Sports Cars
Saab 9-4X News: 2011 Saab 9-4X Official Photos and Info – Car and Driver
September 27, 2011 | 
Author 
Nearly three years ago at the Detroit auto show, Saab showed a small crossover concept called the
, which was expected to hit showrooms about a year later. Since then, though, the automaker has endured a seriously rocky road, including a brush with death followed by new ownership, but the 9-4X has finally come to fruition relatively untouched from its concept form. Based on the same underpinnings as the Cadillac SRX, the 9-4X will be built by GM alongside the Caddy. The arrangement is among the last remaining ties between the Swedish brand and its former U.S. overlord.
Handsome Styling The outer surface of the 9-4X shares many styling cues with the . Up front, Saab’s new signature grille is flanked by swoopy headlights fitted with adaptive xenon bulbs, with trapezoidal fog-light housings below. The windshield is dramatically raked, and the pillars are blacked-out back to the thick D-pillar, wherein the “blade” of the hockey-stick-esque body line kicks forward, giving the 9-4X an aggressive look. The rear hatch shares the 9-5’s “ice-block” LED-strip, which spans the license-plate recess and connects the taillights. The standard rolling stock measures 18 inches, while Aero models receive 20-inch, nine-spoke wheels that mirror the turbine look of the 9-5’s. Overall, the 9-4X has a sleek look that quite possibly bests all of GM’s mid-size crossovers.
The interior is full of Saab cues, including a driver-oriented dash, green instrument illumination, “joystick” vent adjusters, and, of course, a center-console-mounted ignition. Optional equipment includes adjustable pedals, a Bose 5.1 surround-sound stereo, an eight-inch touch-screen nav system with a 10-gig hard drive, and the choice of faux carbon-fiber or wood trim.
Second-row occupants are treated to a three-angle adjustable seatback and their own climate controls. Additionally, an optional rear-seat entertainment package installs an eight-inch monitor with auxiliary video input into each of the front seatbacks.
Turbo Power In production trim, the 9-4X concept’s BioPower pretenses have fallen by the wayside, but the turbocharged engine has not. Just as with the Cadillac SRX, buyers will have their choice of a naturally aspirated 3.0-liter V-6 producing 265 hp, or the 300-hp, turbocharged 2.8-liter V-6, which will be exclusive to the top-spec Aero model. All-wheel drive is standard on the Aero trim and optional on the otherwise front-wheel-drive 3.0-liter. The Aero also includes Saab’s DriveSense adaptive suspension. Both engines are paired with a six-speed automatic transmission. Expect performance to match the Caddy—a 2.8-powered SRX we tested hit 60 mph in 7.2 seconds, and a 3.0-liter all-wheel driver took 8.4.
Our first in-person sighting of the 2011 9-4X will come at this year’s Los Angles auto show. The crossover will hit U.S. dealers in May of 2011, with European deliveries commencing in August.
The luxury crossover segment attracts a lot of buyers and accounts for loads of revenue—and, while we don’t love the Cadillac SRX, consumers are snatching it up. Saab is certainly late to this red-hot game, but the 9-4X’s unique look could make it the sales hit the company needs.
Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/10q4/2011_saab_9-4x_crossover_official_photos_and_info_-auto_shows
2011 Saab 9-5 introduction
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2007 Bentley Arnage T – Short Take Road Test – Auto Reviews – Car and Driver
Bentley’s flagship Arnage T is 5760 pounds of hyperbole. It’s longer than a
. It weighs more than a Toyota Land Cruiser. It makes more noise at idle than a
truck (with which, incidentally, it shares an identical number of valves and pushrods). It offers less skidpad grip than a
. It attains 60 mph about as quickly as a
. It stops in fewer feet than a
. And for the as-tested price of our Arnage T, you could decorate your garage with a
, an
, a
, a
, a
, a
, and a
, and you’d
still have four grand left over for high-quality drugs.
If the Arnage is a rolling contradiction in terms, that’s also how it drives. You don’t so much steer this car as point and prod it. Pushing its brake pedal is like stepping into a bucket of golf balls. Around corners, the body first lurches, then leans, then begins to settle just as you straighten the wheel—which upsets it anew. And throttle tip-in is an exercise in prescience. For the first inch of its travel, the accelerator is apparently connected to nothing but someone’s imagination. Then, at about 2500 rpm, there erupts an explosive roar and the yowl of Pirellis and the clicking of the overtaxed traction control. When was the last time you heard of an automotive engine that produced 738 pound-feet of torque? When was the last time you saw a tach with a 4600-rpm redline? Awaken the twin turbos in town and you’ll want to be sure the lanes to the left and right are clear. At stoplights, the V-8 idles with the refinement of a U-Haul van, and on cold startups, it’s prone to stall. Lock the Arnage via its remote fob and you’ll summon four chirps sufficiently loud to frighten East L.A. gang lords. Did we mention we got 13 mpg?
Naturally, the cabin is a stunning mlange of leather, chrome, exquisite stitching, and trim pieces possibly lifted from the Grimaldi family’s yacht. On the other hand, the twist ring for the wipers is ridiculously stiff. Ditto the pushbuttons on the old-fashioned door handles. The single-sided ignition key can be inserted only one way and feels as if it were filing off small pieces of metal. And operating the nav system requires a remote control.
Folks gape at the Arnage, in awe of its size and your wallet. In the end, though, driving this car is less gratifying than lolling in its rear seat. Introduced for 1998, the Arnage is the past pluperfect. And we do mean past.
Article source: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/07q3/2007_bentley_arnage_t-short_take_road_test
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