1998 Saturn SL

small car / 4-door sedan

1998 Saturn SL 4-door sedan
1997 Saturn SL shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Evaluation criteria Rating
Moderate overlap front: original test
A

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 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.

Evaluation criteria Rating
Overall evaluation
A
Structure and safety cage
A
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
G
Chest
A
Leg/foot, left
A
Leg/foot, right
G
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.
M

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

About the original moderate overlap front test