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It's funny, a lot of companies are doing the same thing lately. Ford has an ad going on about how many fords have "5 star ratings", are the "safest cars" "I would only put my kids in a ford" etc etc... I chuckle + think I sure hope they've learned a thing or 2 from Volvo... they never used to be all that safe! Eg Ford + GM used to be dead set against increasing roof strengths (for cost reasons)...
One of the more interesting ones is VW. I heard a radio ad about their "drop kick moose" feature or something to that effect ("ninja moose?"). Naturally (as a Saab owner), I assumed they had finally figured out what we all take for granted: you need strong A pillars + roof to deal with that kind of an impact + were advertising their "innovation" 30 years too late... nope... electronic stability... that's it. dropkick moose = esp. not only that, esp is only an option on the cheaper models. nice. Saabs have had esp for about a decade now...
years ago, a buddy of mine (when I commented that Saabs + Volvos are safer than most cars) brushed me off with a "they're all the same + all pass the same crash tests"... when his Accord was totaled, he bought a Volvo.
It's true that all cars are (on average) better now than they used to be. That said Saab used to be an innovator + still are better (see crash test results for new 9-5). Eg the SUV side impact testing which is imho the biggest improvement in the past 20 years, came from Saab (crashing landrovers into 9000s), and possibly the outgoing 9-5 (the first car designed to deal with this) is the only car ever made that did well in that test *without* side curtain airbags (though 4 stars for a minor dummy impact in the rear). 9-3ss got the first ever iihs "double best pick" for the same reason. Everyone else had to redesign. 9-3ss was designed before the iihs test.
I've rented several modern Subarus for long vacations with our family, largely because they are fairly good + because our own cars are both c900s + I can't risk a breakdown with kids on a long trip. The Subarus are fine, full of airbags + do fine in crash testing, but I still wouldn't want to hit a moose in one. It's the little things that make the difference: power on demand, handling, sightlines, glares off of interior surfaces, seat comfort, illumination of controls, etc... all these little things can add up in real life safety (that Saab cared about 30 years ago) yet do not come into play in crash tests...
end of tirade... picture is from a google search: c900 has real "drop kick moose"!
James...
posted by 216.59.225...
, Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:32:20
, Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:15:46
, Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:26:49, Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:11:56
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