General Saab 9-4X discussion and picture thread

[nordwulf]

My first fill up was after 337 miles of highway driving at about 65-70 mph and that was actually one of my higher mpg at 23 mpg. My regular driving is mostly a few miles from and to work, driving around town and on 55 mph roads. The 3.0i rates at 18 city/25 highway so 21 mpg on average seems right on for me. The average MPG in the Saab display in mine shows an average of 21.1 mpg since I bought it so that's almost exactly the same as my mileage log.

Here are all my fill-ups: SaabWorld - Saab Garage

Your mileage on the other hand seem very high at 16 mpg. SaabWorld - Saab Garage You often hear a new engine has higher fuel consumption but I didn't notice that with mine.

[Mark_Venture]

Yeah, my day lately has consisted of take my son to daycare (shut off car while taking him in), then home to work (I can work 100% from home, but on occasion I do go into the office which is 10 miles away)... its less than 15 miles there and back, so the engine really doesn't have time to warm up.

Maybe I just miss the upper 20's I was getting around town with my 9-3 Arc (2.0T), and mid 30's on the highway? (best I got with it on highway was 37)

The AWD Terrain (with 4cyc engine) got about 19 to 20 around town, barely got 24 on the highway..

I realize this is a bigger engine than the GMC had, so I expected some differences but with my 9-4x I'm kind of curious to see 15mpg as my average so far (per fill ups tracked in the Saabworld "garage") with 14.2 on my last tank.. especially when your lowest hasn't dipped below 19 and your average is 21. But like you said, its rated 17 city... so I'm "close"

Either way... I'm still glad I bought this! It is so nice to drive (especially compared to the GMC).

EDIT: I just noticed, yours doesn't appear to have XWD.... could that account for the lower mileage on mine?

[nordwulf]

EDIT: I just noticed, yours doesn't appear to have XWD.... could that account for the lower mileage on mine?

I forgot about that. XWD shows 17/23 and FWD 18/25. (Aero with XWD is 15/22) I imagine yours would get a bit better over time. Not sure if AWD systems also need to break in before they become more efficient.

I got 25.6 mpg on average with my 9-5 Aero. But the 9-4X 3.0i only needs regular gas which is a about a 1.5 mpg cost difference. So my 9-4X gets 22.5 mpg versus 25.6 mpg when it comes to actual fuel cost so that's not bad at all for such a taller and heavier vehicle with larger V6 engine. At 15K miles a year, that's 80 x $3.80 = $304 = $0.83 a day difference in fuel cost. I can live with that.

[nordwulf]

Got my new personalized plates today. I don't really care for the kind of plates with a special message and I like the clean look of just a few letters/digits.

I got a second plate for the front but that's not required in Michigan. Cool to have it on the front anyways or is the clean plate-less look better?

I am also bit obsessive about license plate frames. I just keep going back and forth but think this brushed metal frame looks pretty clean as well. And it hides the www.michigan.gov on the lower part of the plate. Well, almost.. there still is a tiny bit visible.

These plates are pretty cheap here. $8 for the first month and $2 a month until I have to renew in March. Second plate is $5 so was $23 total. There is a $15 yearly renewal fee on top of the regular license fees.





And I still can't get enough of the cool tail lights.

[Mark_Venture]

Looks good. I've always teased my brother that I was going to get a plate for my Saabs that read... Boo Hoo I never could bring myself to get it...

But seeing yours, I can't help but think how 94x on a black Delaware plate would look on mine... Unfortunately Delaware's rules require if numerals are present, they all must be to the right of letters.

[Mark_Venture]

Seeing that the V6 in the 2012 GMC Terrain is 3.0L V6 264hp and 222lb-ft torque, and the 3.0L in the 9-4x is rated as 265hp and 223lb-ft torque... I have to ask... are they the same engine, or very similar, or ???

[nordwulf]

Seeing that the V6 in the 2012 GMC Terrain is 3.0L V6 264hp and 222lb-ft torque, and the 3.0L in the 9-4x is rated as 265hp and 223lb-ft torque... I have to ask... are they the same engine, or very similar, or ???

Same engine: GM High Feature engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[nordwulf]

I haven't pushed mine to its limits yet as I only have 4K miles on it. But this is pretty much what the 3.0i sounds like. You don't hear the engine at all when you're just cruising on the highway.

[Hirsch]

Sounds beefy enough.

My 9-3 doesn't make that much noise.

[Mark_Venture]

I don't notice mine being that loud during heavy acceleration. It is louder than my '05 9-3 Arc was, and is slightly louder than the wife's aero.

You are right, my 9-4x is very quiet on the highway. I'd say its close to my 9-3 on the highway, and way quieter than the GMC Terrain.