Saab has been very active behind the scenes testing various mules in Sweden. Tips have been coming in on articles in other publications showing these latest prototypes, used to test various components of the Phoenix platform. Keep in mind as usual the bodies of these cars are the current models, as these are mainly for testing elements under the hood for the next generation 9-3.
From worldcarfans.com, an interesting new mule that seems to only be testing front components of the new platform, the rear seems to be from the current 9-3. I have no idea what exactly they get out of testing it this way, but feel free to speculate.
Somethings Marco noted in his tip were:
– New front rims with different bolt system.
– The car was registered in 2009 as a diesel and is currently out of use (according to Swedish authorities).
– No visible exhaust pipes, so is this really a diesel?
– The pics are taken in Arjeplog, Sweden.
And in expressen.se (english translation), we see a mule using a convertible body. Some of the obvious changes are the wider track both front and rear and the exhaust pipes placed further towards the corners. Also, it’s wearing the same wheels as the sedan above.
UPDATE: more pics at caradvice.com.au
I can’t wait to see the new 9-3!
One proposal to you Jeff: Could you post the pics in a way that they can be enlarged? That’d be great!
Be very careful about posting pictures which could be copyrighted. Many forums in the US have been sued by some suing sharks that are just trying to squeeze money out of anything and anyone they can sink their teeth in.
In Sweden (and I guess in many other countries) we have something called “Upphovsrätt” which is almost the same thing as copyright but I think one difference compared with copyright-law is that all photos automatically gets protected by it (=you don´t have to register it anywhere). So _all_ photos are “copyrighted” and you always need the owner´s concent to use it.
Okay, that’s fine with me. Better be careful!
Once the Psa 1.6 goes in the front, there us going to be a lot of room.
Front axle in same place
160,000 miles = 257,000 km (= 25,700 Scandinavian miles) isn’t much for a 9-5. My 1998 Saab 9-5 2.3 t has passed that a long time ago and still works perfectly, apart from also “drinking” a lot of oil. There shouldn’t however be any problem driving a 9-5 300,000 miles = 483,000 km (= 48,300 Scandinavian miles). Durability is in fact one of Saab’s strengths. You still see lots of rusty OG 900s in Sweden. They rust in the Swedish salted slushy winter roads, but they keep going.
Don’t worry about the 1.6. Thanks to the turbo, it has plenty of torque at low revs and a less powerful variant of this engine is already powering large and heavy cars like the Citroen C5 and Pug 508. You will get a better power to weight ratio than with your current 9-5.
Please note that 1.4 and 1.6 turbo engines are commonplace in Europe nowadays, while in the US, GM and Ford continue to ship some ancient 2.0 litre engines with less power in similar models as those with 1.4 and 1.6 on the European market.
Agree about the Sonata.
Does anyone have info how much the Prince PSA engine weighs vs. the GM 2.0?
Another issue with the prince: sound.
The Convertible seems to be the same as the one seen earlier in Southern Europe
Im not sure it this has been said before. But i think the reason for different rims might be because of different bolt pattern..? PCD or what its called. The new 9-5 has a different dimension than the earlier saabs. So my guess is that the SS is a FWD with new platform, and the convertible is a 4wd..
This has nothing to do about mules but…….
POLL OF THE WEEK
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110314/GREEN/110319958
Saw a mule the other day with huge twin pipes. It had wider track both in the front and the rear. It looked very muscular 🙂
Was it any of the ones we have seen here? Any pics?
The bit I worry about is if the new 9-3 has a wider track, how close is this to the 9-5? If you are limited in thenumber of models you produce then in my view there needs to be a clear differential in the different models in terms of size and they seem too close.
I think the new 9-3 won’t be much longer than the current generation which means it will be 40 cm shorter thatn the 9-5. That’ll be enough to differentiate the two models.
JC statement on “Russian Dolls” is enough for me.
I think the 9-3 will be different enough. For unlink the Audi approach, which is good.
Testing is moving along; good to see that! Wonder how different the wheelbases are between the current convertible and the sedan/wagon and if those are really current-gen 9-3 bodies or slightly modified bodies as I am expecting the Phoenix 9-3 to gain a few mm in wheelbase.
The sedan does have tail pipes, they are discreetly hidden behind the rear bumper.