5
Interior
IB581Internal rearview mirror ________ 123
Door mirrors _________________ 123
Sun visors___________________ 128
Safety belts _____________ 12
Airbag (SRS) ___________ 28
Child seats _____________ 19
Child safety lock catch ____ 41
Safety belt care ________ 232Glove compartment _____ 129Manual transmission ____ 156
Automatic transmission __ 157
Electric windows _____________ 125
Ignition switch _______________ 146
Starting the engine ___________ 147
Break-In period_______________ 155
Driving in hot weather _________ 173
Driving in winter ______________ 171
Parking ____________________ 185
Steering-wheel adjustment 122
Airbag (SRS) ____________ 28
Power steering _________ 198
Audio system
steering-wheel controls ___ 100Seat adjustment ________ 118
Seat heating ___________ 121
Ventilated front seats _____ 121
Safety belts _____________ 12
Child seats _____________ 19
Folding down the rear seat,
9-5 Sedan _____________ 132
Folding down the rear seat,
9-5 Wagon ____________ 135
Upholstery: cleaning _____ 232
Side airbags (SRS) _______ 32
Interior lighting ________________ 69
Sunroof ____________________ 126
Interior lighting: changing bulbs __ 213
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11 Safety
SafetySafety belts ......................... 12
Head restraint ..................... 18
Child safety......................... 19
Airbag (Supplemental
Restraint System "SRS"). 28
IB1740
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19 Safety
Child safety
Car safety tips Protect your children from getting
trapped in the trunk of a car
For Trunk Release Handle info see page 42
and 141.
WARNING
NEVER put a rear-facing child seat in
the front.
Children must
always be suitably
restrained in the car.
All child restraints and
booster seats are
designed to be
secured in vehicle
seats by the lap belt of a lap-shoulder
belt or LATCH. If the child restraint is
not properly secured, a child can be
injured in a crash.
Children 12 and under can be killed by
the airbag.
According to crash statistics, the
BACK SEAT is SAFER for properly
restrained children than the front seat.
Sit as far back as possible from the air
bag.
WARNING
Never leave your children unattended
in a car, even for a short time.
– Children can suffer heat stroke - per-
haps die - in a matter of minutes.
– Children can put the car into gear and
hurt themselves or others.
At gas stations, take the keys from the
car while filling the tank.
Never allow children to climb on top of -
or under motor vehicles.
Always look for children before backing
your motor vehicle out of a garage or
driveway.
To avoid carbon monoxide poisoning,
never let a car idle in the garage.
Supervise young children around buck-
ets of water while washing your car.
Small children can drown in seconds in
less than an inch of water.
WARNING
Teach your kids not to play in or around
cars.
Watch your children when loading or
unloading the car so they don´t get
locked in by mistake.
Always lock the doors and trunk of your
car, and keep the keys out of children´s
sight and reach.
Keep the rear fold-down seats closed
to help prevent kids from getting into
the trunk from inside the car.
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29 Safety
Airbag (Supplemental
Restraint System
"SRS") The supplementary restraint system (SRS)
comprises an airbag in the steering wheel,
a front passenger airbag and side airbags in
the front seats.
The system supplements the protection
provided by the safety belts to further
enhance the safety of the occupants.
If a fault is detected in the SRS, the
AIR BAG warning light on the main instru-
ment panel will come on (see pages 52 and
34). When the system is triggered by impact of a
frontal crash, the airbags in the steering
wheel and passenger side of the dash board
are inflated, after which they deflate through
vents in the back of the bags.
The front airbags are inflated in two stages.
The first stage process is a less severe,
softer inflation of the airbag. This stage is
used in lower force crashes, or if the seat is
positioned close to the steering wheel or
dashboard. The second stage process is a
more forceful and quicker inflation of the air-
bag. This stage is used in more severe
crashes and/or when the seat adjustment is
back a significant distance from the steering
wheel or dashboard.
The entire process takes less than
0.1 second – literally, faster than the blink-
ing of an eye.
These airbags are triggered only by moder-
ate to severe frontal or near-frontal crashes.
They will not be activated by minor front-end
impacts, rear-end or side impacts, or by the
car rolling over.
WARNING
To reduce risk of injury:
Always wear your safety belt.
Always adjust your seat so that you
are as far back as possible but still
able to reach the steering wheel and
controls comfortably.
Children 12 and under or shorter than
140 cm (55 inches) should always
travel in the rear as the vehicle is
equipped with an airbag on the pas-
senger side.
WARNING
Even if the car is equipped with SRS
(airbag), safety belts must still always
be worn by all occupants.
Note that because an airbag inflates
and deflates extremely rapidly, it will
not provide protection against a
second impact occurring in the same
incident. Always use your safety belt.
Always sit with the whole of your back
in contact with the backrest of the seat,
and with your seat as far back as is
practical. This is to reduce the risk of
injury from contact with the backrest of
the seat when the airbag inflates and
also because the airbag needs space
in which to inflate.
Never attach anything to the steering
wheel or passenger side of the instru-
ment panel, as this could result in
injury if the airbag should inflate. The
same applies to anything you might
have in your mouth, such as a pipe, for
instance.
Some components of the airbag will
be warm for a short time. In some cir-
cumstances the airbag can cause
minor burns or abrasions to the body
when the airbag inflates/deflates.
ProCarManuals.com
30 Safety Never rest your hands or forearms on
the steering-wheel center padding.
If the AIR BAG warning light remains
on after the car has been started or
comes on while you are driving, have
the car checked immediately by an
authorized Saab dealer. The warning
light could signify that the airbags may
not inflate in a crash, or they could
even inflate without a crash. See
page. 52.
IB417Moment of impact.
Sensor detects decel-
eration and sends a
signal via the control
module to a gas gen-
erator that inflates the
airbag.
The inflating airbag
cushions the driver.
Airbag now fully
inflated.
The airbag starts to
deflate.
IB419
Inflated airbag (driver side) Inflation and deflation together take less than
0.1 second.
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31 Safety
IB1742
5
1
4
2
6
3
2
6
7
7
5
SRS (airbag) system with belt pretensioners 1 Electronic control module and sensor
2 Belt pretensioners (for both front safety belts)
3 Steering wheel with integral airbag
4 Passenger airbag
5 Side-airbag sensor
6 Side airbag
7 Front sensors
IB1743
Accessories and other equipment must
not be fitted to the surfaces marked as
these are where the airbags inflate in the
event of a crash.
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32 SafetyFront passenger seat The airbags are interconnected and have a
common warning light. The passenger
airbag module is housed in the fascia above
the glove compartment and is marked ”SRS
AIRBAG”.
Both airbags will be inflated in the event of a
moderate to severe frontal, or near-frontal
crash, even if the passenger seat is unoccu-
pied.
Side airbags Side airbags are housed inside the back-
rests of the front seats and are designed to
protect the driver and front passenger in the
event of a side impact.
In a side impact, only the airbag on that side
will be activated, and only then if certain pre-
determined conditions are met such as the
force and angle of the impact, the speed of
the car on impact, and at which point on the
car’s side the impact occurs.
The sensors, which are fitted in the front
doors, sense the rise in pressure caused by
the door panel being pressed in during an
WARNING
Never secure a rear-facing child seat in
the right front seat of a car equipped with
a passenger airbag. Inflation of the airbag
in the event of a crash could seriously
injure or kill a child.
WARNING Children 12 and
under can be killed by
the airbag
The back seat is the
safest place for children
Never allow a child to stand in front of
the seat or to sit on the lap of a
front-seat passenger. Serious injury or
death could result if the airbag is
inflated in a crash.
Never place anything on the dash or in
front of the seat as, in addition to being
a hazard to passengers, this could
interfere with the function of the airbag
in the event of a crash. The same
applies to the mounting of accessories
on the dash.
Keep feet on the floor - never put feet
up on the fascia, on the seat or out of
the window.
Do not carry anything in your lap.
IB420
Passenger airbag and driver’s airbag both
inflated
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33 Safety
impact condition. The side airbag trigger will
be commanded based on the characteris-
tics of this pressure rise.
WARNING
This car is equipped with side airbags
and no extra interior trim should be fit-
ted. Failure to observe this warning
could result in the side airbags not
inflating as intended and thus not pro-
viding the intended protection either.
Never place any object in the area that
would be occupied by the inflated air-
bag.
For optimum protection, sit upright in
the seat, with your safety belt correctly
fastened.
The sensors for the side airbags are
fitted in the front doors.
We advise against doing any work on
the doors that could affect the mois-
ture barrier in the door or the airbag
sensors. It is essential that the mois-
ture barrier (thick plastic film) in the
front door is not damaged in any way.
Improvement of the anticorrosion
treatment of the doors should only be
carried out by an authorized Saab
dealer. Otherwise there is a risk that
the side impact sensor and the mois-
ture barrier in the front door could be
damaged.
The side airbags will inflate only in the
event of a side impact; not in the event
of a front or rear-end crash or of the
car’s rolling over.
Damage or wear to the seat cover, or
the seat seam, in the area of the side
airbag must immediately be repaired
by an authorized Saab dealer.
Do not modify the speaker installation
in the front doors or install speakers
other than those specifically approved
by Saab.
IB1182
Side airbag inflated
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