Some good news from the US, to follow on from the 2011 Top Safety Pick awards previously given to these vehicles…..
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Trollhättan, Sweden: The Saab 9-4X crossover and the Saab 9-5 Sedan have both earned a ‘Top Safety Pick’ for 2012, the highest rating for crashworthiness awarded by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the United States for a second consecutive year.
“Saab Automobile prides itself on its ability to create vehicles which focus on the safety of the driver and its passengers in real-life situations,” said Per Lenhoff, Head of Safety Development at Saab Automobile. “It is rewarding to be recognized by IIHS for a Top Safety Pick award for two of our newest products.”
Saab’s Real-Life Safety philosophy is based on the fact that no two collisions are ever the same. Saab safety engineers continuously study how Saab cars behave in real collisions on public roads. The results of these studies are the basis for continued development of both design and safety solutions in cars as well as Saab’s in-house crash testing methods.
IIHS (www.iihs.org) is a research and communications organization funded by auto insurers in the US. The test procedures include front impact (offset) and side impact crashes. Seat/head restraints are also tested in a simulated rear-end impact to assess the mitigation of whiplash injuries and the roof structure is tested to assess a vehicle rollover crash.
Performance is rated as ’Good’, ’Acceptable’, ’Marginal’ or ’Poor’ in each of the tests and to achieve a ’Top Safety Pick’ award, cars must achieve the highest rating in all four procedures and should also be fitted with ESP®.
Earlier this year, the Saab 9-4X and the Saab 9-5 both earned a Top Safety Pick for 2011.
This is not the first time this guide has been published. Perhaps we need to update it?
It’s still good advice and good reading, though, for those settling into the northern winter. Make sure that both you and your Saab are ready to take on what Mother Nature throws at you. Your Saab is designed for these conditions and should handle them well, but you still need to pay attention to its condition and make your preparations.
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Winter Driving – an A to Z Guide from Saab
For drivers and their vehicles alike, winter is the most testing time of the year. Difficult driving conditions greatly increase the risk of an accident and even routine journeys can become hazardous experiences. As a result, it seems imperative to drive carefully during the winter. The fact remains that accidents can still occur due to the negligence or irresponsibility of other drivers. When in such a situation, it is recommended that you contact an auto accident lawyer Las Vegas (or wherever you live) so that you can file a lawsuit against the driver and receive compensation.
Scandinavian winters are among the most severe in Europe and place extreme demands on the abilities of cars and their drivers to perform reliably and safely at all times. For those who wish to escape the winter chills and would rather go dune-riding (those interested may click to see sandrail for sale), safety tips must still be followed! Remember though, safe driving for desert and summer roads is different from those for winter roads. Saab Automobile of Sweden is used to designing and building cars for extreme winter conditions and here Chief Test Engineer Torbjörn Christensson gives a seasonal A to Z guide of simple “do’s” and “don’ts” that will be useful to all car drivers.
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A Anti-freeze is the engine’s first line of defence against sub-zero conditions. But how often do you check it? For it to remain effective, the recommended strength must be at least 50%. Topping up your coolant with water only, for example, will gradually dilute the mixture. To be sure of maximum protection, do ensure the anti-freeze is checked each year, regardless of mileage, as part of the car’s service.
B
Black ice. Whilst ice and snow are obvious hazards, black ice is an almost invisible threat, especially during the onset of freezing temperatures. Beware when driving round sheltered bends or corners which are shaded from the sun, because this is where black ice is most likely to catch out the unsuspecting. A tell-tale clue you are on black ice is when all goes quiet in the car and you cannot hear any tire noise. Do not brake or make any sudden steering inputs but do ease off the accelerator and proceed slowly and smoothly.
C
Car batteries are put to a severe test in winter due to the extra demands of running heating fans and lights. Most are now maintenance-free but do have the voltage checked, especially if the car is repeatedly used for short journeys. Consider charging the battery overnight or try to plan a longer run occasionally.
Another piece of great product news is out today. Safety is, of course, one of our brand pillars so it’s great to see our newest vehicle, the Saab 9-4x, fitting in with the family ethos. – SW
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The new Saab 9-4X crossover has earned ‘Top Safety Pick’, the highest rating for crashworthiness awarded by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the United States. Only three weeks ago, the Saab 9-5 Sedan received the same accolade.
“To achieve two Top Safety Picks in three weeks is, of course, extremely gratifying,” says Per Lenhoff, Head of Safety Development at Saab Automobile. “Our main priority is always the protection of real people in real accidents, but the IIHS tests are a valuable guide for consumers and it is important for us to achieve good results.”
IIHS is a research and communications organization funded by auto insurers in the US. The test procedures include front impact (offset) and side impact crashes. Seat/head restraints are also tested in a simulated rear-end impact to assess protection against whiplash injuries and the roof structure is tested to assess vehicle rollover protection.
Performance is rated as ’Good’, ’Acceptable’, ’Marginal’ or ’Poor’ in each of the tests and to achieve the ’Top Safety Pick’ award, cars must achieve the highest rating in all four procedures and should also be fitted with ESP®.
The Saab 9-5 Sedan has earned the highest rating for crashworthiness in the United States. The “Top Safety Pick” is awarded by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS, www.iihs.org), a research and communications organization funded by auto insurers in the US.
IIHS performs full tests for front impact (offset) and side impact crashes. Seat/head restraints also undergo a simulated rear impact conducted on a sled to assess protection against whiplash injuries and the roof structure tested to assess vehicle rollover protection.
Vehicles are rated as “Good”, “Acceptable”, “Marginal” or “Poor” in the various categories. To receive the “Top Safety Pick” award, cars must achieve the highest rating in all four categories and should also be fitted with ESP®.
“We are very pleased with the 9-5’s performance. IIHS is an independent body and the results of their tests are easily accessible and objective information for car buyers. It is therefore important for us to achieve good results in this type of testing,” says Per Lenhoff, Head of Safety Development at Saab Automobile.
“Our main priority, however, will always be to protect real people in real accidents, not just to do well in crash tests. It’s the core of our Real-Life Safety philosophy,” continues Per Lenhoff.
Saab’s Real-Life Safety philosophy is based on the fact that no collision is ever the same. Saab safety engineers continuously study how Saab cars behave in real collisions on public roads. The results of these studies are the basis for continued development of both design and safety solutions in cars as well as of Saab’s in-house crash testing methods.
The Saab 9-5 Sedan has already received the highest rating, five stars, in the crash tests conducted by the European New Car Assessment Programme, EuroNCAP
It’s time for video #2 in our special “Inside Saab” series of videos.
A few weeks ago we brought you a ‘live’ crash test of a Saab 9-5 SportCombi. You got to see and hear what a crash test looks like without all the slo-mo images and with full sound, which is a pretty rare insight. Last week you got to meet one of our crash test dummies. It was a special look at what is a much more sophisticated piece of equipment than many people realise. Today, we tie these together and take a look at the film and lighting systems used for crash test videos.
Light is a key element of any form of photography or videography. When you’re filming at 1,000 frames per second, adequate lighting is crucial in order to ensure that the impact of the test can be properly assessed after the event.
As you’ll see below, Saab’s crash test facility has a lighting system that was built in consultation with experts in the field from Hollywood. It’s a system that is unique to Saab and we like to make best use of it.
Last week, we found the film from one of these tests. It’s from August 1967, and involves a frontal impact test performed on a Saab 96 at a speed of 50 km/h. It’s enjoyable both from a technical point of view, as well as being a window back in time into how things looked and worked back in the late 1960’s. The track they use today for crash testing at Saab is still in the same location, though it’s now much more sophisticated – and indoors 🙂
There is no audio.
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I’m not sure I would have wanted to be the crash test dummy used in that test – both seat and seatbelt technology has come a long way since that time. I have to say, however, that the passenger compartment of the 96 help up remarkably well from the impact, much better than many other cars from this earlier era would have done.
An addendum to recent stories about the genesis of the Saab Convertible. This came in from Ed Iawanicki, a former employee of Saab in the USA back when the convertible was launched.
….I had to pick the car up from a photography studio in LA and drive it to Carson on a Sunday morning – this car was supposed to be secret and here I am driving down the 5 in a one-of-a-kind 900 convertible in a VERY cool color (that was never used in production) with the top down because at that point it wasn’t too clear if I put the top up that it would go back down. I was 21 years old and never so paranoid about my driving as I was that morning. Steven Rossi used to refer to it as “my girl Pearl”. 26 years later and I remember it like yesterday.
Speaking of Saab wagons, ABC News reports that the Saab 9-3 SportCombi has been noted by the IIHS in the United States as being one of the 15 safest SUV’s on the market there.
Personally speaking, I’m a little surprised by the SUV classification for that car, but we’ll take it.
It’s an early 1970’s Saab 99 fitted with a 16V turbo engine and making somewhere around 300hp.
I was meant to be at Kinnekulle today, too, for a Saab Turbo Club of Sweden event, but a time mixup saw me miss it. The photo was sent to me this morning by Peter S, the owner of Saab tuner Speedparts (his brother owns this 99 and Peter has a matching one in the same spec, but in red).
It’s 900+ kilometers north of where I’m sitting right now, but I’m heading up close to Umeå to help a friend pick up his Saab 9-5 (a long, sad story involving some ice and a telegraph pole).
There’s nothing at Saab that’s treated more seriously than the safety of our customers. It’s one of our core values and part of the Swedish philosophy that’s incorporated into every car that we design and build.
Our next vehicle release is the much awaited Saab 9-5 SportCombi and earlier this week (not even two days ago as I write this), Saab did a frontal offset crash test on the 9-5 SportCombi. The test was done at 65km/h and was performed to EuroNCAP standards, with four ‘occupants’ in the car.
I was fortunate enough to get along to the crash lab and record this video of the test. Many of you might have seen videos from the IIHS or EuroNCAP before, which tend to be slo-mo and soundless. This video doesn’t have the same angle they use because there are safety concerns governing where I could stand with the video camera, but it’s 100% live and you’ll get the same visual and aural experience that I had.
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Note the intact cabin and A-pillar in the post-crash photos because the front of the car absorbed the impact. All airbags deployed as they should have to protect our valuable passengers. One detail that I found interesting….. if you look closely at the still shots, you’ll see that even the turn signals on the mirrors are still working.
We’ll have some more video in the next few weeks showing you some more background material from the crash lab and how various aspects of it work. It’s very interesting and impressive stuff and I’m looking forward to sharing it here on Inside Saab.
