What we have here is the Chevrolet TrailBlazer SS wearing Saab nomenclature. What we don’t have here is a Saab. The TrailBlazer SS is arguably the best of the General Motors SUVs using the GMT360 architecture, but it is simply and emphatically not the starting place for the next great thing from Saab. If GM hasn’t learned the difference between Saabs and light-duty trucks by now, it is never going to learn, and Saab is doomed.

The sad part is that—as a reasonably priced response to the Porsche Cayenne and the VW Touareg—the six-liter Saab 9-7X Aero is probably viable, but we haven’t heard of any Saab dealerships swamped by customers looking for an SUV with those attributes. The 9-7X is motivated by the 390-horsepower LS2 small-block engine, which delivers almost 400 pound-feet of torque, and can reportedly propel the faux Swede from 0-60 in 5.5 seconds.

ABS and automatic all-wheel drive are standard, as is GM’s StabiliTrak electronic stability control. A Torsen center differential apportions power between the front and rear wheels as the tractive situation demands. Virtually all suspension and brake componentry is upgraded to handle the startling performance.

CLICK HERE to continue reading this review of the 2008 Saab 9-7X Aero. 

Magazine Issue: Winding Road Issue 29