1997 Saturn SL
small car / 4-door sedan
Moderate overlap front: original test
Rating applies to 1995-2002 models
Tested vehicle: 1997 Saturn SL2 4-door
The Saturn SL was introduced in the 1991 model year. Frontal airbags for both the driver and passenger became standard beginning with the 1995 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 wasn't well controlled. During rebound, the dummy moved toward the driver door, and its head hit the window frame and B-pillar. There was too much rearward movement of the steering wheel. |
Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.
There was too much rearward movement of the steering wheel and instrument panel. Otherwise, the driver's survival space was maintained reasonably well.
Dummy movement wasn't well controlled during the offset test. During rebound, the dummy's head moved toward the driver door and then hit the B-pillar.
No damage at all occurred in a 5 mph rear-into-pole impact.
Technical measurements for this test
Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side
| Test ID | CF97015 |
|---|---|
| Footwell intrusion | |
| Footrest (cm) | 12 |
| Left (cm) | 21 |
| Center (cm) | 19 |
| Right (cm) | 14 |
| Brake pedal (cm) | 12 |
| Instrument panel rearward movement | |
| Left (cm) | 13 |
| Right (cm) | 9 |
| Steering column movement | |
| Upward (cm) | 5 |
| Rearward (cm) | 11 |
| A-pillar rearward movement (cm) | 16 |
Driver injury measures
| Test ID | CF97015 |
|---|---|
| Head | |
| HIC-15 | 229 |
| Peak gs at hard contact | 27 |
| Neck | |
| Tension (kN) | 1.5 |
| Extension bending moment (Nm) | 13 |
| Maximum Nij | 0.25 |
| Chest maximum compression (mm) | 50 |
| Legs | |
| Femur force - left (kN) | 7.1 |
| Femur force - right (kN) | 3.2 |
| Knee displacement - left (mm) | 1 |
| Knee displacement - right (mm) | 0 |
| Maximum tibia index - left | 0.40 |
| Maximum tibia index - right | 0.73 |
| Tibia axial force - left (kN) | 1.5 |
| Tibia axial force - right (kN) | 3.0 |
| Foot acceleration (g) | |
| Left | 52 |
| Right | 73 |