Have you got Saab pride for environmental class?
Saab pride! Even if you own a Ford or Chevy, you tend to have a sense of pride in the brand, or at least would flat-out refuse to set your left cheek in the driver's seat of your competitor's brand. Therefore, as a Saab owner, I get excited to hear any nifty tidbit of information about the brand, and here's some good news.
With the 9-3 and 9-5 BioPower models being sold in 2006 and 2007, Saab now has a 38 percent market share in the alternative fuel vehicle segment. Last year they sold 11,000 BioPower models, and have sold over 7,000 so far this year in Sweden alone.
Saab is playing a leadership role in promoting E85 and increasing its availability. They have low CO2 emissions across the range, and in fact, according to this video, Richard Hammond ("The Hamster" of Top Gear) says the catalytic converter in the 9-3 is so advanced, that the air coming out of the tailpipe is cleaner than that going in the intake in an urban environment. How about them apples?
[Source: Saab]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1985 Gripen 2:54PM (7/18/2007)
I myself am a two SAABs owner. What I think you need to point out in the post is that your figure is likely world-wide market share. The BioPower (ethanol-capable flex-fuel) SAABs are really hot in their homeland Sweden right now and are selling in other markets such as the U.K. and some places in Continental Europe, but they have not yet been brought for sale in the U.S. There are concrete plans to bring them over, we're assured, but no target date has been publicized as of yet.
The BioPower SAABs are very well anticipated here. When running E85 you get MUCH more horsepower and torque output in your car that it's a lot of fun to be green!
Lastly a word of warning: that Top Gear segment featuring Richard Hammond was filmed in 2003, when SAAB's 9-3 Sport Sedan was introduced (hence his calling it the "new SAAB 9-3" though it has the 2003-2007 body style). This upcoming year the model year 2008 SAAB 9-3 has undergone what's called a "mid-cycle enhancement", sometimes referred-to as a "refresh". In addition to many improvements and a new look, coming in early 2008 will be the availability of the innovative XWD (pronounced "cross-wheel drive") system, which is Haldex's world-leading innovative fourth-generation advanced all-wheel-drive system. Horsepower and torque have been increased as well, so if you run it on E85 you're going to have a killer fun car while knowing you're doing good by the environment as well. It's like having your cake and eating it too!
Check out http://trollhattansaab.net for more info on SAAB!
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1985 Gripen 2:57PM (7/18/2007)
Sorry to my Australian friends for forgetting to mention that BioPower SAABs are sold "down under" as well... Apologies.
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ug 6:43PM (7/18/2007)
That's all well and good, but how about hybrids?
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1985 Gripen 1:56AM (7/19/2007)
Huh? Haven't you heard hybrids are old news, ug? People are becoming disenchanted because they just don't live up to the hype:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/07/17/j-d-power-hybrids-losing-popularity-to-diesels/
The new hotness is all about the diesel! SAAB's got a great twin-turbo diesel in their European 9-3, but we won't get it here in the States.
The 2.9-liter twin-turbo diesel V6 2008 SAAB 9-3 TTiD gets over 39 mpg, 180 bhp and 295 ft-lb of torque. That makes for a really fun drive.
To contrast that to the 2.4-liter 4-cylinder Toyota Camry Hybrid which gets 34 mpg, 147 bhp and 138 ft-lb of torque. That makes for feeling superior to everyone else because you're "green" but a boring-@ss drive. ;-P
If it's a SAAB hybrid you want, yes they've done it (last year). The world's first bioethanol-capable (plug-in) convertible hybrid:
http://www.trollhattansaab.net/archives/2006/04/saab_biopower_h.html
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1985 Gripen 2:06AM (7/19/2007)
Oops, make that "1.9-liter" turbodiesel in the SAAB. Accidentally added an extra liter of displacement! :-(
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