Crashtesting the TurboX

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The wheel refused to budge
A few hours ago we received word from Sapan that although he is ok, his car unfortunately isn’t.

Good Example of Swedish Safety

On our way home from Swedish Car Day My Girlfriend and I were driving back on the NJ Turnpike.

We were in the 2nd to most Left lane while a driver next to us was in the left most lane, she was on her cell phone with her head down and started veering to the left shoulder. She panicked, and then snapped her steering wheel to the right and did the PIT maneuver that police often use to knock a vehicle out of balance into a 360 to my vehicle. This started the process of me doing a 360 turn at around 65 to 70mph, during this time I managed to counter steer and start correcting the vehicle but by the time I did we were already on a crash course with the jersey wall. I remember clearly counter steering as to not go into a spin and holding onto the steering wheel until the end getting airbag burns. The Vehicle that did the damage was the corolla.

By the time it was done I as already on the shoulder fully stopped with emergency hazards, airbags deployed, and OnStar contacting me saying they are sending EMS to my location(yes I did pay for the subscription and its worth every penny for that fraction of a second for your life). We were both majorly uninjured and walked away living and breathing mind you not the most comfortable of experiences.

So Based on the Pictures the Drivers and Passengers side can with stand this sever of a impact. I will be trying my best to buy another Saab very soon no matter what the service or parts scenario looks like. As Jeremy Clarkson said, no one could understand why a Saab Cost so much until they crashed them…

IIHS only recently started testing small overlap frontal collisions. I have a strong feeling most Saabs would excel at those tests. Didn’t SAAB discuss this scenario back in the late 80s?

In any case, we are glad to see that Sapan is OK and we hope he will find a (reasonably) new SAAB soon. It is my understanding that the parts situation is improving every day, so hopefully that should not be a factor to be concerned with anymore (9-4X owners OTOH are still cautioned to not break anything just yet).

I would also like to remind everyone that there is an open thread in our forums dedicated to news stories about crashes involving Saabs.

51 thoughts on “Crashtesting the TurboX”

  1. Sapan’s Turbo X was a superior instance: Incorporating the best bits from the Cream of our aftermarket [including Maptun; Vtuner; Hirsch; Genuine Saab]. ‘Kanundrum’s Thread’ on SaabCentral chronicles the evolution of the car. The car was at it’s sweet spot when this tragic event occurred (19T; Coilovers…long list). A Halo Car that should have been released as such…a car that was ready to go the distance with anything from Germany.

    I’m heartened to hear that Sapan plans to find another Saab Project. And I’d vote for 9-4X Aero –I don’t think anybody has properly done one up!

    [Hope he’s coming to Oktoberfest as planned :)]

    • Will Try my best to make it to Oktoberfest but I am sure the Physical therapy will get in the way. Either way Lets see what I can find, there are only a few Aeros in the USA (94x) that have what I want and the dealers are asking a few dollars less than full retail which maybe too rich for my blood at the moment. The 9-5 aeros are more resonable (30k or so) Aero XWD Models so lets see!

      • There are about 10 9-4Xs in Cary, NC at the Hendrick dealership along with probably more than 10 NG9-5s. I know it would be a hike to get down here and check one out but they still have several left. The service guy told me they pulled some cars off the lot to use as parts cars for the ones already purchased.

  4. Pleased that everyone is OK and escaped unhurt. In the UK it`s illegal to use a handheld mobile phone (cellphone) while driving, so the Corolla driver would have been in big trouble – but it also has ramifications re insurance. As to the car – write-off or repairable?

      • Glad to hear you are all ok. It is a shame to see a wrecked TX, but it is nice to see it hold up to such a crash.

        Any chance I can buy the remaining three good wheels from you? I have a TX and would like a spare as well as back up, just in case. Also, if your passenger side door unscratched, let me know if I can buy that as well. My daughter backed into mine.

  7. ahh the grand old NJ Turnpike. Between that and Gov Christie, I’m not sure which one is more embarrassing to my state 🙂

    Anyway, Sapan, I’m glad you’re ok, and sorry about your super Turbo-X biting the dust. But hey, there is a bright side in all this: You get to soop up another Saab 🙂

  10. It’s a shame about the car, but far more important is, that you are ok. In a way hearing of such accidents fills me with confidence as I know that I am driving a car that is as safe as one can get. I hope the driver of Toyota is also ok.

  11. I’m having flashbacks. Was in girlfriends’ 06 9-3 when a Civic driven (by 24 yo who blew .24 etoh) hit us head on, slightly off center at 30 and 50 mph. Civic collapsed like a tin can and Saab’s structural integrity was what you’d expect. As such, we walked away w/ minor injuries while civic driver was in really bad shape. Side notes, make sure ins company values your TurboX correctly. After our accident my gfriend received call from adjuster who gave her a number. She asked me what I thought and I said it was low. I promptly called and asked how he came up with the value, he said he “looked at the market and called two Saab dealers”. I asked which ones to which he replied by saying one being the dealer where I work. My response was that’s funny, we never received such a call, why don’t we try this again and came up w/ 2,500 more than original offer. Also, I’d suggest waiting a couple weeks to get another, Sapan. We may be seeing more 2011 inventory soon.

    • Great thanks, yea I have a friend in the insurance business and I have tons of great advice from him regarding tires maintenance etc. Can you send me your contact information of your dealership?

  13. With Saab now gone. Each car we loose is one less ofa dwindling pool. Especially a limit release.
    Any thoughts on getting the salvage rights to the car so its parts can be used to rescued its siblings? I just don’t want see a t-x end up.in insurerbhand and crushed.

  14. I really do hope the Corolla driver will be a public transport user for a loooooong time…
    And that their insurance says “Sorry, you pay!”

  17. Having attended Swedish Car Day, I saw this Turbo X (it was parked in the 9-3 area where I was parked this year). I believe it had a Hirsch badge on the grill.

    Sorry to hear about the crash (in my state of NJ) but glad everyone is OK. I’ll have to check Monday’s paper that I haven’t got to yet to see if it was mentioned.

  18. Very happy that you are OK. Nearly equally sad about that fine specimen of a TurboX.

    Now for the maybe-a-bit-too-bold part. That rear axle with the eLSD kit. Is it unhurt? Ive been looking for one for some time since I have an XWD without eLSD and some people at ANA in Trollhättan tells me it might actually be possible to retrofit that axle to an ordinary XWD. Off course with quite an aoperation including “telling” the cars software its equipped with one. However i am prepared to try it. I read above the car was totaled or were you bying it back? Might it be possible to give the rear axle a new life in another Maptuned 9-3 V6 XWD?

    Hope you are doing fine with youre rehab!

    🙂

  19. Yepp, you’re happy to have walked away from this one. Your Saab has done its part. Having read at SaabCentral your progress in perfecting your TurboX, it is really sad for the car to have this ending though, especially since they don’t make them anymore…
    In any case, best of luck with your upcoming replacement and your rehab!

  20. I’m glad to hear that everyone is fine. And yes, looking at the TurboX smashed up like this is pretty sad.

    That being said, I must say that for a severe accident like this – it is astounding to see that the cabin doesn’t appear to have been breached at all, and I imagine that the engine may be perfectly fine as well. My brother was in a collision recently that actually looked a lot like this, but was in a Mazda RX-7. Thankfully, he walked away uninjured but in his car: the axel was bent to the point where the wheel is slanted about 45 degrees. I suspect that if you were to fix this up, it would cost less money to make it driveable than it would with his Mazda.

  21. While it’s a shame to lose your Turbo X, we are glad to hear you folks are all okay. Things could have been much worse if you were driving a lesser car.

  22. I’m glad you guys are OK!

    I saw your car at Swedish Car Day, and it was pretty. It’s too bad, but in the end it did what it was designed to do. It saved you and your passenger.

    Good luck, and wishing you another Saab soon!

  23. It pains me to see a TurboX in this state, I absolutely love this car and everything about it. Very glad to hear you are alright, sorry about your car though.

  25. Good to hear you’re both OK Sapan. The TX did what it was designed to do in “the end”.

    It’s comforting to know that my family vehicle, a 2008 9-3 Combi, has exactly the same safety credentials.

    My daily driver, a 1998 9000, still ranks in the top 15 safest used cars in Australia. The lastest used-car safety report uses data from 5 million crashes between 1996-2010 to rank 197 models of car/vans/SUVs. The NG900 ranks just behind the 9000. The 9000 is also the oldest car to be rated as a “Safety Pick” and includes all 9000s from 1986 to end of production.

  26. Thank you, I’m glad to hear your OK. Blue Grass Saab, Louisville, KY has a lot of “Used Saabs” listed with 5 miles on them. Maybe they just got off the boat. Good luck with your replacement.

    • I did see them and have been in contact but their pricing seems a bit too much for me. I am working thru Kelly Saab right now to try to obtain a 9-5 or a 9-4x

  27. Julie will take good car of you, but be prepared Blue Grass has been bidding up the Ally auction cars like crazy. They have them priced 10k over the auction price. I lost two aeros to them but Saturday I pick up a 2010 demo from Sutliff. I Almost bought a very loaded 2010 9-5 aero from a Pittsburgh dealer when I stumbled upon the demo and pricing was great. Email me if you want to know where I left things at the pittsburgh dealer. It was a very good deal also, but as a third car, the demo was an easier monthly nut.

      • I’ve become so obsessed with wanting a white 9-5 aero, I was about ready to find out what hurdles I’d need to jump through to get that white one you have into Pennsylvania. I spoke with Bob Barry @ Blue Grass -very nice gentleman but apparently they have a high demand market as the pricing is just boggling to me.

  28. Thanks, SVX92 : ) I will do my best as always.
    Amazing pics of the TX, Sapan. I am just happy you and friend are OK. Sad to think such a great car would be wasted as others have said so I hope you are able to save it for others to save theirs.
    Unfortunately, Smart Auction still doesn’t have any inspection reports/pics up for tomorrow… will check again in morn.
    Off to bed- G’Nite all and Send Positive Energy to Sapan and Me for his Bid tomorrow and healing energy to he and his girl for their speedy recovery~

  29. Glad to hear you’re both OK. Sorry to hear about the car. The SAAB engineers should be proud of all the live’s they’ve saved.

    Years ago I was able to drive off in my 900 after an accident that totalled the front end of the Civic that struck me.

    Yay SAAB!

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