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Video: 2011 Saab 9-4X

02:44 min
By Cars.com Editors
November 18, 2010

About the video

From the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, Cars.com's Kelsey Mays takes a look at the 2012 Saab 9-4X.

Transcript

<v Announcer>Cars.com Auto Review. (dramatic music) Hi, I'm Kelsey Mays for Cars.com. Not long ago, Swedish car company Saab was closer to extinction than Lindsay Lohan's career. But they're back now and they've got the new 9-4X here to prove it.
This is Saab's small crossover, and it joins the Saab 9-5 sedan as sort of the automakers renewed lineup. We're here at the LA Auto Show. We'll check this out and talk about how it might drive. The 9-4X shares underpinnings with the Cadillac SRX, which was redesigned not too long ago. They've actually managed to kinda get away from the SRX quite a bit in terms of styling. Except for this lower cladding here, it's kinda this gray plastic, SRX kinda has the same thing. It might be functional on a crossover, but I think for a premium vehicle, it looks a little bit downmarket. Traditional Saab grill here looks similar to the one on the 9-5. It's got these openings here to each side and it kinda dives down in the middle. The headlights have this blue tint, now, Saab calls that their kind of ice-block theme. Other Saab vehicles supposedly have blue tinted headlights as well. In the rear there's kind of a connecting strip that's going between the tail lights, and it says Saab right in the middle, kind of a cool effect there. Same thing with the blacked out A-pillars, they give the windshield a wraparound sort of look. Anyone who's been in the 9-5 should find this interior pretty familiar. There's a single sort of hood that comes over the gauges, as well as the center control panel here. A lot of buttons in the center, especially given the empty space around them. Might take a little bit of time to kinda learn your way around, but once you do, it shouldn't be a big deal. Nice that there's a couple areas here to store stuff. And the center console here, it's pretty deep, decent amount of room there as well. Cargo area is a decent size, you fold the seats down, there's a little over 60 cubic feet of cargo volume. Pretty good there, not as much as cars like the Lexus RX 350. There's an available feature here, this is kind of a gate here and as it comes together, it actually telescopes in. So you can kind of figure out where you want your cargo, put the gate accordingly. Also nice to see that there's a couple of different spots here to keep the bumpers from getting scuffed up. The SRX isn't the greatest pedigree to start from. It's kind of a sloppy handler in terms of how fun it is to drive. But Saab says that they've done a lot of work to the suspension and steering tuning to sort of separate the 9-4X from its SRX sibling. Most trim levels will have a three liter V6 from General Motors, kinda pokey in the SRX, but there is an optional turbo-charged V6, like also in that vehicle. Definitely worth checking out when the 9-4X goes on sale in May 2011. <v Announcer>For more car related news go to Cars.com or our blog, KickingTires.net.

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