Saab Sensonic was an...Interesting Idea

Top Gear clip on Sensonic: • Parking a SAAB Sensoni...
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[@ftby59mikeD]

I remember that episode of Top gear, that scenario was not far fetched. But gotta hand it to Saab for thinking outside the (gear)box!😁👍

[@AutoAutopsy]

yep!

[@Rishabh5432]

Hyundai and Kia have launched the same transmission in some of its cars in India. It's known as the iMT (intelligent manual transmission), and they're doing pretty well. I actually own a Kia Sonet with an iMT. They've included the creep function to mitigate problems that the Saab had. Overall it's great for the city.

[@AutoAutopsy]

Oh nice! That’s pretty cool. I would love to drive one to see how it is lol

[@sundaychill1423]

I had 900 se with sensonic. When it worked it was great. later on i added normal gearbox and clutch because spare part was half of the car price. Car was 10 years old when i got it :)

[@Keavlin2]

The spot was fine, looked pretty normal for street parking in the uk.

[@jacobporter4623]

Interesting idea but too early, a first positive step towards dual clutch transmissions however. I also just watched the video, that parking space is pretty standard here in the UK, I'd expect a car to be able to park in that; as does the local council as you can see from the bay markings that is a full sized space.

[@AutoAutopsy]

Great point, thanks!

[@paulhopkuns1118]

I always thought of the SAAB sensonic as a great idea that was too early and perhaps could be seen as a crude forerunner to the dual clutch auto (DSG) as they both give or at least try to deliver the best of both worlds. However both are not without issues and suffered similar but different problems around low speed work on hills or as in the top gear. Video parking. DSG is superior by far as one does not need to work the gear leaver to change gears as the car decides when to change unless you have paddle shifts to use when the desire strikes. Modern dual clutch autos have really advanced the genre and as I understand it solved the issue where drivers held the car in position or creeped forward on a hill by use of the gas pedal as one can with a torque converter auto. However with a DSG they did this manoeuvre and without realising it they were slipping the clutch and shortening the clutch life.

[@AutoAutopsy]

yeah! well said!

[@72polara]

Seems like the Fluid Drive in my 74 year old DeSoto is a better setup. Shifting while driving is done by working the gas pedal only, and parallel parking is possible.

[@AutoAutopsy]

interesting

[@LolLol-oo7nm]

Great video!

[@AutoAutopsy]

Thanks!

[@yegorsolin4044]

Fancy gearbox. Cool video! 👍🏻

[@AutoAutopsy]

Thanks! 👍

[@cadespencer6320]

We need more semi automatic transmissions

[@xXYannuschXx]

The fact they decided to not have any creep function is what killed this idea. In my i30N I can disable the creep function for the sport+ mode (N mode) and it made me realize how bad an idea it is to not have any creep ability.

[@AutoAutopsy]

definitely odd

[@Share_li]

I would actually find it interesting to drive a Sensonic Saab once :)

[@AutoAutopsy]

key word, once! lol

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

You can see in the clip the rear car is on the saab's parking spot. But the point is obviously valid, seeing the market acceptance of the gearbox.

[@lorddiablo8575]

This kind of device already in the industry more than 20 years ago and I first saw it was in a double decker bus ( imported from England ) in Hong Kong in which when the drive shift gear, he just shift with the stick and no need to step on the clutch pedal. The bus driver told me that its a kind of "Semi-Automatic" ..... and that was my first experience with Sensonic of the similar kind. And about 5 years ago, I visited Hong Kong again, I also saw the similar device on a manual transmission taxi. The taxi driver also told me the same as the bus driver ..... This device brings the comfort of without stepping on the clutch to shift gears while enjoying the fun of driving a manual transmission car. Likewise, my 2006 Saab 9-3 has the similar feature .... you just push the shift stick up or down to higher or lower gear while driving !

[@AutoAutopsy]

Hmmm that’s a bit different I think haha. That’s just a manual mode in an automatic car! 😁 I did not know the busses had that though. Cool

[@slutkiller]

the bus driver was most likely just floating gears as big trucks usually dont have synchros

[@deldia]

I think you’re referring to what’s called a “pre-selector”

[@alberto-1999]

Interesting information.

[@AutoAutopsy]

👍🏼

[@Raaaphael]

The 1996 Renault Twingo easy had a similar gearbox.

[@AutoAutopsy]

oh nice! i didn't know

[@ronhernandez3629]

I got to drive the 900 Sensonic at a SAAB owners convention and it was an interesting experience. Obviously it never was sold in the US….

[@AutoAutopsy]

wow! I have never seen one in person. that's cool

[@JoseLgamer05]

They had a great idea, but it was ahead of its time, and the tech to make it work as it should just wasn’t available. If they could get it to work properly in all scenarios it would have been amazing.

[@roiq5263]

Doesn't a car with sequential gearbox have the same problem with parking?

[@AutoAutopsy]

I guess it depends

[@stormrider01]

Saab didn´t figure out that every automatic gearbox with torque convertor also has a manual mode by moving the gear shifter to the right or to the left for + or -. It was too complicated for them so they developed a new gearbox LMAO!

[@Lamster66]

I almost bought one LOL!

[@AutoAutopsy]

haha wow!

[@tomitoikka367]

I had one. A disaster which was later transformed to manual.

[@AutoAutopsy]

oof :(

[@AxnerSaab]

I saw one of these for sale not too long ago after watching the Top Gear clip, I thought that it was funny. Great idea but not done right

[@AutoAutopsy]

Agreed!

[@ThePrissy11]

Strange transmission. RIP Cannon. Nice furry microphone. 😊

[@AutoAutopsy]

haha, thanks

[@goose4150]

God I wish we had more of these. Great concept but still too rudimentary to keep on developing it. Shame

[@cebruthius]

All the joy of driving a manual gearbox is in the left foot. I don't get the point.

[@AutoAutopsy]

is the joy not also in changing the gears? lol

[@cebruthius]

@@AutoAutopsy 't is but a minor detail compared to that delicious rumble in the left foot

[@klaspeppar5619]

If I will find myself in the position were I could make my a particular dream of mine reality and provided that the environmentalist doomsday cult has gotten internal combustion engines completely banned, I would kind of bring back Sensonic, but in a very different and more useful way. I have A sh** load of great, well thought out ideas, which I will have to keep quiet about, which kind of drives me mad, which leads to even more ideas… One of my dreams is to start my own shop/tuning company, focusing on “making cars go fast” and “accessibility” (adapting cars so the disabled can drive them). And that whole thing would eventually evolve in to building my own cars.

[@AutoAutopsy]

that's a cool idea!

[@enigmazero37564]

I’d stay away from Saab!

[@vwestlife]

Top Gear treated Sensonic about as fairly as they treated the Reliant Robin. I wouldn't be surprised if they had purposely modified it to act worse than it would in real life. Their excuse is that they're an entertainment program, not a news/journalism program.

[@AutoAutopsy]

That’s fair, but it definitely had its flaws

[@misterrocks3035]

In the truck and bus world, Scania released the OptiCruise some time in the mid 1990s, so I wonder if Saab wasn't trying to replicate that gearbox with the Sensonic (the OptiCruise I know of being almost fully automatic, aside from the need to use a clutch to start off - this might have changed on newer generations). The OptiCruise has gone on to be quite successful, whereas Saab discontinued the Sensonic. It seems like VW has persisted with the DSG, whereas Ford landed themselves in very hot water with the Powershift; perhaps automated-manuals are just too sensitive for the average driver, who found their license in a cereal box. Fast forward another decade or so and we have the likes of Ford's PowerShift DCT come on scene. I drove a friend's 2011 Focus on a number of occasions while still quite new; it often felt like someone was deliberately riding or slipping the clutch under gentle acceleration. Driving slowly in a multi-level carpark, it would shudder, slip and require at least a fast idle before it would move. Under harder acceleration from a stop it would bunny-hop like someone's first drive in a manual. It ultimately met the same fate as so many other PowerShift Focuses ... junked at low mileage because the transmission failed, and repair cost was too high. So while Top Gear's credibility was often tenuous, at best, I think their demonstration at least borders on believable, when compared to other offerings in the same decade like Alfa's Selespeed - a friend has a 156 with one, and while their specialist describes it as "one of the best he's driven", they still don't think it shifts as well as a driver experienced with a traditional manual.

[@alexandredionisio9280]

....... In other words useless.

[@AutoAutopsy]

oof lol