Saabs Cross wheel drive (xwd)GM fastlane blog

[Bornfromparents]

Evolving Saab





By Steve Shannon
Saab Automobile USA General Manager
Few things remain in their original state. Nature, design, technology and fashion evolve. Not always for the better, mind you. Two words: bell bottoms. But that’s fashion and not my forté, so I will stop with that casual observation. However, some things do evolve to become the best representation, yet.
Today, the Boston Auto Show hosts the North American unveiling of the Saab Turbo X. Aside from being very chicly designed, a virtual rocket in terms of performance, and a riot to drive, it’s the debut vehicle of Saab’s state-of-the-art all-wheel-drive system – which we’re calling cross-wheel-drive, which in automotive acronym land will be represented as XWD.
Saab XWD possesses all the techno-wizardry that will set it ahead of its competitors. The real excitement is firmly grasped in the ability of torque to be transferred between the rear wheels as well as the standard transfer between front and rear axles. There’s also an added bonus of pre-emptive launch control. Pre-emptive launch control is a nifty way of describing the system that monitors and reacts to the position of the throttle, rather than snooze and wait until wheel-slip is detected to react.

more:
http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives...ab_1.html#more

[MCGARRETT]

GM, as far as I know, does not compete in World Rally events correct?

Why not take Saab and make it like an upscale Subaru, Saabs were rallied extensively in the 1960's because of their FWD and small size, and then nothing, why not take Saab rallying? Especially since they offer AWD now.

Saab and Subaru are really not that far apart from each other in aspects of low volume, obscurity (wierdness?) and loyal owners.

[F14CRAZY]

Smaart Aas Saabr would approve of rallying a Saab

[TorqueFiend]

I've been wanting to see GM get into rallying for a long time now, and Saab would be their doorway to that field. Look at all other racing leagues, GM does great, and now it's time to conquer another motorsport event.

[rhvfd10]

It gives a whole new meaning to the term "Saabaru."

[CADILLACSIXTEEN]

Indeed, the Turbo X is very exciting for Saab and a blast to drive apparently. But considering the competition, which have better appointed interiors and better reputations, one must admit, good luck selling it at MSRP.
2008 Audi A4 3.2 Quattro, Auto $38,400
2008 BMW 330xi (AWD) - $40,800
2008 Volvo S60 AWD - $32,735
2008 Mercedes C300 Luxury 4MATIC - $34,700

If it's GM's intent to kick Saab into the luxo market with some new tech and a higher price, congrats! You have succeeded.
While the techno-wizardy is indeed impressive, spending nearly $44K for a yet-to-be-proven Saab 9-3 (a model line in general having one of the worst reliablity records around) is a huge ask, especially with the tiny Saab dealer network. But then again, perhaps niche cars work fine being sold by niche dealers.
It would be great to see GM getting some of this technology at a more reasonable price point and in a more mainstream model! Why let Suzuki at $16K have all the fun?

By abandoning the niche market of near-luxury hatchbacks that Saab once owned and delving into mass-market midsize sedan territory dominated by the usual suspects from Germany, who but the Saab Party Faithful will fork over forty large for a tuned-up Opel?
Indeed, the Saab Party Faithful already knows to buy used.
The Turbo X looks sharp, no doubt. But at up to $10K less, the competition looks sharper.
Carping aside, I still look forward to driving it.

Saab's are nothing more than overpriced cheap GM cars, that have all but severed any ties with their rich history and roots. Just because the key is in the center console does not a Saab make. Setting the price much higher than it is worth does not mean that you are in some "exclusivity club" where people will aspire to own one. You need to deliver the goods, and you're coming up far too short, you are way out of your league. And as long as the chief Swedish beancounter rules the roost at GM, Saab will continue to be counted among the "damaged" brands. Saab may have been born from jets, but you'll die from lack of maintenance. Sorry Steve.

To sum up: overpriced, underpowered,none of the prestige of the other European brands, and none of tradition that previously made Saab unique. Rather disappointing.

42K - seriously, is this some kind of joke? I'm sorry - but pricing it higher than a 335 AWD was a huge mistake. I drive a 2007 Saab 9-3 right now. But I paid under 30 for the current Aero before tax. 42, for a little more power and XWD, thats crazy.

Give SAAB a break.
Yes, $42,000 is ALOT to ask for this car. But, this isn't the point here. If the car was meant to sell quantity, then it wouldn't be so pricy. For the time being, SAAB needs some sort of "Halo" car. In reality, the 9-3 is long in the tooth no matter what is done to try to refresh it. The Epsilon platform has reached it's max. The XWD is used in SAAB first to infuse some more excitement into the brand to buy time for new models to arrive, at which point, the XWD system will most likely trickle down to the rest of GM, (Although I think Cadillac should have it now).

GM doesnt have all the revenue in the world to give every brand new models all at once. I think GM is playing this great. Why pour money into SAAB when they dont have the product (at this point) to bring revenue back to GM? SAAB will be revitalized as soon as the new and upcoming Epsilon II debuts, and also when they get their 9-4X CUV. Then the fun can begin. But in the mean time, let them sell it at $42,000. It's also a good way to test the system before the rest of GM gets it anyway. It is more important for GM to focus on the other main brands to get them up and functioning to capacity again before getting to SAAB.

So, stop hating on SAAB! And, enough with the "these are not real SAABs" bullcrap. When GM is done with them, they will be much, much better than the "original" SAAB's....
Don't kid yourselves SAAB-LOVERS, The originals weren't even that good to begin with anyway......