Hirsch Performance Saab 9-5

June 27, 2011 16:30 Line

By: Swade

Comments (14)

I’ve not written about Hirsch Performance much here. They are Saab’s official tuning house, the only way to have your Saab performance tuned and retain your full factory warranty.

Hirsch have just released the full details of the new performance package for the Saab 9-5 and it looks like a cracker.

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THE CONCEPT BECOMES REALITY – The Saab 9-5 Hirsch Performance

Last year’s Auto Zurich motor show saw the unveiling of the vision for a Saab 9-5 Hirsch Performance. Months of intense development now lead to a Performance Package that does justice to the charactaristic Swiss quest for perfection.

The breathtaking power of the 2,8T V6 engine goes along with an exquisitely detailed aerodynamics package, a quad exhaust and a lower, wider stance using 20″ forged wheels and a lowering kit.

Through this package the 9-5 Hirsch Performance is the ultimate expression of powerful exclusivity.

During the process of development all components had to pass a strict and rigorous test program on the test stand, wind tunnel and sound laboratory as well as on real roads. No matter if you are cruising through the city or going top speed at the autobahn – rest assured that your car is prepared for all situations you may have to face.

Powerful performance

Using the Hirsch performance upgrade, the 2,8T V6 delivers 330 hp which is an increase of 10 percent on the standard engine. The low end torque is already impressive with 400 Nm at 1500 rpm. From 2700 rpm on through the rest of the rpm band torque stays at a massive 430 Nm. The top speed is electronically limited to 260 km/h.

As Hirsch Performance follows the idea of “responsible performance”, the upgrade was certified to the strict emissions regulations of Euro5 and CARB LEV II LEV.

Breathtaking driving dynamics

The already exhilarating driving dynamics of the 9-5 were improved further by a spring setting which lowers the car by 20 mm on the front and 10 mm on the rear axle, tuned to perfectly match the active suspension (DriveSense). The lower centre of gravity leads among other things to greater cornering stability and shorter braking distance. The forged 9×20″ aluminium wheels in exclusive Liquid Titanium finish are extremely light at only 11 kgs, further enchancing handling. Along with the lowering kit they give a strong road presence to the 9-5 Hirsch Performance.

Sporty sound

To meet the expectations in a sporty executive car our sound designers put lots of efforts in the development of a sports exhaust in stainless steel which perfectly matches the character of the car. While cruising, the sound is moderate and refined, and at full throttle it becomes powerful and sporty.

All exhaust components are flow optimized to minimize pressure loss, improving the throttle response of the engine. The brushed stainless steel quad exhaust bezels are both sporty and elegant.

Effective aerodynamics

The new aerodynamics package consists of a front spoiler featuring an optimized air intake for improved cooling, side sills, a rear diffusor and a slender bootlid spoiler. It adds a sporty look to the 9-5 while preserving the original design.

Careful wind tunnel optimizing lead to impressive results: combined with the lowering kit, the cd value is reduced by almost 5 percent. In addition to that, the lift is reduced by 70% on the front axle and 40% on the rear axle, which leads to a significant enhancement of high speed stability.

Saab factory warranty

Hirsch Performance gurantees that the increase in performance is made with no compromises in durability or reliability. The Saab Original factory warranty and all Saab safety systems (ABS, ESP etc.) also remain unaffected.

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Press Release: Swedish Automobile Update On Additional Short-Term Funding

June 27, 2011 9:18 Line

By: Swade

Comments (14)

Trollhättan, Sweden: Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swedish Automobile, formerly Spyker Cars N.V.) announces that a Chinese company placed an order to purchase 582 Saab vehicles with a total value of EUR 13 million from Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) and the full pre-payment is expected to be received this week, providing Saab Automobile with short-term funding to pay the wages to its employees and make partial supplier payments.

Swedish Automobile and Saab Automobile continue their discussions with several parties to secure additional short-term funding to restart production. There can, however, be no assurance that these discussions will be successful or that additional short-term funding will be obtained. Discussions on the sale and lease-back of the real estate of Saab Automobile are ongoing.

Victor Muller, CEO of Saab Automobile and Swedish Automobile said: “I am pleased to announce this agreement, as it secures part of the necessary short-term funding for Saab Automobile and allows us to pay our employees’ wages before the end of this month. The management of Saab Automobile is deeply committed to the company and its employees. I respect the decision of the union members to resign from the board of Saab Automobile. We very much regret the current cash shortage which is causing undeserved hardship to all and we are working relentlessly to resolve the current situation. We hope to secure additional short-term funding, necessary to reach agreement with all of our suppliers to restart production, soon.

Mr. Vladimir Antonov’s interest in participating as an investor/financier in Swedish Automobile remains unwavering, but he is still awaiting a decision on his clearance from parties at interest following the Swedish National Debt Office (NDO) recommendation to clear him over 8 weeks ago. Once clearance has been obtained, Mr. Antonov can provide much needed financing and/or capital to Swedish Automobile/Saab Automobile at this critical time. We are pushing hard to obtain this vital clearance as soon as practically possible”

Swedish Automobile will update the market of any new developments.

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Saabosphere – links we liked this week

June 26, 2011 9:12 Line

By: Swade

Comments (2)

There’s an event on Facebook called Save Saab. We didn’t create it, but I’m sure all Saab employees and fans appreciate the fact that it’s there.

The event is tomorrow and the location – the whole world. It’s a non-geographic event. A show of support. Go to the event page and click “I’m attending” to show your support. We really do appreciate all of you.

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Whilst our executive team are working their tails off to ensure the liquidity we need to proceed, there are plenty of pundits lining up to write our obituary. We’re a big, fat, easy target.

With that in mind, it’s been nice to see someone looking at alternative points of view. Matt De Bord at BNET has taken a look at three ways Saab might survive the current situation.

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At what age do you consider it OK for your booster-seat-age child to buckle themselves in?

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If you’ve ever wondered if, or how, your Saab addiction might effect your partner, then this article is for you. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable story of Saab addiction written by Barbara Scully, a Saab-widow from Ireland.

I felt so moved by it that I left a comment in support (of her husband! :-) )

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Some reviews that are worth a look……

Car and Driver have done a short review of the 2.0T version of the Saab 9-5 sedan. I found it quite heartening because the 2.0T has been my personal preference when it comes to this car. It was nice to see they also commended the ‘smaller’ 9-5.

…..the 9-5 sedan is by far Saab’s best product in recent memory……

[the 2.0T's] competent dynamics and roughly 10-grand-cheaper point of entry make it the deal of the lineup.

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The Age newspaper in Australia has reviewed the Saab 9-5 and think it’s a great car, but the situation with the company stops them short of recommending it strongly. (Video)

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The Independent (UK) has published a very good review of the Saab 9-5 SportCombi based on a pre-release drive. It makes for some very good reading…..

Would it make me buy a 9-5 Sportwagon over an obvious German rival? I do believe it would

……And the picture accompanying it is one of the best photos of the Combi I’ve seen.

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I’d like to send a small note of well-wishing to some good friends, Rune and Anna, who got married on the weekend.

You might remember them from the 2,000km trip to northern Sweden that I took a few weeks ago. That trip was to pick up Rune’s car after some accident repairs. Today, the same car played a role in their wedding day.

Congratulations, guys. Wish so much that we could have been there.

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Bare Naked Saabing

June 25, 2011 1:50 Line

By: Swade

Comments (6)

A good friend of mine named Pierre Belperron works at Charles River Saab, one of the top Saab dealers in the US. Occasionally, Pierre also writes articles on their company blog.

I post a collection of notable reading in a weekly post here at Inside Saab that I call Saabosphere. This article was so good that I asked Pierre’s permission to post it here in full.

The article arose because two of Pierre’s sons, Marcel and Pascal, have just finished building a Saab rally car that they’ll run in a hillclumb event this weekend in the US.

I hope you enjoy Pierre’s article as much as I did. If you could ‘bottle’ the essence of being a Saab nut into one article, this is pretty close to what you might write. Make sure you bookmark the CRSaablog – it’s well worth reading.

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I am, by nature and training, a deconstructionist. I enjoy the intellectual rigor of examining a situation, problem or thing and dissecting it into its component parts. This is helpful when one is not overly bright, for it affords me the ability to analyze situations I would otherwise find baffling. Much of my time at conservatory was spent doing this sort of analysis, on both music (I am one of those few freaks who actually enjoyed music theory and analysis and took every course I could) and performance at the instrument. People of immense talent and genius do not do this; they don’t have to.

When assessing the driving experience of a car, there is, of course, how said car feels in total. This is very important. I also like to look past that and gauge my reaction to the various systems. However, as cars have become more integrated, more digital, more “of a piece,” this has become increasingly challenging. Thus it was with great analytical interest that I approached my first drives in the newly unleashed 1985 Saab SPG Hillclimb car built by sons Marcel and Pascal for the Climb to the Clouds race at Mount Washington.

Construction of this car essentially involved stripping it to a shell, throwing away everything that doesn’t contribute to making the car go, stop or corner, and then putting it back together again. Sunroof? Gone. Power windows? Gone. Stereo, comfy seats, heater, AC, insulation, door panels and cruise control? All gone. After being taken to the car’s essence, there are some additions: this is a race car, not an exercise in automotive asceticism. Hence, better suspension, lots of go fast stuff on the engine, racing seats and a full roll cage are fitted. Is it like driving a 900? Unmistakably.

While the ignition key assembly between the seats is gone, the array of switches to activate various circuits, and the pushbutton starter, are all on a custom console in its place. Nice touch. Once started, the exhaust note, amplified from the large exhaust and absence of sound deadening inside the car is unmistakably 900 turbo. Sitting in a racing seat is not. I adore Saab seats, and while the Sparco seat and 5 point harness aren’t bad, even after 90 minutes in the car, I missed my real Saab seat. Another thing I missed was the 900 smell (every C900 owner knows what I mean). Apparently that does reside in the fabrics, and not in the bones of the car. Once I pulled off, the driving experience was at once familiar.

I was immediately at home in this minimalist 900. Delicious clutch (even with upgraded bits), strong brakes, wonderful steering, and handling that was completely predictable and sure footed, even on modest street tires. When I think back to my parents’ first new car, I recall that it had no radio, a rubber floor mat, crank windows, and not much else. So it was with the SPG. It got me to thinking—do we really need all that junk in a car? I realize that this SPG is not a viable daily driver if only for the noise level, even with ear plugs, and I’m talking road-noise, not exhaust.. When you get rid of all the toys—the NAV, the audio system, the sunroof, the SID, the trip computer, the cruise control…..the only thing you’re left with is driving. Now there’s a novel thing to focus on in a car! It’s like removing all the sauce and stuff on a plate and having just the piece of meat and eating it unadorned. This may not be for everyone, but a real meat lover will like nothing better. Thus, I found myself, even when loafing along on the highway in the right lane in the SPG, very much enjoying the experience.

Could I drive a bare-naked car every day? Almost. A C900, which I drive now, isn’t that far removed when compared to a modern car, so I think I could. I would want to keep some insulation, normal seats, and a heater and defroster are a must. I do like a sunroof but could live without one. Likewise I could also do without power windows, locks, cruise control, AC and carpeting. Yes, I would also like to have a radio and clock. But not much else.

The realization in all this to me was that if you like a car, then reduce that car to its bones and still like it, then you know that your passion for the car is deep-rooted and goes to that car’s essence. Toys and luxuries are nice to have, but applied to an uninspiring set of bones is like (pardon me here) putting lipstick on a pig. I bet that a lot of Saab drivers would feel the same. Take a Lexus, say, and strip it down and ask Lexus owners what they think. I bet the reaction would be a bit different. I believe that many Saab drivers would love driving a Saab sans accoutrements—not that they’d give them up for good—and this may be why we are so passionate about these cars.

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Video: Best of the Road teams get their Saabs.

June 25, 2011 0:34 Line

By: Swade

Comments Off

Slightly delayed coverage here, but the Best of the Road drivers recently got their Saabs. People who know him might note US Product guru John Libbos giving them an intro to ‘torque’ and the physical sensations it delivers :-)

Enjoy.

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Participants and their Saabs in Best Of The Road

June 24, 2011 13:11 Line

By: Swade

Comments (3)

The Best of the Road event is now on. Run by Rand McNally with media partner USA Today, five groups of two are driving Saabs across the United States looking for the best small towns in America.

The groups will tweet and blog their way across the country, collecting followers along the way. A winner will be chosen at the end of the event and that winner will win a Saab 9-4x.

Here’s a bit more detail on who they are, where they’re going and most importantly, what they’re driving.

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Captain and Clark

Category: Most patriotic

Locations: Clarksville TN, Emporia KS, Fort Leonard Wood MO, Peachtree City GA, Rapid City SD, Williamsburg VA

Car: Saab 9-4x

Find them: Twitter, Facebook, Web

Recent banter: “She is beautiful! We don’t ever want to give her back!” – talking about the Saab 9-4x on Twitter.

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The Fun Finders

Category: Best for food.

Locations: Addison WV, Burnsville MN, Costa Mesa CA, Gulfport FL, Lafayette LA, Visalia CA

Car: Saab 9-3 SportCombi

Find them: Twitter, Web, Facebook

Recent Banter: “….one of the first things Jim said was “my seat is getting hot.” We found the proper button before he burned his bottom.” – Gotta love those Saab seat heaters!

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TravelingJules and TravelingJoan

Category: Most Fun.

Locations: Glenwood Springs CO, Myrtle Beach SC, Santa Claus IN, Sioux City IA, Vacaville CA, Yellow Springs OH

Car: Saab 9-3 SportCombi

Find them: Web, Facebook, Twitter

Recent Banter:

New York City from travelingjulesandtravelingjoan on Vimeo.

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Gone with the Wynns

Category: Friendliest town.

Locations: Lake Havasu AZ, Mount Airy NC, Nacogdoches TX, Valdosta GA, Walla Walla WA, Woodward OK

Car: Saab 9-5 sedan

Find them: Web, Facebook, Twitter

Recent Banter: We got the awesome 9-5 Areo to sport over the next 3 weeks thanks to SAAB and we are on the road to the Friendliest Towns in America! – via Facebook.

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The McNavigators

Category: Most beautiful

Locations: Baker City OR, Coral Gables FL, Franklin TN, Marco Island FL, Pacifica CA, Sandpoint ID

Car: Saab 9-5 sedan

Find Them: Web, Facebook, Twitter

Recent banter: “LOVING our Saab! 10 hours of driving and I am still comfortable! :) ” – via Twitter.

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Saab to feature in “Best of the Road” adventures

June 24, 2011 3:13 Line

By: Swade

Comments (6)

Best of the Road is an event being run by cartographers Rand McNally with the help of their official media partner, the newspaper USA Today.

The event involves five teams driving various Saab vehicles to 30 destinations around the US. The destinations are broken into five categories, with 6 cities in each category, as follows:

  • Most Beautiful – Baker City OR, Coral Gables FL, Franklin TN, Marco Island FL, Pacifica CA, Sandpoint ID
  • Most Patriotic – Clarksville TN, Emporia KS, Fort Leonard Wood MO, Peachtree City GA, Rapid City SD, Williamsburg VA
  • Most Fun – Glenwood Springs CO, Myrtle Beach SC, Santa Claus IN, Sioux City IA, Vacaville CA, Yellow Springs OH
  • Friendliest – Lake Havasu AZ, Mount Airy NC, Nacogdoches TX, Valdosta GA, Walla Walla WA, Woodward OK
  • Best for Food – Addison WV, Burnsville MN, Costa Mesa CA, Gulfport FL, Lafayette LA, Visalia CA

So what’s this all about? From the Best of the Road website:

What is the Best of the Road® 2011 Rally?

A. This summer, five teams of travelers will help us find the very best small towns in America in the Best of the Road® Rally. A panel of travel experts from Rand McNally and USA TODAY will select the top 5 small towns in each category – then the Road Rally begins!

Road Rally teams will leave New York City on June 23rd and visit each of the small town finalists. Each team will cover one of the five categories. At each town, the rally teams will dig deep and leave no stone unturned as they work to determine which small town is the best of their category.

When the rally teams arrive in Los Angeles, CA on July 15 they will announce which towns are really the best small towns in America.

The panel of travel experts from Rand McNally and USA TODAY will then determine which Road Rally team will win first place and the grand prize of $10,000.

You’ll be able to support your favourite team by following their adventures on Facebook, their own websites, and on Twitter.

  • Captain and Clark (exploring the “Most Patriotic”) – website – Twitter
  • Gone with the Wynns (exploring the “Friendliest”) – website – Twitter
  • McNavigators (exploring the “Most Beautiful”) – website – Twitter
  • The Fun Finders (exploring the “Best for Food”)- website – Twitter
  • TravelingJules and TravelingJoan (exploring the “Most Fun”) – website – Twitter

We’ll be following the competitors and the adventures of the Saab range, too, as they carry the contestants around the United States on this adventure.

There are five teams, and of course there will be five Saabs involved in the adventures.

  • 1 x Saab 9-4x SUV
  • 2 x Saab 9-5 sedans
  • 1 x Saab 9-3 SportSedan
  • 1 x Saab 93 SportCombi

If they’re coming to your town, it’d be great to get and out, show them your support and let them know just how blessed they are to be doing this trip in a Saab. Maybe see if you can get photo of them and send it in.

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A personal reflection on recent news

June 23, 2011 13:18 Line

By: Swade

Comments (54)

I’m writing this from my living room in Hobart, Tasmania. I was meant to land at Gothenburg airport today on my return to Sweden, but I’m stuck here in Tasmania thanks to a cloud of ash from a volcano in Chile.

It was tough to read the latest press release from our parent company today, stating that wages would be delayed. After all that we’ve been through as a company, it feels like a real kick in the guts and I know the workforce must be doing it hard today.

It was tougher still to phone in to our team’s regular Thursday morning meeting and discuss the release, to hear the voices of my colleagues, for whom this news was still sinking in.

I’m due to head back to Sweden on my postponed ticket next week and I can’t wait to get back there. It feels horrible to be away from a workplace that I care about so much, to be away from a team that I care about so much, in such a time of distress.

It’s fair to say that working at Saab is a dream come true for me. I’ve been a huge fan of the company ever since I first drove one of their cars and I’ve been working my tail off for them for more than 6 years now (as an employee for the last few months). I’ve never come across another place with such a rich history, such a right philosophy and such genuinely smart, warm and caring people. It’s such a pleasure to be there every day and share a deeper insight of this company with its community.

The obituaries for Saab are already coming in from the various writers and tweeters, all trying to be more insightful and/or wittier than everyone else. I don’t blame them. I’d probably do the same in their position. I was urged by one person on Twitter to give it up, to let it go and admit that this is the end of things for Saab. I can (almost) understand where he’s coming from. There’s a lot of tiredness surrounding the fringes of this company right now.

My response, however – no chance. No chance at all.

There’s no covering over the darkness of the hour, but I keep telling people what a colleague told me last year: when you’ve got new, great product, there’s always a reason to keep on going. Right now, we’re in a very difficult position. But we’ve got heaps of great product on the verge of release and even better technology being worked on out in the back rooms.

For me, there’s absolutely no chance of giving up on this company. I can’t wait to get back to Sweden next week, rally with my colleagues and take up whatever fight we have to win.

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Swedish Automobile Press release – 23 June 2011

June 23, 2011 8:07 Line

By: Swade

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Zeewolde, The Netherlands, 23 June 2011 – Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swedish Automobile, formerly Spyker Cars N.V.) announces that Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) will be unable to pay the wages to employees as it has not yet obtained the necessary short-term funding. Swedish Automobile and Saab Automobile are in discussions with various parties to obtain short-term funding, including via the sale and lease-back of the real estate of Saab that was announced previously, and with their financiers in connection with current financing arrangements. These discussions are ongoing. There can however be no assurance that these discussions will be successful or that the necessary funding will be obtained.

Saab Automobile has ongoing negotiations with suppliers in reaching agreement on the terms of payments in order to resume an orderly inflow of parts and components.

Swedish Automobile will update the market of any new developments.

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An update on Saab’s situation from the inside

June 23, 2011 0:40 Line

By: Swade

Comments (14)

I’ve had a few people in comments ask about the current situation at Saab Automobile. I’ve also read a bunch of reports that continue to cover our apparent demise in the finest detail. From a personal point of view, I store those away and look forward to the best revenge – seeing Saab live well.

It’s difficult to provide constant updates, but the company is doing the best it can to keep the general public informed as to what’s going on. We know that we have a lot of interested stakeholders who are hungry for information and we try to get them the information they need, but the situation is quite fluid and daily updates are not appropriate at this point in time because, as we’ve mentioned in previous releases, the situation changes from day to day, and sometimes from hour to hour within the day.

Nevertheless, here’s an attempt to bring you up to speed with some of what’s going on.

Our medium-long term outlook has recently been enhanced with the deal announced last week for a joint-venture between Saab, Youngman and PangDa for future manufacturing and distribution in China. We see huge potential in the Chinese market. In the short term, we see great interest already in our newest releases, the Saab 9-5 and Saab 9-4x and we have an excellent sales partner in PangDa to enable us to grow our presence in the Chinese market. In the long term, we see great possibilities in terms of wider distribution and new JV manufacturing possibilities to add to our existing manufacturing in Trollhattan, Sweden.

The proposed joint venture manufacturing deal would see Saab-branded and child-branded vehicles being built and sold locally in the Chinese market. Whilst we value all of our markets, the Chinese market is the obvious growth corridor for Saab into the future and this deal is key to that future growth. Whilst we leave no stone unturned in making sure we’re prepared for the approval process, we have every confidence that the deal will get through regulatory approval both in Sweden and in China. Youngman, despite it’s name, is a well established company with a near 60-year history in transportation and automotive manufacturing. Whilst they may not be the biggest vehicle producer in China, they’re very well connected and respected in the industry, which is why we had been speaking with them for a significant period of time prior to this deal.

Our achilles heel at the moment is not the long-term outlook, though we do not take that for granted. Our immediate challenge is cashflow; securing sufficient funds to get suppliers on board and the factory up and running again on a consistent basis.

These are all points mentioned previously in various statements from Saab, but they’re worth repeating again.

  • Saab has a significant order bank in place. Those orders represent a big boost to Saab’s inward cash flows, however we can’t invoice and receive payment for those cars until they’re built. We can’t invoice a 98% complete vehicle. You can call it a Saabish chicken-and-egg puzzle if you like – we have plenty of orders to complete (meaning inwards cashflow) if we can get parts, but parts have been difficult to get because of restricted cashflow. We are working hard with suppliers to resolve this.
  • Some people have mentioned that the PangDa funds should have been sufficient to get things running again on a stable footing. The PangDa purchase was indeed a significant one, however we still have to build and supply those vehicles to PangDa, which is what they paid their money for.
  • We hope to receive another instalment of EIB funding soon, however as many of you know, this is not a short term liquidity solution. EIB funding is for longer term investment in efficient technology. Whilst Saab are fortunate to do a lot of work in this area, we understand that the EIB take a longer term outlook, which is what we’re looking to put in place with deals such as the Youngman and PangDa deals.
  • Work continues to secure the PropCo sale and lease-back of Saab’s real estate, which would provide a significant boost to liquidity.

Saab has a brilliant product plan for the coming years, as well as great offerings for sale in the current range.

  • The Saab 9-4x is completely allocated for the 2011 model year and interest in the 2012 model year is already very strong.
  • We have the all new Saab 9-5 sedan in place and established in the market.
  • The Saab 9-3 Griffin sees a significant technology boost to the 9-3 range and is the best Saab 9-3 we’ve ever built.
  • The 9-3 TTiD range offers the most powerful and flexible sub-120g emissions package in the market. This is a key to sales in many European markets and interest has been very strong for this model.
  • The Saab 9-5 SportCombi, a key for the 9-5′s success in Europe, is about to come into production.

It’s the biggest and best model range that Saab has had in its 64-year automotive history. For those of you who are frustrated that you can’t take delivery of your car just yet, let me assure you that we’re just as frustrated that we haven’t been able to get it to you.

We’d like nothing more.

We will keep you updated as best we can, but no specific date can be promised at this stage for the continuation of production. The conditions that will enable that are still being negotiated with key suppliers around the world.

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