Friday, November 03, 2006

The future of the Saab 9-5

The Saab 9-5 is the automotive equivalent of an octogenarian. Most manufacturers debut a revised model every four years sometimes three sometimes five but the 9-5 has been around for over eight years now and it shows.

The UK's Car Magazine cobbled together what facts are already known and combined them with some insider knowledge to come up with a few renderings of the future of the 9-5. The article itself isn't just pure stylist speculation but gives a rough idea of both the looks and underpinnings of Saab's new mid-size sedan.

The styling takes cues from the 9X concept car from this year's Geneva show and is clearly trying to get some of that coupe-meets-sedan cred that Mercedes made so popular with the CLS. As for mechanicals you can expect that the new 9-5 will be based off GM's Epsilon II platform that currently underpin both the Opel/Saturn side of things. Although the platform itself will likey undergo some serious revisions namely to the suspension and steering components before being employed into the new Saab.

Naturally FWD will be the order of the day but AWD will be an option as will the choice of either a common rail diesel V6 or turbo'd V6 that is expected to put out over 350 HP.

[Source: Car Magazine]

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