Better Think Malibu, Not Stockholm, as Saab Rolls Out Its Next Version of 9-3
General Motors Corp.’s take-over of Saab is complete, and the Swedish car maker, long known for its quirky designs, has been blanded.
The 2003 Saab 9-3, which hits the marketplace in the fall, uses GM’s new global Epsilon platform for mid-size cars, and the result is a Saab that has lost the angularity of its predecessors and would look quite at home in a GM dealer’s lineup.
It’s not bad looking, just different, sharing underpinnings with the next-generation Chevy Malibu and Pontiac Grand Am, to name a few close cousins.
Saab says the initial sedan will be followed by a convertible, a hatchback and then an all-wheel- drive 9-3X.
Engine offerings are a pair of new all-aluminum, turbocharged four-bangers rated at 175 and 210 horsepower. They’ll come mated to (choose one) a five-speed manual, a five-speed automatic or an optional six-speed manual.
Saab also is touting a passive rear-wheel-steering system that flexes the rear track a tad to help in cornering.
Pricing hasn’t been announced, but isn’t expected to move the bar.
Buell Shakes Up Center of Gravity With Firebolt
While Saab is busily being mainstreamed, Buell Motorcycle Co. is busily going wild.
Buell, the sport-bike subsidiary of Milwaukee’s Harley-Davidson Inc., has just introduced the Firebolt XB9R, the first motorcycle with no gas or oil tanks (what looks like a gas tank is an air intake).
Instead of mounting the gas tank as a separate element atop the bike, Buell’s engineers turned the Firebolt’s wide but hollow aluminum frame into a fuel chamber. And the oil reservoir was moved from the engine to the hollow swing arm that holds the rear wheel in place.
The result, Buell says, is a highly maneuverable motorcycle with a center of gravity located somewhere down around the rider’s boot tops.
The latest Buell uses a new Harley-designed V-twin engine. Vital statistics: fuel-injected, 984 cubic centimeters, fan-cooled. Output: 92 horsepower and 68 pounds-feet of torque. Buell has priced the Firebolt, just now showing up in dealer showrooms, at $9,995.
