Swedish automaker Saab will be showing its latest addition to the 9-3 family, the 9-3X, at the Geneva auto show next month. Essentially a lifted and beefed-up version of the existing 9-3 SportCombi XWD, the 9-3X is very similar to Audi’s Euro-only A6 Allroad Quattro, the Subaru Outback, and the Volvo XC70 in offering an all-terrain-ish version of an existing model.
Sporting a 1.4-inch raise in suspension height, the 9-3X also features the automaker’s new XWD all-wheel-drive system—a technology that debuted last year in the limited-production Turbo X and is now available across the 9-3 lineup. Updated front and rear bumpers, wheel arches, and rocker panels all get a grained texture to better protect against dirt and scratches, and the exterior is completed with fog lights, twin tailpipes, a roof rack, and 17-inch aluminum wheels—all of which are standard. The interior gets a minor makeover by way of metallic finishes on the door trim, glove box, and shifter surround.
The 9-3X will use the same turbocharged 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder turbocharged engine as seen across the Saab lineup, making 210 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque and mated to either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission. Saab says the 9-3X will be brought to the U.S. for the 2010 model year, and although no official pricing has been announced as of yet, a sticker somewhere in the neighborhood of $45,000 wouldn’t be surprising.
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