In all my in-car entertainment reviews, I usually dive straight into the set-up since it is the essence of these cars. But this black car you see here deserves more than just a cursory mention about its roots.
This is a Saab Turbo X. There are only four units registered in Singapore, making it rarer than the Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari F430 or Porsche 911 GT3.
This Swedish performance sedan is equipped with a torque-laden, turbocharged 2.8-litre V6 engine, which sends its power to all four wheels via a 6-speed automatic transmission.
Putting out 280bhp and 400Nm, it zips through the century dash in just 7.3 seconds and can power to 250km/h if the road (and your courage) permits.
To the untrained eye, it looks like any other Saab 9-3 sedan. And it was the subtlety of the car’s features that drew Pin Leong to it.
This owner knows his cars, from engines to drivetrains. He’s even familiar with the legacy of the Saab’s wheel design. This deep knowledge helped him justify forking out nearly $200,000 for a car that (to the rest of us) depreciates in value faster than a stack of Lehman Brothers mini bonds.
Having spent so much to acquire such an uncommon car, he then shockingly spent an additional $30,000 to satisfy his ears.
To call his car’s sound system a mere audio set-up is like saying Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers is just another painting. After listening to it, I must say that the system ranks as one of the best yet.
This is taking into account the wonderful (and award-winning) Honda Accord estate from Wize Electronics that I reviewed earlier.
The “culprits” behind both fine-sounding cars are the same: Alpine, Rainbow and Sinfoni – names synonymous with car audio and makers of some of the best products that money can buy.
Tasked with putting together this set-up is Hong Guan Auto Sound. Ably led by boss and tuning specialist Damian See, this set-up took a whole week to perfect and the entire shop floor to assemble.
Source duties were taken care of by an Alpine IVA-W502 head unit and an Alpine PXA-H701 multimedia manager.
The front three-way set-up features the combined talents of the Rainbow Platinum CS275.28 component speaker system and a pair of Brax 2.1 hi-mids. The Rainbow midwoofers sit in the modified door mounts, while the Brax hi-mids were installed in the mounts on the corners of the dashboard that were originally meant for the tweeters.
The midwoofers could have fitted into the door mounts without the need for any modification. But See designed and fabricated customised mounts so as to angle the midwoofers inwards for better sound staging.
Likewise, customised brackets were created for the hi-mids for the same purpose, while the tweeters were installed on the A-pillars in custom pods.
Supplying juice to the tweeters and hi-mids is a pair of Sinfoni 90.2 two-channel amps, while another two, more powerful Sinfoni 150.2 two-channel amps are tasked with producing the power for the lower frequencies. One is hooked up to the midwoofers and another is bridged to power up the 12-inch Sinfoni SW1200 subwoofer residing in the boot.
And speaking of the boot, the amps, subwoofer and accessories were all neatly and stylishly installed on a false floorboard and then dressed up with lights for added effect – a Hong Guan specialty.
Now, any singer’s voice is crisp and lifelike, and the accompanying melodies from the musical instruments are accurate. The bass is deep and authoritative, while the mid and high frequencies are produced with crystal clarity.
Pin Leong has been having such a great time in his car that he has commissioned See to do up his other car – another Saab 9-3 (a SportCombi 2.0T). And he tells me that the components to be installed for this Saab cost a whole lot more than those in his Turbo X.
+ HEAD UNIT
Alpine IVA-W502
+ PROCESSOR
Alpine PXA-H701
+ SPEAKERS
Rainbow Platinum CS275.28 component speaker system
Brax 2.1 hi-mid x 2
+ SUBWOOFER
Sinfoni SW1200 12-inch subwoofer
+ AMPLIFIERS
Sinfoni 90.2 two-channel amplifier x 2
Sinfoni 150.2 two-channel amplifier x 2
