Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon is a Gold Award winner

The Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon is a Gold Award winner in the first-ever Top Safety Pick award by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

This finding confirms the high level of occupant protection provided by the Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon, which has also received an industry-best five-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash testing.

The 'Top Safety Pick - Gold Award' is a best-of-the-best distinction that recognises car designs that provide the best occupant protection in front, side and rear crashes based on Institute testing.

IIHS crash tests result in ratings from good to poor with top performers receiving a “good” and “Best Pick” designation. The 9-3 Sport Saloon received a Best Pick in both front and side crash tests.

The IIHS frontal impact test is carried out at 40 mph against a deformable fixed barrier, with a 40 percent driver's side offset.

A deformable barrier constructed to resemble a full-size sport utility vehicle, is propelled at 31 mph against the driver's side of the car to measure side impact protection.

The rear-end test simulates a 20-mph rear impact into a stationary car, during which the front seat/head restraint performance is assessed. The Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon received a 'good' in this test.

“These results are further evidence of the dedication and skill of the engineers who work with the safety development of Saab cars,” said Stig Nodin, Director - Engineering Center, Sweden, General Motors Europe. “However, the priority is always to protect real people in real crashes through the implementation of our Real-life Safety strategy.”

Saab Real-life Safety involves the use of computer simulations and crash tests designed to replicate what happens in real collisions on real roads, based on the findings of a database covering more than 6,100 real-life crashes involving Saab cars on Swedish roads.

During the Saab 9-3 product development program, the 9-3 Sport Saloon’s structural design and occupant protection systems were evaluated in consumer and legally required crash tests as well as a large number of in-house configurations taking occupants of different sizes into consideration. Prototype tests were carried out in the laboratory and outdoors in a range of speeds and configurations.