[20Ted]

More on the facelifted 9-5 (rehashed info posted before, but with the picture...): "Jay Spenchian, head of Saab's U.S. operations, said the company is preparing a midcycle face-lift of the current 9-5. The updates, which include a new grille, headlamps, taillamps and bumpers, as well as a redesigned ****pit and instrument panel, are expected to appear later this year on the 2006 model." (InsideLine, 6/13/2005)

 

[apzer09]

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=106048

They mentioned it looked like most of the sheetmetal had stayed the same, but probably only the doors haven't changed, which is exactly what another report said a while back. Now we have to take a peak at the interior :cheesy:

 

[SaabKen]

Are those headlights blurred by Hans himself ? :lol:

 

[Swade]

Without that Saab treatment on the grille it looks a little 'Camry' to me.

 

[wyoming saab]

yeah I agree that the grill doesn't seem totally saabish, but that is still a very attractive car.

 

[xalfa]

It's a Subaru!! :cheesy:

 

[Raven18940]

How did they screw it up, it was already pretty. :roll:

 

[belfastcarlsson]

I hope that is a cleverly discguised mule, fo it sure is no improvement over what we have!!!!


I agree it is looking a tad eastern!!

Please let this be a joke.

 

[Hornet11586]

Yeah. What is up with that grill? You can't do that, its not Saab. I'll give GM the 9-2X and 9-7X, but dont mess with the 9-5, its already a nice car

 

[20Ted]

It's got to be disguised - the camera phone shots of the 9-5 from the production line show a different front end - more 9-X/9-3X-ish (hopefully!)...

 

[si_90002.3t-97]

That picture doesn’t look right to me, the lights are a bit too blurred and the bottom grill looks a little odd to me. :roll:

It's not nice though!

 

[saabfan]

I really think that's a poor photoshop job. Why would Saab stray from the three hole grille? I could be wrong, but I really don't think that's it. Does anyone else see what looks to be poor clone tooling in the grass to the right of the hood? And the headlights seem to be of different proportions.

 

[fabric]

If this is a test mule, WTF are they testing? I thought the engines and chassis were the same until the full redisgn? They seriously designed an "mule" front end for a car that's only getting... a new front end? Bizarre. Normally test mules are for something that's actually new, and to attempt to keep the design under wraps. A freshened 9-5 is hardly the next big buzz.

 

[aeropilot]

Doesn't appear to be a test mule or disguised. That front end is exactly as per the 'in factory' spies shots that appeared a while ago.

Note also it's right hand drive......

 

[SaabKen]

Gasp, I can't believe I missed this line Did y'all see it ?!? How likely is this ? Will it be the V6 2.8T of the 9-3 Aero, but maybe tuned to the original plan of 280bhp ?


http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=106048#

"Spy photos taken in Europe show the revised 9-5 will carry over much of its existing sheet metal. In the U.S., the top engine is expected to be a turbocharged V6, while a new diesel is earmarked exclusively for European customers."

 

[apzer09]

That's conflicting with some other GM literature that said there would be only one form of the 9-5 sedan and wagon with the 2.3HOT tuned to 260 hp. The V6 would be nice though, but I think the 9-5 is a little more prone to Viggen-grade torque steer than the 9-3SS. People paying close to 50 grand for it won't like that.

 

[SaabKen]

That's true, according to early reports of the 9-3 Aero the torque steer appears to be all but exorcised. Despite a much broader and "gentler" torque curve of the V6T, the 9-5, if it'll come with it, may not be able to tame the torque steer as effectively.

Having said that, just having a new V6T (and not the pathetic 3.0L V6 LPT of yore) in the 9-5 may draw in some customers who would have been walking into the other showrooms where they keep the 5-series, A6, TL, S80 and GS300

 

[saabfan]

That front end is exactly as per the 'in factory' spies shots that appeared a while ago.

You're right... it is the same. Here's the thread for reference:

http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48360&highlight=2006

If it's not disguised why do the headlights look so funny? That grille is pretty bad, in my opinion, and not nearly as aggressive as the 9x concept:

I'm confused because with the 9-2X, 9-3 SportHatch concept, and 9-7X the three hole grille has gotten progressively larger with the center section swooping down more. Whatever they've done for the 2006 9-5 is a step backwards in terms of aggressiveness and certainly doesn't mimic the 9x concept's three hole grille with integrated lights.

 

[carllevine]

As far as I can tell, Saab will be using a version of the 9x's front treatment on this 9-5 revision. If you saw the spyshots from the assembly line, you can clearly see chrome treatments around the headlamp mimicking the style. I took the spy photo that was posted recently and did a quick rework. The headlights are blurrier (sorry about that), but the grille center is more saab esque and those odd horizontal bars in the middle of the bumper have been removed to reveal what is close to the 9x's lower spoiler.

Enjoy!

Carl
99 9-5 SE

You're right... it is the same. Here's the thread for reference:

http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48360&highlight=2006

If it's not disguised why do the headlights look so funny? That grille is pretty bad, in my opinion, and not nearly as aggressive as the 9x concept:

I'm confused because with the 9-2X, 9-3 SportHatch concept, and 9-7X the three hole grille has gotten progressively larger with the center section swooping down more. Whatever they've done for the 2006 9-5 is a step backwards in terms of aggressiveness and certainly doesn't mimic the 9x concept's three hole grille with integrated lights.

 

[aeropilot]

As far as I can tell, Saab will be using a version of the 9x's front treatment on this 9-5 revision.

Not according to those 'in-factory' spies shots they arn't.

Compare this

To this

The other thing not quite right with the second photo is the fact that the grille area and lower grille areas are just too blackedout rather than seeing any definition of slats as can just be seen the first photo. I'm begining to think the second photo is a photoshop job to make a car look like the spy shot in the first photo...???