It's been a rather busy few months here in Kentucky, and I've finally discovered some good driving roads. The 9-2x spends most of its time on the interstate, packed full of bags, or cross-town packed full of shopping, so I was glad to see that when things get twisty there's plenty to keep me amused. My new test track involves a range of different road surfaces, from silky smooth to the more usual pockmarked tarmac, the details of which make it through the steering while the suspension does its admirable job of soaking up the bumps.

As suspected, the stock Bridgestone RE92as are a terrible choice of tyre. Quite why manufacturers keep making performance cars and then send them out the door with expensive but rubbish rubber is beyond me. Upping the pressures from the recommended 32 psi to 36 psi has seemed to quell a lot of the understeer but they are still lacking in overall grip.

While we're on the subject of niggles, the continued lack of good iPod solutions that don't involve replacing the stock head unit with something ghastly-looking continue, and the Momo alloy gearknob has a propensity to reach truly blistering temperatures when parked in the summer sun.

A certain amount of peer pressure from the car community resulted in an order placed with the excellent people at Zaino for cleaning and polishing supplies. Some people swear by Carnuba waxes, but my spouse convinced me to give these polymer-based protectants a try. After getting some great results with the MX-5, I decided to tackle the Saab. Braving the tropical heat and humidity, I spent a good few hours one evening getting to know the bodywork, and in the process discovering some stone chips and the odd scratch. The Zaino worked its magic on the scratches though, and seems to be doing a great job of adding extra depth to the metallic blue paintwork.

A long overdue honeymoon in France, coinciding with the Monaco GP, saw our 9-2x linger at the airport, waiting for our return. Its substitute on the corniches of the Côte d'Azur was a Renault Laguna. It made for quite an interesting contrast, I can tell you. Why a 1.6 l engine needed traction control was beyond me, but it did have a few nice touches; keycard ignition being one and steering wheel mounted controls for the stereo being another. After a hellish series of flights home, I was convinced that someone must have broken into the car and made a few tweaks. After 10 days driving the soporific Renault, I couldn't believe the amount of effort needed to work the clutch, nor the surge of power when Mr Turbo decides to say hello.

The 9-2x has been with us for just over a year now. To celebrate this momentous occasion another trip to the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis was in order, site of the car's first road trip. With no running-in limitations this time, only spousal disapproval and a healthy fear for John Q. Law kept me from attempting my own personal V-max run on I-74.

While in Indianapolis, I almost began to feel like the 9-2x was common - I encountered four other examples of the breed; a pair of normally aspirated Linears and another pair of Aeros. Perhaps there's something about F1 fans that makes them susceptible to buying badge engineered Subarus.

There's just under 2,000 miles to go until the first major service, due at 15k. I'm rather looking forward to it, helped by the fact that it will be covered under Saab's 2 year/20,000 mile free servicing plan, and the good experiences I've had with Quantrell, our Saab dealer. If I'm really lucky, they'll tell me the tyres are shot to pieces and I simply must upgrade them. I'm practicing that line as an excuse, at any rate…