Active Headrest / Srs In Practise?

[superspit]

Hi....

As I sat in the back seat of my 350GT, watching some por....er....some docos...a few weeks ago, I was amazed at what I saw around me....SRS labeling all around me...(not to mention those cool push in/out clothes hangers!...never noticed those before!)

I'd like to know more about our 35's active/SRS devices, and what would actually happen if we were involved in a collision with a wall, at say, 50-60km/h....(or use your own experiences)....how many bags have we actually got onboard?

What/how does our Active Headrest system do/work?..in practical terms.....and maybe even include your own unfortunate experiences.

Please do include, if you can, how the pre-tensioner system works in with all this....maybe explained on some sort of expanded timeline?....(so dicks like me can understand).

I know this could get quite technical and potentially a laborious task to answer, but I assure you, I'd really appreciate your thoughts and skill-sets on this topic.....especially from our 'V' community.

Thanx ahead!...

Cheers.

[rs73]

according to the V35 brochure the active headrest will tilt forward in the event of an accident, which is to reduce the chance of whiplash effect on your neck.

as usual seat bolster have SRS airbag, as well as curtain airbags on your B pillars, and the usual passenger and driver airbags. it is quite a good car in terms of safety features. ABS, VDC, you name it.

[Nearly_Skyline]

Ok,

So here it is in a sort of timeline that I take it you're after.

When you crash into a wall (or another car) at 50~60 km/h, several things happen:

1) Car detects massive deceleration through sensors in bumper/ front end.

2) Car computer recieves the deceleration information from the sensors and processes it, sending commands to the safety systems throughout the car.

3)Seatbelt pretensioner's fire, pulling the seatbelt's tight around your body, helping it to stay 'with' the seat and give it a more controled deceleration.

4) The the airbags inflate, as the airbags inflate, the active headrests move forward (and upwards in some cars) so they stay closer to your head to control the rearward motion at the end of the crash.

5) If the forces of the crash through the seatbelts exceed the safe limits that the human body can withstand, the force limiters built into the seatbelt base, (either where the seatbelts attach to the chassis OR where they attach to the pretensioner/ inertia reel mounts) will "release" reducing the force applied to your body by the seatbelts. Most of the time, the force limiters are built to work in the same action that the lid peels off a sardine can.

This is a pretty basic description of how it works so I apoligize if it doesn't seem exactly correct, but if you have any other questions about what I've tried to explain, ask me and I'll explain it in more detail

[superspit]

Ok,

So here it is in a sort of timeline that I take it you're after.

When you crash into a wall (or another car) at 50~60 km/h, several things happen:

1) Car detects massive deceleration through sensors in bumper/ front end.

2) Car computer recieves the deceleration information from the sensors and processes it, sending commands to the safety systems throughout the car.

3)Seatbelt pretensioner's fire, pulling the seatbelt's tight around your body, helping it to stay 'with' the seat and give it a more controled deceleration.

4) The the airbags inflate, as the airbags inflate, the active headrests move forward (and upwards in some cars) so they stay closer to your head to control the rearward motion at the end of the crash.

5) If the forces of the crash through the seatbelts exceed the safe limits that the human body can withstand, the force limiters built into the seatbelt base, (either where the seatbelts attach to the chassis OR where they attach to the pretensioner/ inertia reel mounts) will "release" reducing the force applied to your body by the seatbelts. Most of the time, the force limiters are built to work in the same action that the lid peels off a sardine can.

This is a pretty basic description of how it works so I apoligize if it doesn't seem exactly correct, but if you have any other questions about what I've tried to explain, ask me and I'll explain it in more detail

goin down on ya NS!!!!

Mate, this is great, and exactly what I wanted, and in terms that even a knob like me can understand!

Thankyou for putting in so much effort!..I do appreciate it!..(see first sentence!!)..lol!

Cheers!

ps...does the airbag 'check light' indicator mean that all of these systems are checked/initialized when we start our cars?

If there is a fault anywhere within this complex system, will we know?..(before we have crash!)

[rs73]

upon starting airbag check light as well as engine check light and/or oil check light should all be on.

if they stay on after engine is running, you have a problem.

[Nearly_Skyline]

goin down on ya NS!!!!

Mate, this is great, and exactly what I wanted, and in terms that even a knob like me can understand!

Thankyou for putting in so much effort!..I do appreciate it!..(see first sentence!!)..lol!

Cheers!

ps...does the airbag 'check light' indicator mean that all of these systems are checked/initialized when we start our cars?

If there is a fault anywhere within this complex system, will we know?..(before we have crash!)

Haha, all good, glad I could help.

Yea, I'm not sure if the "airbag" light would cover the active headrest system and the seatbelts, but it certainly would cover the airbags. If the light is an SRS light then it should cover the pretensioners and head rests as well. being that they are both part of the Suplimental Restraint System.

[Chris Rogers]

I did a bit of work on a sedan tonight regarding this. for a 2001 v35 I saw (and checked) pass airbag,drv airbag, pretensioners - all checked ok.

if there is ANY fault with the system them the light will flash until the fault is cleared. the system checks itself everytime the ign is turned on and started. if there is a serious fault then doing a diagnostic scan on it is the only way to sort it.I had one came back with a short on the drivers air bag. that was due to the thing not being properly plugged in and the contacts on the bag were closed ( they do this as a safety precaution.) temporarily and the system logged a fault.

[superspit]

this is great info guys!!.....thankyou!

Hopefully none of us will test our SRS unit's in practice.

[n15m0]

goin down on ya NS!!!!

Wow, thats the 2nd time I've seen you offering to go down on someone......

I'm concerned....

[superspit]

Wow, thats the 2nd time I've seen you offering to go down on someone......

I'm concerned....

ain't nothing wrong with being friendly.......don't be concerned

[Nearly_Skyline]

Excuse my ignorance....

but what's "NS"?

[superspit]

Excuse my ignorance....

but what's "NS"?

Nearly Skyline.

[t0rpy]

about 2 weeks out of christmas some idiot smashed into me while he was doing a U-turn from a stopped postion curbside (i was doing about 50-60kms driving up my street).. left hand side of the car was all smashed from the start of the door all tha way back to the rear bumper(just wasnt touched).

as the accident happened. about 1 second total, there was a loud bang, car slid sideways, VDC helped to pull it straight and i was pulled over on the gutter about 10-15m from where the accident occured. airbags delpoyed, so fast i had no idea they had come out until i pulled over as only the passenger side airbag(from inside the side of the seat through the leather) and the passenger curtain airbag (Dropped down from above the window) deployed as is was a side impact..

i have the highest praise for the safety features in the V35 and we should all feel very safe driving these..

there were cars parked all down the road and i wouldnt be supprised that if the car didnt have some of these features i verywell could have wound up in a car on the otherside of the road..

now as for repairs..

repair costis $10,700

all parts inc panels, new seat cover for the entire passengerside backrest, and new roof lining etc.

i only just got the car into the repairshop on the 26th of jan and the accident happened on the 14th of dec.. this was because we had the wait for parts.. still all the parts havent arrived and its currently the 13th of feb. they told me i shoud be able to get the car back around the 20th of feb but im not crossing my fingures.. so thats about 2 and a half months in repairs.. so i dont recommend smashing up your V

dont get me wrong i knew repairs would take a while etc as we all do.. but jus some food for thought.. and YES im going to keep the V once repaired and continue modifying it and YES the car is comprehensivly insured and was the other drivers fault so no cost for me!!

cheers i'll shut up now

kari

P.s. sorry i had some photos but i jumped in the pool the oterh week with my phone in my pocket so now i dont have them anymore

Edited February 13, 2009 by t0rpy

[superspit]

about 2 weeks out of christmas some idiot smashed into me while he was doing a U-turn from a stopped postion curbside (i was doing about 50-60kms driving up my street).. left hand side of the car was all smashed from the start of the door all tha way back to the rear bumper(just wasnt touched).

as the accident happened. about 1 second total, there was a loud bang, car slid sideways, VDC helped to pull it straight and i was pulled over on the gutter about 10-15m from where the accident occured. airbags delpoyed, so fast i had no idea they had come out until i pulled over as only the passenger side airbag(from inside the side of the seat through the leather) and the passenger curtain airbag (Dropped down from above the window) deployed as is was a side impact..

i have the highest praise for the safety features in the V35 and we should all feel very safe driving these..

there were cars parked all down the road and i wouldnt be supprised that if the car didnt have some of these features i verywell could have wound up in a car on the otherside of the road..

now as for repairs..

repair costis $10,700

all parts inc panels, new seat cover for the entire passengerside backrest, and new roof lining etc.

i only just got the car into the repairshop on the 26th of jan and the accident happened on the 14th of dec.. this was because we had the wait for parts.. still all the parts havent arrived and its currently the 13th of feb. they told me i shoud be able to get the car back around the 20th of feb but im not crossing my fingures.. so thats about 2 and a half months in repairs.. so i dont recommend smashing up your V

dont get me wrong i knew repairs would take a while etc as we all do.. but jus some food for thought.. and YES im going to keep the V once repaired and continue modifying it and YES the car is comprehensivly insured and was the other drivers fault so no cost for me!!

cheers i'll shut up now

kari

P.s. sorry i had some photos but i jumped in the pool the oterh week with my phone in my pocket so now i dont have them anymore

Hi Kari,

this is a fantastic story, and very well detailed....

Thankyou for sharing this info with us, and am glad that you are ok.

Also glad to see your great praise for our V cars, involving the accident aspect.

Please feel free to give us any more info you might have, including repair quality, any other issues, and what the reaction of the f*****g c*** who blindly turned in front of you was. (after the hit)...how old was he/she...what were they driving.

Geeesh..I am a sticky nose!

Cheers!

[zei20l]

im surprised the passenger airbags deployed if no one was sitting in the seat. seems like overkill and actually a bit of a waste!

[Chris Rogers]

they arent set up like the new benz. that car knows if the seat is occupied and uses the bags if it is.

[Nearly_Skyline]

haha, I didn't realize that NS was Nearly Skyline hahaha..... I probably should have realized though.

I'm pretty sure airbags are very expensive on their own, do you know the total amount it's gonna cost to replace the airbags on your car?

For some reason, I have this feeling that the person driving the car that hit you was driving a mid 00's model Holden Commodore....I dunno why though LOL Just a random guess.

[t0rpy]

nah was like a 97 camry..he was like a 60 yr old bloke jus come out of church!! not sure of the cost of the airbags.. but they said the seat cover was one of the more expensive things costing around $1400-$1700 from memory..

as for the reaction of the bloke, he was like "whats sort of car is that?", i proceeded to tel him getting the reponse "is that an import or somthing? does that mean it will be hard to get parts", to which i simply replied "yep....".

cant comment on repiar quality as of yet but will let you guys know when i do...

kari

found a photo on my girlfriends phone!! sorry about the blurryness.. looks like i lost the photo's of the deployed airbags tho

Edited February 14, 2009 by t0rpy