SAAB'S "real-life safety" philosophy has earned the 9-3 Sport Saloon a "Double Best Pick" designation from the tough US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The model is the first passenger car ever to achieve the distinction, which followed a series of 31mph side impact crash tests. This rating is in addition to last year's 40mph frontal offset crash tests in which the 9-3 Sport Saloon earned the Institute's "Best Pick - frontal" ranking.
The 2004 result was achieved with standard safety features like adaptive, dual-stage front airbags, side-impact airbags engineered into the front seats, seatbelts featuring crash pre-tensioners and load limiters, and the 9-3's "second generation" Saab Active Head Restraint (SAHR 2). In a rear-end collision, the award-winning SAHR system limits the head movement of the occupant during the impact, helping to reduce the risk of whiplash injuries.
The Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon, 9-3 Convertible and 9-5 models have also each earned five stars, the highest rating possible, in the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) frontal and side-impact crash tests.
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