Date: Tue, 06 Nov 2001 22:03:16 -0500 From: "Kenneth S." <nimrodnopsams.com> Subject: Re: Purchasing a Saab
Craig Bobchin wrote: > > "Kenneth S." <nimrodnopsams.com> wrote in message > news:3BE4B47B.1C78nopsams.com... > > I'm aware that the Saab key has always been where it is. I just don't > > see the point. A longstanding gimmick is still a gimmick. > > One reason SAAB put the key between the seats is for safety. Saab accident > investigators discovered that in front end collisions there was a large > chance of the keys being pushed into the driver's knee or leg when the key > was in the standard column location. Hence the key where it will do no > damage to the occupants. > > > As to the driver's side mirror on my Saab, at the limit of its outward > > adjustment, it it leaves a blind spot, and requires a glance over the > > shoulder before certain kinds of lane change. The blind spot wouldn't > > exist if the mirror had convex glass, as European-specification cars > > do. I have not found this on other U.S.-specification cars. I have two > > cars, the other one being a Mazda MX-5 Miata, and the driver's side > > mirror on the Miata doesn't have this problem. So I am constantly aware > > of it (as well as a number of other respects in which comparisons > > between the two cars are not to the Saab's advantage, although the Saab > > cost much more money). Nor did the blind spot problem exist on other > > cars I have owned that had electrically adjusted mirrors. > > Gee.. I've owned American, Japanese and Euro cars Not to mention the myriad > rentals I've driven, and all of them had a blind spot. Should I consider the > various Fords, Mazdas, Toyotas, Hondas, Chevy etc... as having a design > flaw? I don't think so. > > Not every person has the same vision or body style. That is why mirrors and > seats are adjustable. I'm afraid I just don't get the point about the Saab key, although I've heard this story about the safety angle before. I suppose it's just my own stupidity. While my 900SE was in the shop recently, I was driving a rented Chevrolet Malibu. The Chevrolet's ignition key was in the dashboard, instead of in the steering column. If there is a rational safety objection to the steering column, why not put the key for Saabs there, instead of between the seats where it is likely that something will be spilled into it at some stage? I'm also puzzled about why, if positioning the key between the seats has a safety advantage, no other automaker (as far as I know) does this. The mirror on my 900 is, of course, adjustable. It's just not adjustable ENOUGH for the U.S.-standard flat driver's side mirror -- unlike other cars I have driven.
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