hits the dash and part of the spongy material or surface gets torn/ripped. or rippled and it gets ugly with time as $h! just comes in contact with it. On the other hand, the hard plastic will not ripple or tear. It may have a scratch but will remain firm and in place. Thing is with "Cheap" plastics, its if they are thick enough and flexible enough (kind of like winter tires versus summer tires. the winters are a softer ruber) and the plastic will flex a bit instead of resist and squeak or crack in cold weather. Hard plastics can also be buffed out or finely worn to remove a grove in it. anyways, I think there needs to be a good compromise between hard "I dont care plastics" andsoft spongy and soft feeling plastics. Even in some import vehicles, they put some soft feeling plastics, its actualy a hard plastic with what feels like a film or overlay of rubery/fuzzy surface. That stuff is nice brand new but give it 2 or 3 years and it will get scratched off in some areas and loose its apeal. think long term and also apearance. A simple plastic surface is not going to make or break you in an accident. The build and engineering of the platform, structure and safety features will save you.

allot of better pics of it can be found at the following link: http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/aero-x_concept

Well, it hasen't been cold in toronto except for the heavy croswinds.... and boy can you realy notice that when you are walking 1.5 km's to the nearest buss stop every morning...... And starting yesterday, we got freezing rain all day that built a blanket of ice over everything. Then later in the evening, It turned into pouring rain. I was taking the greyhound buss from Toronto to Ottawa at midnight and just got here to Ottawa at 5:15 AM. Here, it's colder than toronto and the freezing rain turned into thicker ice with more freezing rain and thers pudles of slush almost a foot deep in some places. Luckily, they had a drop off near my Office as opposed to the main station downtown so I got off there and decided to walk over to the office till the morning when I pickup my car across the street at the Saab dealership. Let me tell you, sleeping on the buss for 5 hrs, then walking in freezing cold, on 2" thick ice all over the sidewalks and pools of water and slush in the roads is NOT fun. Now that I'm here, I'm just going to rool my chair back and shut off the lights till 9 AM......

Hey, don't look at me..... I used NOS's words

Firm. too light feels cheap and not secure, too heavy feels like overkill and full of gadgets and unnecesary weight.... but a reashuring thump and a decent weight to it feels like te door was well engineered.