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Saab 9-5 Wagon
goldberger
Member Posts: 58
in Saab
Saab has just released official photos (sorry,
lost the web site...I'll post it in a future
comment) of the 9-5 wagon (whatever they call it).
In a bit of irony, the last Saab wagon,
essentially a "squareback" model 96, carried the
model designation "95". The first models will be
on sale this fall in Europe, with USA introduction
in the spring or fall of 1999, probably with a year
2000 designation.
The wagon keeps the "C" pillar from the sedan,
although it is visually it is slimmed down by
overlapping the rear quarter glass a bit.
lost the web site...I'll post it in a future
comment) of the 9-5 wagon (whatever they call it).
In a bit of irony, the last Saab wagon,
essentially a "squareback" model 96, carried the
model designation "95". The first models will be
on sale this fall in Europe, with USA introduction
in the spring or fall of 1999, probably with a year
2000 designation.
The wagon keeps the "C" pillar from the sedan,
although it is visually it is slimmed down by
overlapping the rear quarter glass a bit.
0
Comments
is the Swedish language site which has a couple of photos of the 9-5 wagon at the bottom of the article. There might be a lot more about it in the text, but all the Swedish I know is on this page.
Here's that photo of the new Saab wagon.
KarenS/SW Host
--BKSutton
Where can one find out more about this car?
Gruven
As for price, I'd guess at it being $1000 above the sedan, but that's pure guess. Not any cheaper than the Vovlo, but it does make the Volvo look like the box it came in.
Has anyone heard if a 9-3 wagon in the works?
In Japan they have cars smaller than your Flexy Flyer and wonderful gas misers at that but they'd be blown off the interstate here. Around town these cars are great for urban traffic and parking but out here in the Western United States you'd be blown off the feeway by the average down town communter.
I've been impressed by the looks and rigidity of the new mini Benz/Smart Car, but unless those little cars are built like a brick I'd never consider them seriously as "American" road worthy transportation. The failure of these cars to pass the sudden maneuver lane change in Sweden doesn't bother me half as much as how they'd come out in a variety of collisions with a 1982 Lincoln Town Car.
A smaller Saab in the States just doesn't make sense to me and I think that in a global approach to the turn of the century car market that they'd do better to just leave most of that market to others. A really great 9-3 and 9-5 series over the next five years would go a long way to building a solid reputation that Saab needs to stay in the game in the coming century.
Having been to the UK and driven over there, I can tell you that small does not mean slow. On the M1 the speed limit is 75 MPH but most people do about 90MPH. The "hot hatches" as they call them over there are about the size of a geo metro and pack well over 150 HP. They are very fast. The cars are geared differently there too, with the gears further apart. At 90MPH my Escort was only turning about 3800RPM.
Although small cars my fare less well in a collision with your town car, it is also much less likely to be involved in a collision due to better agility.
By only offering large cars the US is perpetuating the problem of nasty collisions, not aiding it. The more good small cars available, the more on the road and the less chance that someone falling asleep behind the wheel of a 6000 Suburban takes you out.
More useful news: in European crash tests, a 9-5 sedan bettered the E-class, the A-6, it's cousin the Opel Omega (Catera), their version of the Toyota Camry, and the Drive-Safely (R) Volvo S-70.
KarenS/SW and roving host
Thank your for that very insightful and well laid run-on setince. You gave a rather brief, albeit concise, synopsis of the hidden Ecocnomic Costs associated with the low price of fuel in the American Automobile Market. (i.e. "cheap gas leads to larger gas guzzling vehicles") Very Keynesian view point by the way.
I agree that vehicles like the new Saab 93 are very safe, by American standards, for their size. I still think that given a choice, with purchase price $'s not being the primamry determining factor, my wife and I would choose a Saab 95 Wagon or Volvo 800 Series over any econobox from either of these brands.
The reality, at this date, is that fuel in this country doesn't cost diddley and it's not likely to in the near future because this country has shown a deep proclivity to go to war over such things as cheap oil supplies.
Americans will continue to buy big, heavy cars until the end of this current economic boom. Europe and Japan make some really wonderfully powerful and economical little cars but the "American" law of mass in autmobiles will continueto rule this market until either economic or governmental factors dictate that it need to change.
Even government mandated auto technology advancement does not mean the American market will buy our accept the product delivered to them. Witness the miserable failure of the EV1 in this current cheap gas market.
AFIK, the Volvo V70 does not offer a third seat either.
Didn't know that was the reason for not having third row seats. Where did you get the info from. I agree that there is no info out there about the safety of these "children's seat" as there are no standardized tests for them out there (not too many vehicles have them anyways).
BTW, does AFIK mean???
Also, Volvo does still offer third row rear facing seats on the V70 and V70 AWD. They are installed at the port and the MSRP is $800 for the V70 and $1300 in the V70 AWD(plus you lose your full size spare). Check out:
http://www.volvocars.com
look in the owners circle under interior options. This will show different children seating options available.
The third row seat in the volvo is easy to use but not as fancy as in the A6 Avant which can actually be moved off to the side as well. You would thing that with Volvo's reputation, they would have conducted some kind of crash test to determine the safety of theses seats????
Information I shared regarding the rear-facing seat was from a usually-well-informed internet correspondent in England, iirc (if I recall correctly).
There is no doubt that the "third seat" in a station wagon built off a sedan platform is not the best place to be when the car is "rear ended". That seat is smack in the middle of the "crumple zone". And especially in the USA, with all those nose-high SUV bumpers bearing down on us, the risk is clear.
That said, the "rear facing third seat" is clearly superior to someone rattling around loose in the cargo compartment, or lap sitting in the passenger compartment. Crash safety design is an exercise in risk assessment and cost analysis. In this case, one combines the probablity of a severe rear-end crash with the probability that the vehicle will be loaded down with people in the back. And if the decision is made to include a third seat, one considers the cost of adding stiffeners, both the money cost of the modification and the safety cost of having a less crush-space available even when the rear seat is unoccupied.
Crash safety can be maximized at the expense of utility, driveability, and economy: how would you like to own a greyhound bus? Saab has apparently sacrificed the utility of the "third seat", either for cost, safety, or a combination of both. Volvo has apparently concluded that the utility outweighs the risk. Or possibly their market prominence makes a $1000 optional third seat an attractive business opportunity that Saab, with their much smaller volume and generation-long absense from the station wagon market, didn't feel they could profit from.
Price: It's going to be more than the Volve XC, MB M320, and A4 Avant.
Value: The Volvos beat everyone in insurance, and provide a savings of at least $500/year over the SAAB (this was comparing sedans, I can't imagine the wagons will be much different). The MB has a ridiculously low depreciation rate, and everybody agrees that the A4 is damn-good car and bargain.
Quality: It's a SAAB on a new platform. The Volvos have been around for years, the MB has two years under its belt, as does the Audi.
Safety: A Volvo is a Volvo, and my insurance company tells me that's the best choice. The MB is bigger and stronger w/very good safety features. The Audi I'm no so sure about. The SAAB looks safe, but no more so than the first two.
Versatility: W/o AWD, the SAAB is inferior to the Volvo, MB, and Audi A6 (which is so underpowered that I haven't mentioned it thus far).
Interior: You can't tell me that the SAAB's 9-5 interior is any better than the Volvo, MB, or Audi. I've been in it. It's nice, but feels smaller than the Volvo and MB.
Performance: I drove both the XC and the 9-5, with both the 4 and 6 cylinder. The XC was every bit as quick, handled as nimbly, and was otherwise enjoyable. And the reviews unanimously tell me that the A4 is a blast.
Look, I'm not looking to whack the Wagon. In fact, I've held off on making a buying decision until I could at least check it out. Without the 3d seat, though, it becomes far less practical. With three kids, I could carry my family and no more. Not true with the Volvo and MB. If I just wanted a plain wagon w/o the extra seat, the Volvo is cheaper, both to buy and to insure, the MB is comparable, and the A4 is significantly less with better performance (albeit a bit smaller).
With all of this in mind, why in the world would I ever buy a 9-5 wagon w/o the ability to carry 7 passengers? Why? Ventilated seats just don't carry the day.
Safety: In European laboratory crash tests, the Saab sedan bested all the vehicles in your comparison. In Insurance Institute for Highway Safety "blood on the road" surveys, Saabs have consistently been best in class, and often have been best in show. Besides their innovative active head restraint (versus Volvo's collapsing seat back and everyone elses "hope for the best), their combined torso-head restraint bags, their pretensioning and load limiting belt restraints, and the usual run of class-standard features, the front structure and subframe are integrated into a progressively collapsing structure, capable of limiting damage in low-speed crashes and maximizing energy absorbtion in the more severe mishaps. The structure is optimized for the off-center, off-square impacts of real life, versus some designs which perform exceptionally well in the lab but less well on the road. Saab's safety departments call the latter "fork-lift designs", straight beams which turn into bellows in laboratory conditions.
Versatility: AWD carries a weight, volume, and efficiency penalty 100% of the time. I have driven front-drive vehicles with snow tires past many an overturned AWD vehicle: its superiority in bad weather is overrated. IMO.
Price: The most expensive 9-5 wagon will check in at the price of the entry A-6. In its class, the Saab is very competitively priced.
I'm just busting your chops. We don't have any kids and it is hard for me to envision the need of even more seating. I just want carrying capacity within a spirited driving car.
M.B. and Volvo are fine cars but I personally think they lack a certain enthusiasm that a Saab posseses. If money is no object and accepted status your aim then a M.B. is the ticket. If you want a brick that has over and over again proven itself to be a "brick" then get a Volvo.
I personally love both these cars and would buy both of them if the bank account didn't force me to make a choice. I have not driven the M.B. wagon but I have driven the base Volvo and found it's racious engine to be lacking in refinement. The M.B. was left out of my comparison for obvious financial reasons. Now a Vovlo T5 wagon could catch my fancy but yet again it was just a bit too dear for my pocket book.
A decent Saab 9-5 Wagon at the right price, minus one rear facing seat, could really stir my soul! Give me cargo capacity with spirited driving and I'm in virtual hog heaven.
As for safety, if it's all that, then why the higher insurance rate? I'm not saying it's not safe, I'm sure it is. But I trust the numbercrunchers at insurance companies to be nothing more than bottom-line freaks without bias. That kind of insanity is persuasive. And I am sure that the MB 320, because it is significantly bigger and heavier, will absorb an impact as well as, or better than the 9-5.
Look, I WANTED to like the 9-5. Really. But I still can't get get it to measure up to the competition. For those of you who think having three children is lunacy, maybe you're smarter than me (there are times I would certainly agree). I know you have more car choices. But you still have look past the A4, which is thousands less and more spirited, the Subarus, the 5-series, and the Volvo line (the T-5 and GLT are also cheaper). I can't justify it. (The A6 will be unworthy of consideration until the engine is upgraded.)
To buy the 9-5, I would have to acknowledge that I am paying a premium just to be different. It's not worth it.
The cargo capacity of the A4 is a little cramped for a wagon and we'd probably choose the A6/Passat over it but then they were not available or in our price range when we were looking. I'd never accept the annemic 1.8 with auto that was offered.
We'll see in a couple of years whether either the Saab or Audi/Passat wagon proven themselves to be worthy. I suspect that the Saab could be very interesting.
I suggest looking next at the "roundness' of your tires. You could have hit a pothole and bended the wheel or your tire might have unusual tread wear. (Technically, you could balance a square or any other irregular form to perfection...).
You can see an irregular wheel with the help of a mechanics that has a lift you can use. A slow spin (around 10 MPH) will show any irregularity in the spin.
Good luck!
Like most european makes, Saab needs to carve out a specific niche.
BTW, we have a 9-3 in the stable and am waiting for the "thunderbolt" 9-3 this spring.
The 9-5 sedan comes short of the 9000 only in the rear-seat legroom department. Well, guess what: in it's first 6 months on the US market, the 9-5 outsold the 9000 in its last full YEAR on the US market (1997), and in 1998 the 9-5 sedan-only is on track to outsell the 9000's best year ever. I guess those extra 3 inches of rear seat legroom don't count for much in our market.
Goldberger: your link isn't bad. Thanks.
I realize this probably not a critical element in choosing the wagon over the sedan for most buyers but it is something to be aware of.
to 60 mph takes 10.5 instead of 9.9 sec for the
2.3 auto,9.3 instead of 8.7 sec for the manual-
calculated from European Saab specs.Mileage down
a tiny bit too.
I am a very happy Dutch owner of a 2.3 Wagon SE,
it sure beats the Audi/Volvo hands down...the intro price in USA is VERY attractive as long as
it lasts
Bonnie Rick
Town Hall Community Manager
KarenS/SW host
Amazingly, the wagon is priced lower than a comparably equiped sedan (the base price is higher because the sunroof and "SE" audio system are standard on all wagons). This is either an apology for not building a hatchback 9-5 or a torpedo aimed at the keel of SS Volvo, but either way I'll take it!
review is right on the mark.To Goldberger..this I
believe has been said before..it is not the SE audio package:minus two speakers and adding a woofer under the shelf.More important though and
not mentioned in the review:the infamous wagon in-
crease in cabin noise is NOT there-beats Audi and
Passat hands down.The slide floor(PLUS TARGETED
LIGHTING!)is absolutely stunning,bound to be copied by others
Do you have the 4-cyl or V-6? Also what other wagons did you look at prior to your purchase.
Just had the pleasure of test driving both models earlier today. I would also agree with the Edmunds' review. This wagon handles much better than the Volvo XC and the A6 avant that I've driven earlier in the month. The suspension soaks up the bumps in the road with minimal sway. Other positive aspect include the acceleration (on both engines), even at highway speeds, and with minimal discernable turbo lag. I was also impressed by how well the cabin was insulated from road noise, even with the 4 Cyl. Most of the noise seemed to come from the Michelin tires. Other positive aspects -- the price! The least expensive of the other two competitors. The seats fold down completely flat unlike the others. Finally, that sliding floor. It really can support a lot of weight. The dealer offered it in a "versatility package" for $800 that also included an alloy screen to separate the rear seat from the cargo area.
Some of the down sides (just some minor gripes): interior ergonomics, actually good by Saab standards, but the A6 avant wins in this category. The side panels are covered in velour, even on the leather models. Furthermore, the grey interior is a light shade, like the tan color .... can you say "dirt magnet" ?? No available traction control on the 4cyl -- why is that ?? I know that you don't typically need it on front-wheel drive vehicles. But since its standard on the V-6, at least make it an option on the 4 cyl. Finally, the lack of an available third row seat for the kids - thats why we initially looked at the volvo and audi.
One things for sure, I glad that european automakers haven't stopped bringing their wagons across the Atlantic. These $30,000 wagons have so much more to offer than any SUV for everyday use!
George!
loaded A4Avt cost as much,but feels cramped.A6Avt,
a beauty alright,but overpriced and underpowered(
i mean torque).The Passat Wagon pretty basic and
handled not as well as the 9-5.The Volvo did not
stir any emotion-old design.The 9-5 was love on first sight...for both of us.I felt the fuel economy and the performance of the stick shift 2.3
was more than adequate(w'll take the car back to
Holland,and gasoline is 4 times as xpsive),and the
price differential brings it up appreciably.
I believe the 2.3(inc most 'SE' features) has on
purpose a low 'introduction' price point-it is
bound to change with the next annual Saab MSRP adj's(Sept/Oct)-just compare the current Sedan $'s
SE/2.3/V6 with the 2.3/V6 wagon and y'll get my
point.
Cannot comment on you gripes(minor,right?)By the
way,the sliding floor has an additional bonus:well
hidden space under it-we used it to house a CD chgr we had already-the 'official' Avant like box
on yr left is very tight-can be used for other stuff.The cargo net is great.
All in all,it's just sheer pleasure to drive in!
Good point about CD changer under the floor. I did noticethe space while at the dealership, but didn't think about putting a changer under there -- I've always had an in-dash single CD player.
Also, who did you get your 2.3 with a manual from and how long did it take to get your car? What kind of deal were you able to negotiate as well? My local dealer (the only one in town) tells me the manual trans is a special order and will take 6-8 weeks. Haven't started to negotiate since I'm probably at least a several months away from needing a wagon.
Thanks, George
for corp expats it is possible to order from the
factory direct at approx invoice,have it send to
USA.Local dealers don't get mad because these cars
MUST go back with the expat!In Europe,stick shift
is still standard on most cars(better mileage)and
is readily available on the 2.3 wagon.Guess that
yr dealer assumes most folks would go automatic in
USA...but for the 2.3, manual is more fun to drive
If the dealer has to 'factory order' it,the car
would not even hit the dealer lot=interest saved-
right?
By the way,the SE sedan's do have now leather in the doors instead of the velours-by the time you order yours it may be spilled over to wagon's.
Good luck in yr endavours
If Saab won't offer it, are there any aftermarket outfits that might produce one?
The 3rd row seat would only be used to occasional short trips and it would spare us the horror of owning a mini-van.