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A Saab atop a Subaru heats things up

Saab was feeling left out in the cold.

And in New England, where the front-wheel-drive Saab has long been a staple of slick, subzero, snowy driving, the question was: ”And the problem with that is?”

Alas, ”in the cold ” referred to chilled sales in a hot segment: premiere sport compacts, dominated these days by Subaru and about to be or in the midst of an invasion from BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo.

What to do if you are a small company, based in Sweden, where the launch of a premium, all-wheel-drive, performance subcompact would probably take at least five years?

Turn to your owner, General Motors, and ask for a fast ramp-up that is turborcharged and eats slippery landscape like a wolverine clawing up a clay bank. So GM, which owns Saab and has a heavy hand in Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries, owner of Subaru, came through. They gave us the 2005 Saab 9-2X — a Saab atop a Subaru WRX — and now you’re cooking.

And cooking was what my son, Jake, and I were doing a couple of weekends ago when, for a brief half-hour, we had the Mount Washington Auto Road — eight miles of fright — virtually all to ourselves.

Suffice to say, the subtle Saab drove like a sizzling Subaru.

Call it the Saabaru (as others have done), and accept that you get WRX performance frosted with a fine Saab exterior and an upgraded interior.

On the tortuous Auto Road, sometimes one lane wide, sometimes pavement, sometimes washboard dirt, often featuring drops to the right that would mean multiple rocky rollovers should you leave the road, it was a wonderfully supple, reliant car.

Its suspension has been tweaked for a less harsh ride than the WRX, yet it gives up nothing in performance. Steering was precise, acceleration relatively abrupt. (Though I did wish at the apex of some corners that the turbo would sing faster than it did). And the all-wheel-drive system gave the car a tactile sense of stability.

The 9-2X rides on and is powered by virtually the same system as the WRX.

At its heart beats a turbocharged, intercooled, flat-4 engine that produces 227 horsepower. That used to be a lot in a small car. (And it still is, until you realize 300 horsepower has been breached.)

The result is a snappy Saab with grip to spare. Amazingly, it’s also a very quiet car. And that, too, is part of Saab’s approach as it tries to broaden its base — and that may be a matter of survival.

In fact, these Saabarus, built in Japan, are emblematic of what Bob Lutz, GM’s honcho, has called GM’s recognition that Saabs don’t necessarily have to be built in Sweden. That’s enough to make a Saabophile reach for another cup of steaming Glogg with an Aquaqvit chaser.

So here comes a Saab from the island of Japan. It’s got a Subaru engine, a Mitsubishi turbocharger, a five-speed manual (four-speed automat ic optional) transmission, yet manages to imbue some Saab solidity and style.

It is a quieter, less rambunctious car than the WRX. Its interior appointments are less plastic, more Swedish weave, metal, and leather.

It arrives in two forms: the Aero, as tested at around $27,000 for starters, and the Linear, which rides atop the Subaru Impreza architecture and starts at about $23,000.

So why veer east (or is that west from Sweden?) from the land of frozen roads in order to have all-wheel-drive?

Saab, said Colin Price, communications manager, recently launched the 9-3 (a fine upgrade in my book), but that left out a potential core audience.

It was not a hatch (Saabophiles moaned about the loss of the hatchback), and Saab really needed to get into the all-wheel-drive, performance segment.

”What’s the best way for us to do this and do it quickly?” Price said that Saab officials asked themselves. ”Where can we go within th GM corporate alliance?” was another question.

For both answers, Saab looked east.

Saab is looking, Price said, for customers who might flirt with Subaru but are ”willing to pay a little extra for the brand value.”

And if a quieter car, a bit better fitted car, a touch more luxurious car with the romp and stomp of the WRX is on your menu — for a few thousand dollars more — then a 9-2X should be on your test-drive list.

2005 Saab 9-2X Aero
MSRP base price: $26,950
Horsepower: 227
Torque: 217 lb.-ft.
Wheelbase: 99.4 inches
Overall length: 175.6 inches
Width: 66.7 inches
Height: 57.7 inches
Curb weight: 3,179 lbs.
Seating: 5 passengers
Fuel economy: Not determined
Source: Cars.com