For the 900 Turbo Fans... TurboX Pricing Announced, $33-35K

[YSSMAN]

Shows how different our markets are. In the UK the jetta is a failure and the passat sales are so so. The passat sells well in germany though. Golfs are evrywhere all over europe.

Clarkson never quite understood why so many Americans like the Jetta, but its true. Generally speaking, sedans always sell better than their hatchback or estate variants, and thusly the reason why the Jetta is still around. Although, I have noticed that while the Jetta is on sale in Europe in its various iterations, they change the names around a bit to play it off as a Golf.

...Tisk, tisk, VW...

I love my Jetta to death (as a matter of fact, its signed up for surgery next week for front suspension issues), and I do plan to replace it with another... Probably with a VR6 though.

 

[YSSMAN]

Update! Pricing Is Here!

Here's a PSA for the Saab aficionados among our UK-based readers. We now know what you'll have to pony up to roll in one of the 500 Saab Turbo X's earmarked for your market. Set to debut in England the the Top Gear boys' MPH show, the Turbo X will start at £32,495 and go up from there. As you already know, the Turbo X delivers 280 HP / 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) from its 2.8L V6 turbo mill, and XWD is standard equipment. Given its limited nature, those 500 cars would likely have been snapped up irrespective of price. In addition to the pricing news, we now have 3 new shots of the car in its spiffy wagon form. Enjoy, and happy shopping.

Should we play Brad's pricing game? We'll compare prices between the UK and the US to get a good idea for where they should start:

UK 2.0T: £25,995
UK TurboX: £32,495

A 21% price increase over the base model

US 2.0T: $27,640

Apply 21% increase

US TurboX: $33,445

Not bad for what should be an impressive performer at a very decent price!

 

[Tornado]

That is just about perfect, I'd say. Right in line with the competition.

 

[Philly]

Right around the C300 and undercutting the A4 3.2 and right on top of the 328.

Now the only thing left to see is if it can keep up when the twisties hit.

 

[YSSMAN]

My guess is that the suspension should be sorted out well enough, but that being said, there really is only so much that can be done with the Epsilon I chassis. Its getting on in age, and its starting to show. We're still nearly three years out on the Epsilon II 9-3, and my guess is that it would have a far easier time dealing with the other kids than this one.

 

[Philly]

My guess is that the suspension should be sorted out well enough, but that being said, there really is only so much that can be done with the Epsilon I chassis. Its getting on in age, and its starting to show. We're still nearly three years out on the Epsilon II 9-3, and my guess is that it would have a far easier time dealing with the other kids than this one.

Anything on RWD? If Saab really wants to compete with the Big Three, they are probably going to need that. And that is probably this car's biggest downfall.

 

[Tornado]

My guess is that the suspension should be sorted out well enough, but that being said, there really is only so much that can be done with the Epsilon I chassis. Its getting on in age, and its starting to show.

At the same time, no other Epsilon had an AWD system in it, let alone with an active rear differential. Whether it is BMW-beating is up in the air (I believe early reports said it was quite close based on non-direct comparisons), but at the very least it should be very competitive.

 

[YSSMAN]

Anything on RWD? If Saab really wants to compete with the Big Three, they are probably going to need that. And that is probably this car's biggest downfall.

The only chance of Saab getting rear-wheel-drive any time soon would be if they decided to build the Sonett Roadster or did something with the Alpha chassis sometime after 2011. That, I'm guessing, isn't likely to happen. Saab may in fact end up looking very much like Audi in the very near future, most of their vehicles being front or all-wheel-drive.

 

[Jim Prower]

Well, Saab's been FF for most of their existance, right? Why change now? the original Sonnet was a front-driver. with a two-stroke. a guy who sold onions a the state fair used to have one he'd take every year. I think he changed to a Saab Sedan a couple years ago.