2008 Saab 9-3

midsize luxury car / 2-door convertible

2008 Saab 9-3 2-door convertible
2007 Saab 9-3 2-door convertible shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Head restraints & seats

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2004-11 models

Tested vehicle: 2007 Saab 9-3 2.0T 2-door convertible

The Saab 9-3 convertible was redesigned for the 2004 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

Intrusion measurements taken after the crash test indicate that the driver's survival space was maintained well.

During rebound, the dummy's head hit only the head restraint as indicated by smeared greasepaint.

Intrusion into the driver's space was minimal, and all leg and foot injury measures were low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEF0716
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 5
Left (cm) 8
Center (cm) 11
Right (cm) 13
Brake pedal (cm) 7
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 2
Right (cm) 1
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 0
Rearward (cm) -1
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 2

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0716
Head
HIC-15 240
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9
Extension bending moment (Nm) 20
Maximum Nij 0.22
Chest maximum compression (mm) 30
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 2.6
Femur force - right (kN) 3.4
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 0
Maximum tibia index - left 0.23
Maximum tibia index - right 0.60
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.5
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 67
Right 92

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2004-11 models

Tested vehicle: 2007 Saab 9-3 2.0T 2-door convertible with standard front seat-mounted combination head and torso airbags

The Saab 9-3 convertible was redesigned for the 2004 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection
The dummy's head was hit by the interior side trim. This impact did not produce high head injury measures, but the head protection is inadequate.

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with door removed, showing the side airbag, pop-up rollover bars, and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side airbag.

Smeared yellow, red, and green greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was hit by the interior side trim.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0707
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -16.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0707
Head HIC-15 523
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Compression (kN) 0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 40
Lateral force (kN) 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 33
Average deflection (mm) 24
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.09
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.42
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.1
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.2
Combined force (kN) 2.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.9
L-M moment (Nm) 197
A-P moment (Nm) 18

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0707
Head HIC-15 527
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.5
Compression (kN) 0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 37
Lateral force (kN) 2.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 21
Average deflection (mm) 17
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.30
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.22
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.6
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.8
Combined force (kN) 3.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.2
L-M moment (Nm) 25
A-P moment (Nm) 12

About the original side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seats AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power leather seats AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm) 35
Distance below top of head (mm) 60
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 14.2
Head contact time (ms) 64
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 13
Max neck tension (N) 563

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.