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102 Signature Technologies
9-3
Night Panel
When activated, the night panel mode can assist
nighttime driving by extinguishing most
instruments and displays as long as the
information is non-essential. The night panel
feature not only turns off the associated lights to
the gauges, but the gauges themselves (this can
be seen by activating it during the day). The
sole remaining light from the Main Instrument
Unit will be the speedometer, which is only
displayed up to 90 mph (when 85 mph is
approached, the rest of the speedometer will
illuminate). Also, any gauge will be individually
reactivated if necessary. For example, if the fuel
level drops below 4 gallons, the fuel gauge
cluster will light up. Or, if the radio is adjusted,
the Saab Information Display (SID) will
illuminate for about 10 seconds. If any warning
lamps need to illuminate, the Main Instrument
Unit will provide the driver with the information
they need.
The Night Panel feature benefits our customers
because glare from the instruments at night is
often enough to cause significant eye fatigue.
When a customer wears eyeglasses, the
sensitivity to the light becomes greater and eye
fatigue is increased.
Console-Mounted Ignition
Building on our aircraft heritage, the console-
mounted ignition is designed to be both safe and
convenient for the driver and provide additional
security for the car itself. For the driver, this
location keeps the key (and any other items on a
key chain) away from his/her knee in the event
of an accident, minimizing the chance of injury.
Saab’s real life crash investigations revealed a
number of knee injuries due to steering column-
mounted ignitions.
From a convenience and ergonomic
perspective, placing the ignition in the center
console allows the driver to make one simple
move to buckle their seatbelt, start the vehicle,
release the emergency brake, select the
appropriate gear and put their hand back on the
steering wheel in one fluid motion. Searching
for the ignition on the steering column and then
performing all of those other functions in most
cars is far from ergonomic.
The ignition is also located in the center console
for simplicity in design and manufacturing. All
Saab vehicles have a gearbox lock mechanism,
meaning that the gear selector must be in the
appropriate position to get the key out of the
ignition, (e.g. reverse for manual transmission
vehicles). Placing the ignition cylinder, which is
used to lock the vehicle’s gearbox near the gear
selector, allows for fewer parts and a simpler,
more efficient design.