2005 GP Moto Saab 9-2X

Need a practical family car that hauls butt? Check out GP Moto's Stage 4 package for the Saab 9-2X. Looking to increase sales, Saab released the 9-2X--effectively a Subaru WRX wagon with a sportier nose and trim and an upgraded cabin. This Saabaru offers the fun and performance kick of the WRX in a more refined looking/feeling package.

Beneath the GP Moto's 9-2X is a warmed-over 2.0-liter H-4 that produces 320 horsepower--a 93-horse bump over stock. Thrust comes by way of a K&N-filtered short-ram inlet system that feeds to an oversize IHI VF-34 ball-bearing turbocharger. A stock STi intercooler, larger than the WRX intercooler, is used to better cool the 18psi inlet charge before meeting up with fuel delivered by a high-output 255-liter-per-hour fuel pump. Timing and air/fuel ratios are kept in check via a PNP Unichip installed in the computer. A stainless-steel one-piece header mates to a stainless-steel, single 3.0-inch exhaust system replete with a high-flow catalytic converter.

At the track, the docile-looking GP 9-2X proved vicious--in a good way. Revving the F-4 engine to 5500 rpm and dumping the clutch produced a four-wheel burnout that sent the wagon off with a squall. Snapping through the gears and winding the 2.0-liter to its 7000-rpm redline delivered a 13.0-second quarter-mile time--0.3 second quicker than an STi's.

Straight-line blasts are fun, but sportwagons are about corners, too. The 9-2X's chassis has been upgraded with Tokico D-spec extra-wide-range-adjustable struts teamed with Vogtland's 45-percent-stiffer coil springs (cutting ride height by 1.25 inches). IPD adjustable, 7/8-inch-diameter anti-roll bars also are added. The lowered look is cool, but the rear rides lower than the front, which is funky at best.