Yet another ‘what makes a Saab a Saab’ post
Each of us has a list of what makes a Saab a Saab. Some people lean toward the brand’s history of front wheel drive, turbocharged engines and legendary longevity, while others may talk about aesthetics such as the ‘hockey stick’ pillar, curved windshield or, of course, the ignition switch between the front seats. All are valid answers.
However, I assert that safety is as much a part of the Saab DNA as anything that you can actually see or regularly see in action. Swedish cars are safe. That’s a given.
So, I ask: What could be more characteristically ‘Saab’ than the famous Moose Test?
First off, let’s get one thing straight: even though Europeans call their moose ‘elk’, they are in fact one and the same; their North American brethren are the same species. In scientific circles, the term ‘elk‘ is used to refer to slightly smaller animals that share some of the same habitat in North America, but are limited to Eastern Asia on the Eurasian land mass. Elk are quite similar to the red deer of Europe.
Second of all, get this statistic: in Sweden, car-moose crashes happen an average of ten times a day or more, depending upon the source. Ten times a day. Really. This is why Saab engineering teams obsess about this ‘real world safety’ test. It really makes a difference in their world. In my neck of the woods, there are no moose. In fact, there are no moose within about 1000 miles (1600 km) of my house. We have the occasional deer-car crashes (my own father collided with one about six years ago), but nothing like the Swedes experience with their moose. About 5% of all car crashes in Sweden mention a moose as cause of the accident.
Third, check this out: moose are BIG. They range in size from one-half-ton up to about a ton. And their body mass can be six feet (two meters) off the ground.
So, when a motor vehicle slams into a moose at normal driving speeds, bad, BAD things happen a great deal of the time. The 1000-lb. (500-kg.) moose flops down onto the hood, windshield or roof depending upon the speed of the vehicle and size of the animal.
This little excerpt from Channel 4’s 4Cars (UK) says it best:
There are some 600,000 moose on the loose in this overgrown Christmas-tree plantation [that is, Sweden] and, in some districts, they account for up to a quarter of all road traffic accidents. Indeed, 5 per cent of all reported accidents involving Saab cars cite a moose as the third party. Now, a full-grown bull moose weighs in at well over 1000lb, and is more than likely to have left his insurance documents at home. Saab has little choice, therefore, than to take pains to ensure that, while car and no-claims bonus may take a bit of a pasting, occupants do not.
A moose, resembling a somewhat hastily constructed horse with the nose-bag permanently sewn into position and joke antlers, has excessively long legs with the structural integrity of a Twiglet. And when you assault one with a rapidly moving car, the legs offer no resistance to the front bumper whatsoever. The body, meanwhile, passes quickly through the involuntary bonnet mascot stage and immediately thereafter attempts, via the windscreen, to acquire passenger status.
The same article continues what I’ve always considered an urban myth; legend has it that Erik Carlsson pointed out the need for additional testing in the late 1950’s when a Saab that he was driving collided with a moose, leaving the car destroyed and filled with the contents of the moose’s lower intestines (ahem). (Comments with credible sources to confirm or deny this myth are much appreciated!)
Anyway, the moose test performed by Saab actually consists of two parts: part one simulates the driver’s crash avoidance maneuvers to test steering stability, while the second part tests the structural integrity of the A-pillar through a series of crash tests meant to simulate an impact with a moose’s front or rear legs at normal driving speeds.
The driver avoidance simulation gained some notoriety in the late 1990’s when a Mercedes failed the test miserably, instantly rolling over, while the lowly Trabant passed the test with flying colors! These days, all manufacturers have some sort of testing for quick lane changes, so Saab isn’t so different than other manufacturers in this area.
On the other hand, crashing cars into a simulated moose is still a Saab-only exercise.
In the days of the classic 900, the moose test “dummy” consisted of a rack of disc-shaped weights weighing approximately 850 lbs. (400 kg) skewered on a pole. This still culled from a Saab safety video illustrates the point quite nicely.
In recent times, Saab has developed a better moose “dummy” for testing — a cloth-wrapped bundle of cables that more closely simulates the affect the impact has on the moose’s body, which, judging by the anecdotes, is considerable.
It looks something like this:
The upshot of all of this is that Saabs are deliberately built with very strong A-pillars, and the leading edge of the roof is reinforced to avoid collapse even with a great deal of downward impact. Even the glass is specially tested to insure additional strength.
We drive and love great cars — this is one more way that they are superior.
Additional Reading:
Channel 4 - entertaining!
Master’s Thesis of Magnus Gens - long!
Wikipedia - of course.
Saabvideos.com has exceeded their bandwidth for the month, so I couldn’t post the video of the crash test. I’ll remedy that at a future date.
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What a dissapointment! I thought the moose they used for testing looked like a plastic moose as per the ones in the current catalogues.
So you’re telling me that was a dummy- dummy, dummy?!
My manual has an illustration of moose avoidance in it, it’s totally awesome. The moose looks a lot like Bullwinkle on all four legs. It’s just funny to see that image in an owner’s manual when the rest of the pictures are pretty boring, textbook-like material. Unless someone beats me to it, I’ll try to scan the picture from my manual and post it here tomorrow, it’s worth it if you haven’t seen it I think.
Actually this test should be conducted in other countries like australia.
We don’t have ELK but horses can represent the same hazard.
amen brother… saab safety ftw…
craig - Well, if it stands up to a giant bundle of cables representing a moose in Sweden, it’ll stand up to a giant bundle of cables representing a horse in Australia. Even so, regardless of location, every car company should do this test.
I’ve heard that kangaroo-crashes are a problem in Australia?
I agree with Craig. In Namibia we deal with kudus (an antelope) of which the bull carries a lot of weight. They are nocturnal and cause the greater majority of accidents in Namibia. The most dangerous part of any journey is simply just before daylight peters out and early morning. You do not see them, apart from the slight flickering of something similar to the red-eye when you take pictures at night and the rest is history. I do not have statistics from the Traffic Authorities, but I will try to get the numbers. Unfortunately, I nephew of mine was killed on 23 May 1997 when a fullgrown kudu bull was hit head-on and landed on the roof of an Audi 80 MY85 and killed him on the spot. The most scary thing when you drive at night in this country can be summed up in one word: kudu.
A moose once bit my sister.
Okay, now I’m confused. While I don’t venture out of Florida too much, I was dragged to Wyoming last winter (my first real experience with “snow.”) And up there the “Elk” and “Moose” are two VERY different beasts. The Moose are as the story describes — extremely large, awkward-looking animals (huge lumbering feet, ginormous heads, skinny long legs) with broad, paddle-like antlers (yes, like Bullwinkle.) The Elk are much more deer-like, smaller, svelte, pretty nimble, with very long, pointed “racks” of antlers.
Obviously the European moose have better PR agents! (Using the name “Elk” certainly distances them from their gangly US/Canada “Moose” cousins!)
I agree that Safety is one of the most important qualities of the Saab brand, and it’s that very quality (along with the drop-dead gorgeous looks) that has a new 9-3 SportCombi running neck and neck with a VW Passat wagon on my short list for upcoming automotive purchases. I *almost* pulled the trigger on an OG900 as my first Saab, but the questionable performance on the IIHS test broke my heart ( I know, that’s just one test, but still…). However, the stellar performance of the new 9-3 on just about every type of crash test has me confident that Saab never really lost their safety game.
Scott: New 9-3 vs. Passat? Are you effing kidding? The Saab is sub-zero cool, the V-dub has cool commercials. No contest!!
Additionally, the NG900 is the culprit on the IIHS test. I don’t think that they ever subjected the C900 (OG900) to that test, but it would have passed with flying colors IMHO. What a TANK!!
And, Chaaalie: Your understanding is correct. Elk are deer-like, the moose is the lumbering huge bison-on-stilts thing.
Oh, and Danni: Always good to hear from you. Sorry for the loss of your nephew — make sure that you spread the word about Saab safety. This testing saves lives in Sweden, the US, Namibia and anywhere there are people driving Saabs.
We have great cars!!
This is the type we have in Sweden:
http://www.manojranaweera.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/g-bull-moose1.jpg
It’s called an “älg” and i believe thats why Saab use the word elk test.
From my own experience I would say it’s almost as common to see a moose in the northern parts of Sweden as it is to see a kangaroo in Australia.
Oh yeah — I meant to type NG900, but I have a Wide Stance™ on the keyboard, so it came out OG900.