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Adult occupant protection 
Frontal impact driver | 
Frontal impact passenger | 
Side impact driver |  |
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Child restraints | 18 month old Child | Saab Klippan, rearward facing |
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| 3 year old Child | Saab Klippan, rearward facing |
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Pedestrian protection No image car front available |
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Safety equipment | Front seatbelt pretensioners |  |
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| Front seatbelt load limiters | |
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| Driver frontal airbag | |
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| Front passenger frontal airbag | |
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| Side body airbags | |
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| Side head airbags | |
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| Driver knee airbag |  |
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Car details | Hand of drive | LHD |
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| Tested model | Saab 9-3 2.0ltr |
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| Body type | 4-door saloon |
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| Year of publication | 2002 |
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| Kerb weight | 1450 |
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| VIN from which rating applies | all latest 9-3s |
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Comments The SAAB 9-3 is another to join the select band of cars good enough to deserve a full five-star rating. It has been designed to keep its occupants safe. The cabin around them, including the children, remained intact and its restraint systems kept them from harm, although the driver’s chest was subjected to fairly high forces. The area that his knees would hit in a crash was not clear but the only real hazard was a point beneath the steering column. The car performed without fault in the side impact and the pole test. Pedestrian protection was poor: the bonnet offered cushioning at its centre but was stiff elsewhere.
Front impact
The knee impact area is particularly well planned, having a knee bolster that is designed to collapse when struck hard. But testers found that the steering column could transmit impact forces to the driver’s knees. The footwell was not deformed by the impact, posing few hazards to the driver’s feet and ankles. The front belts were fitted with load limiters and reel mounted pre-tensioners. Even so, the driver suffered a high-ish chest loading. The centre rear seat belt was of a three-point type, which provides much better protection than that of a lap-only belt.
Side impact
No points were lost for its side impact performance, including the pole test. The curtain airbag protected all occupants on the struck side. This deploys in glancing frontal impacts where occupants may be be partly ejected as the car rotates during impact.
Child-protection
Both restraints were Saab branded and rear-facing, using the adult belts to secure their fronts. The restraints used a support leg and belts to fix them to the mounting for the front-seat floor rails. These restraints protected well although some impact forces fed through to the older child’s chest. If the restraints must be fitted to the front passenger seat, Saab dealers can disconnect the passenger’s frontal airbag.
Pedestrian protection
The results here fall far short of the car’s achievements elsewhere. The bumper and bonnet sides were particularly unfriendly to pedestrians, although the centre of the bonnet would cushion them.
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