as a luxury marque. This meant that the NG900 would be positioned, and priced, above the Opel Vectra, with which it shared its chassis platform. It would also make the bottom-of-the-range 900i more expensive than the Vectra. This led to cost-reduction measures for the 900i. The 900i would lose its rear-window wiper, the exclusive Saab Information Display, and would utilize a different instrument layout with a mechanical odometer instead of a digital one; first versions were even lacking tachometer. The NG900i would also lose its rear spoiler. Some 900i models were later equipped with a standard instrument cluster and the basic SID. The 900i was only available in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan as a three-door or a five-door with a choice of a 2.0 or 2.3 L engine. It did not sell very well in the UK and Australia, where the S and SE models were popular with Saab drivers. It was, however, popular as a cheaper alternative to the S and SE models. Special models and limited editions Below are few special limited versions of NG900 derived from 900 SE 2.0 Turbo with that are specific to some countries, as some local dealer produced them, or specific to the tuner that made them when ordered by dealers or Saab itself. None of them is recognizable by the VIN, all are decoded as a standard 900 SE. R900 1996 - Germany. R900 was the first special model of NG900, produced as a civil version of Group A race car for SAAB Germany by a tuner Uli Weinmann in Upper Franconia as an upgraded 900 SE Coupe. It was limited to 200 pieces, with some special features. In the interior, front seats only were replaced by foldable fully leather Recaro sport seats (well known as optional equipment from Ford Cosworth and Turbo models), dashboard fascia was covered by carbon fiber and sporty metal pedals were added. The exterior was painted pearl black metallic with R900 decals on the rear hatch, but also front fenders above turn signal lights. Color-coded mirror covers and front/rear spoilers by Zender were added, which later found their way to other limited editions and the Talladega version as a standard. The suspension was lowered by 30 mm for exceptional handling, and 3-inch diameter stainless steel exhaust was added to provide some sporty sound. 6-spoke 17" ATS Type 10 wheels in matte silver used for NG900