Opinions have been mixed over the overall shape of the new Saab 9-5. The detailing, as we found at the pivotal sedan's debut at the recently concluded Frankfurt show, takes the Swedish automaker's aerospace-inspired design to a new level of sophistication, but some believe that the silhouette cut by the sedan's form left something lacking. That could all be fixed, however, if the estate wagon comes out looking as slick as this rendering imagines.
Slated for debut in about a year from now, the 9-5 SportCombi, as Trollhattan calls its wagons, is scheduled to be the first new launch for Saab after leaving GM for Koenigsegg's management. Following the market debut of the sedan, the 9-5 wagon will precede the replacement for the smaller 9-3 and the anticipated new 9-4X crossover to give the Swedes a solid lineup to take on the likes of Audi and company. Engines are expected to include turbo fours displacing 1.6 liters and producing 178 horsepower, two liters with 217 hp and 2.8 liters with 296 hp; to be joined by a 158 hp two-liter turbodiesel and a reported turbocharged hybrid option. Saab's trick proprietary XWD traction system should be available across nearly the entire range.
With all that, plus Swedish practicality and what looks to be a slick wraparound rear windscreen, the next wagon from Scandinavia's quirky stepchild could be a real departure from the usual Saab story.
Steve Rattner is a man we admire but do not envy. Rattner, a former Wall Street banking type with zero experience in the automotive or manufacturing world, was tasked by President Obama with guiding General Motors and Chrysler through their restructuring efforts. Not a small job, by any means. Or one we would wish on our worst enemies. That said, it was a HUGE job, and huge jobs typically make for great stories. Rattner, in an article he penned himself for CNN's Money doesn't disappoint. At all. Allow us to tantalize you with some quotes: When the Obama administration took office on Jan. 20, it inherited nothing in the auto area: no staff, no stacks of analyses, no plans of any kind. The Bush administration had decided in late December that GM and Chrysler were not going to go bankrupt on its watch and had shoveled $17.4 billion of TARP money into the companies to keep them afloat, but without any meaningful stab at restructuring them. Oh snap! But really, that's not even the tip of the juicy iceberg.
How about this apple, er, lack of apple:
When I asked our energetic young chief of staff, Haley Stevens, what we were going to give our visitors for lunch, she replied, "Nothing. Treasury has no budget for even bottles of water." It seemed harsh to expect our guests to go many hours without eating, so I gave Haley $100 and told her to go to a sandwich shop. That became our hospitality protocol.Hungry for more? We haven't even scratched the surface, as our man Rattner is just getting warmed up. Here's one more for you about Rattner and friends first trip to Detroit:
What we didn't prepare for was the intense public interest in our visit to these hard-hit communities. Throngs of reporters awaited us at every stop while a news helicopter buzzed overhead. More peculiarly, the ensuing press coverage seemed wildly over-focused on our test drive of the Chevy Volt, as if the company's salvation rested on this one vehicle.Don't tell Lutz. And hey, speaking of Maximum Bob and his pals, here's what Ratner has to say about Detroit Management:
Everyone knew Detroit's reputation for insular, slow-moving cultures. Even by that low standard, I was shocked by the stunningly poor management that we found, particularly at GM, where we encountered, among other things, perhaps the weakest finance operation any of us had ever seen in a major company.And Mr. Rattner is just getting warmed up. Just wait 'till he gets to Wagoner. We implore you all to jump over to CNN to read the rest. Hat tip to chemistrusaz!
The Subaru Hybrid Tourer is sharp-nosed and an all-out sharp piece of car. The car's flat floor hides two electric motors, one aft that powers the car in low-speed acceleration and assists with acceleration, and one up front connected to a direct-injection turbocharged gas engine. The Tourer is also fitted with Subaru's trademark symmetrical all-wheel drive system and a Lineatronic CVT transmission.
As for its design, Subie officials tell us that the nose points the way for Subaru's new corporate face and the rest of the car indicates the general design language we'll see from the brand represented by the Pleiades. "It will be anti-Bangle, editing, not adding – cars have too many character lines now." But forget about the gullwing doors -- those were fitted to provide the best view of the interior.
For the past ten years, Ford has been doing a dance with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and consumers over the issue of leaking cruise control switches in certain company vehicles. As of 2008, it had recalled some 9.6 million vehicles to repair a faulty Texas Instruments cruise-control deactivation switch, and now after a NHTSA investigation, the Blue Oval has added 4.5 million more Ford and Mercury vehicles to the recall.
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Wedging BMW's V10 into an M3 is nothing new, but what if you want the convenience of a wagon? Manhart Racing has the answer. The German tuner has converted an E91 to look like the M3, then stuffed M5's V10 into the engine bay complete with its seven-speed SMG. To quote Manhart Racing..."Attention all sporty, family men!"
The transformation from a standard E91 3-Series Estate to super wagon begins with the exterior, where the car gets the front fascia, front fenders, side skirts, and the powerdome hood from the M3. Manhart Racing then adds their own rear wheel arches and rear fascia that makes room for a stainless steel exhaust system sporting quad exhaust tips. Next, the 5.0-liter V10 gets stuffed into the engine bay along with the the gearbox, and a limited slip differential is mounted out back.
Manhart claims a 0-100 kmh time of 4.3 seconds and a top speed of just over 200 mph. You can buy your own turnkey version for a mere €120,000 or Manhart will gladly upgrade your current E91.
Led Zeppelin said it best, "The song remains the same." Especially if you're an American fan of good old station wagons. You're looking at the just-released-to-our-shepherd's-pie-eating-brethren 2010 Subaru Legacy Wagon and we (yet again) can't have it. Wah.
Based entirely on the fifth-generation Legacy (built right in Indiana) the Tourer comes standard with a 2.0-liter diesel boxer mill mated to a six-speed manual transmission. That particular car, the Legacy Tourer 2.0D, can hustle itself to 60 mph in 9.5 seconds, go 120 mph and get around 38 mpg. Not bad. You can also go for the Tourer 2.5i which has a 2.5-liter gasoline boxer engine and a new "Lineartronic" CVT, notable because it's longitudinally mounted behind the boxer engine, which sounds highly efficient. The petrol-powered car is about a second slower to 60 mph and surely costs more while getting worse mileage.
We would like to remind Subaru that they are selling us Americans the Outback (which is a jacked up Legacy Wagon with plastic cladding and a name derived from Paul Hogan), the Forester (another high-riding Legacy derivative with a tall roof that looks exactly like a station wagon) and the Tribeca (the less said here, the better). Oh, and the ImprezaWRX also come as five doors. Hey, the STI is wagon-only. In fact, the only car Subaru sells in the U.S. without a rear hatch is... the Legacy. Hey Subie, you know how you made all-wheel drive standard on every car and that helped to differentiate you from the competition? Why not go all wagon, all the time and see how that sets you apart? Just a suggestion.
Although the U.S. market won't be getting the Audi A5 Sportback, based on the reaction here on the floor in Frankfurt, Audi won't have any problem moving them in Europe. It took us longer to get clear shots of the A5 than any other car at Audi (even the R8 Spyder), and when we returned at the end of the day there were still numerous fascinated Euro types examining the car like it was CSI evidence.
The A5 is so beautiful on its own we weren't sure how the Sportback appellation might distort, but like the BMW 5 Series GT, it makes friends with the eyes in person -- and in fact, it's better. The S5 is the top of the heap model, and it will sport a supercharged, 3.0-liter V6 with 333 hp and 325 lb-ft. Just 5.4 seconds takes you to the 60, but whatever speed you travel, you shouldn't be disappointed with how you look doing it. At least, if you're not in the U.S...
Before we begin, let us say that when it comes to cars, Time Magazine can get it right. Like the time they hired Dan Neil to write The 50 Worst Cars of All Time. That was really good. However, now Time has the "10 Most Exciting Vehicles of 2010," and boy is it really awful. In fact, it's so awful that we're dying to hear what Dan Neil thinks of it. Time's list isn't just regular bad, it's take all your credibility on a given subject and light it on fire bad. Akin to letting Glenn Beck run the civil rights desk. OK, but in car terms how bad? The Volkswagen Golf is one of Time's most exciting vehicles of 2010 – and that's not even the really terrible part. We're making you follow the jump for the really bad stuff.
But first, a little bit of what Time did get right. The Nissan 370Z, Caddy CTS Wagon, Ford SHO and Hyundai Genesis Coupe can all be construed as "exciting." Even the Kia Soul, which kicks off their list, is a pretty nifty vehicle – though how can they include the rectilinear Soul and not the Cube? Probably because they already had a Nissan on the list. Then of course there's the issue of the Soul being pretty much OK, but one of the very most exciting? Kinda maybe sorta, but ultimately we'll just say no.
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In Europe, the humble station wagon holds a big-time slice of the family driver demographic, partly because ridiculous petrol prices make big SUVs and crossovers far too uneconomical. Americans, on the other hand, have a fundamental problem with the station wagon. We're not sure if the wagon is uncool because it was our parents' preferred family vehicle or if the aesthetics of it are just too boxy for our fashion forward culture. The only subset of the American public who has consistently called for more wagons are automotive enthusiasts, though even we seldom seem to vote for the Griswald Family Truckster with our pocketbooks.
Cadillac is all too aware of America's disdain for the wagon, as evidenced by the fact that General Motors' luxury brand has never built a squat two box for the U.S. market. That changes for 2010 as the Wreath and Crest begins production of its 2010 Cadillac CTS Sportwagon. This Caddy begins life with hot-to-trot sheetmetal and the underpinnings of the excellent CTS sedan, but does it have the chutzpah to change our less than flattering opinions about the station wagon? We gave the CTS Sportwagon some time in the Autoblog Garage to see if the first-ever U.S.-market Caddy wagon has the goods to make Americans stop their loathing and get to loading.
Honda has released two highly brushed up photos of the Accord Crosstour, and we can finally see its snout in full view. As the test car spy shots have migrated from altered Accord wagon to final Crosstour, the car has gotten ever funkier. This picture, though, is the funkiest of all.
We have a feeling it is down to the excess effects, but the Crosstour looks a tad bit ungainly. It's almost as if the front and rear of the car are in a different scale – the grille and front wheel look exceedingly large compared to the tail. Since we've already seen the car in the flesh, except for its nose, we're pretty sure it'll be another mellow piece of Honda kit when it's revealed in 35 days.
