2006 Saturn RELAY

minivan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side
Side: original test with optional side airbags
Side: original test without optional side airbags
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 2005-07 models

Tested vehicle: 2005 Chevrolet Uplander van

The Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6, Buick Terraza, and Saturn RELAY were introduced in the 2005 model year as replacements for the Chevrolet Venture, Pontiac Montana and Trans Sport, and Oldsmobile Silhouette. (A limited number of Chevrolet Ventures and Pontiac Montanas were produced for the 2005 model year.) The Pontiac Montana SV6 was discontinued after the 2006 model year, and the Buick Terraza and Saturn RELAY were discontinued after the 2007 model year. The Uplander was discontinued after the 2008 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
Dummy movement was reasonably well controlled. However, the dummy's head bottomed out the airbag and hit the steering wheel. During rebound, the dummy's head hit the B-pillar and roof rail.

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well.

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head hit the B-pillar, roof rail, and head restraint during rebound. Head acceleration from the B-pillar hit was high.

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 CEF0508
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 8
Left (cm) 12
Center (cm) 11
Right (cm) 9
Brake pedal (cm) 11
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 4
Right (cm) 4
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 4
Rearward (cm) 4
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 1

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEF0508
Head
HIC-15 550
Peak gs at hard contact 141
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 43
Maximum Nij 0.42
Chest maximum compression (mm) 26
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 5.2
Femur force - right (kN) 3.1
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 6
Maximum tibia index - left 0.29
Maximum tibia index - right 0.44
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.1
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.1
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 62
Right 43

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2006-07 models built after February 2006 and before January 2007

Tested vehicle: 2006 Chevrolet Uplander LT van with optional front and second row seat-mounted combination head and torso airbags

The Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6, Buick Terraza, and Saturn RELAY were introduced in the 2005 model year as replacements for the Chevrolet Venture, Pontiac Montana, and Oldsmobile Silhouette. Side airbags were optional for front seat occupants. The Pontiac Montana SV6 was discontinued after the 2006 model year.

Beginning with 2006 models, side airbags became optional for both the front and second row seating positions. Also beginning with 2006 models manufactured after November 2005, the vehicle floor was reinforced to improve occupant protection in side impact crashes (note: information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on or near the driver door). Further changes were made for models manufactured after February 2006 to strengthen the standard second row bucket seats for side impact crashes.

Two tests of the Uplander were conducted, the first with optional side airbags for the driver and rear passenger, and the second without. Both vehicles were manufactured after all design changes for 2006 had been made. These vehicles are rated separately, except that the structural ratings for both vehicles are based on both tests.

In both tests, there were problems with the seats occupied by the rear passenger dummies. During the first test, all four of the attachment points for the optional captain's chair (with side airbag) released, allowing the seat to become completely dislodged. In the second test with the standard bucket seat (and no side airbag), one attachment point released and a second one broke, allowing partial separation of the seat from the floor. While these seat separations did not appear to exacerbate any injury measures recorded by the rear dummies, such separations should not occur. For this reason, the overall rating for the Uplander and similar models with side airbags was downgraded to Marginal (it would have been Acceptable otherwise).

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

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

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Action shot taken during the side impact crash test showing the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side airbag. Still, forces recorded on the neck were high.

Inset photo shows seat frame deformation that occurred during the crash. The curving supports should be straight and vertical. Note also that the steel frame started to tear. Location of the inset photo is indicated in larger photo.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0601 CES0602
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) 4.0 2.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0601
Head HIC-15 444
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.8
Compression (kN) 0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 35
Lateral force (kN) 2.7
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 30
Average deflection (mm) 25
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.71
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.64
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.6
Combined force (kN) 2.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.2
L-M moment (Nm) 46
A-P moment (Nm) 31

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0601
Head HIC-15 95
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Compression (kN) 0.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 27
Lateral force (kN) 1.3
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 29
Average deflection (mm) 24
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 1.83
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.29
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.4
Acetabulum force (kN) 3.3
Combined force (kN) 3.4
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.6
L-M moment (Nm) 91
A-P moment (Nm) -41

Rating applies to 2006-07 models built after February 2006

Tested vehicle: 2006 Chevrolet Uplander LS van without optional side airbags

The Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6, Buick Terraza, and Saturn RELAY were introduced in the 2005 model year as replacements for the Chevrolet Venture, Pontiac Montana, and Oldsmobile Silhouette. Side airbags were optional for front seat occupants. The Pontiac Montana SV6 was discontinued after the 2006 model year, and the Buick Terraza and Saturn RELAY were discontinued after the 2007 model year.

Beginning with 2006 models, side airbags became optional for both the front and second row seating positions. Also beginning with 2006 models manufactured after November 2005, the vehicle floor was reinforced to improve occupant protection in side impact crashes (note: information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on or near the driver door). Further changes were made for models manufactured after February 2006 to strengthen the standard second row bucket seats for side impact crashes.

Two tests of a 2006 Uplander were conducted, the first with optional side airbags for the driver and rear passenger, and the second without. Both vehicles were manufactured after all design changes for 2006 had been made. These vehicles are rated separately, except that the structural ratings for both vehicles are based on both tests. In the test with optional side airbags, there was a problem with the seat occupied by the rear passenger dummy. All four of the attachment points for the optional captain's chair (with side airbag) released, allowing the seat to become completely dislodged. While this seat separation did not appear to exacerbate any injury measures recorded by the rear dummy, such separations should not occur. For this reason, the overall rating for the Uplander and similar models with side airbags was downgraded to Marginal (it would have been Acceptable otherwise).

Beginning with 2007 models manufactured after December 2006, General Motors added retention hooks to the left and right rear seat attachment points for the second row captain’s chairs. In two side impact tests conducted by GM with the new design, the second row seats were retained. On the basis of this performance, models built after December 2006 and equipped with optional second row side airbags are rated separately from earlier models. All Uplanders, Terrazas, and RELAYs built after this date and equipped with optional side airbags are rated Acceptable. The Uplander was discontined after the 2008 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
The intruding barrier came close to the dummy's head in this test. Although the barrier did not hit the head, this near miss indicates that only slightly different crash circumstances could produce a direct hit to a person's head.
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection
The dummy's head was hit by the window sill of the rear passenger door. 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 doors removed, showing the damage to the occupant compartment.

Action shot taken during the side impact crash test showing the driver dummy's head leaning well outward and approaching the crash test barrier.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy's head was hit by the window sill.</p>

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0601 CES0602
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) 4.0 2.5
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0602
Head HIC-15 480
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.7
Compression (kN) 0.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 38
Lateral force (kN) 2.9
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 42
Average deflection (mm) 35
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 7.32
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 1.50
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 2.0
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.5
Combined force (kN) 4.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5
L-M moment (Nm) 53
A-P moment (Nm) -16

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0602
Head HIC-15 338
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.4
Compression (kN) 0.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 41
Lateral force (kN) 1.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 28
Average deflection (mm) 24
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.01
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.38
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.6
Acetabulum force (kN) 3.4
Combined force (kN) 3.7
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.9
L-M moment (Nm) 183
A-P moment (Nm) -39

About the original side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: All seats

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type All seats
Geometry
Backset (mm) 50
Distance below top of head (mm) 75
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Fail
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.3
Head contact time (ms) 105
Force rating 3
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 215
Max neck tension (N) 942

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