Ok one of my mantra's is never skimp on safety, but I have to admit I don't know much about side-impact air-bags except that there is a lot of controversy surrounding them. People that have ordered, did you get them? If not, was it just a price issue, or are there other things to consider too?

 

I did not get the side impact airbags (eventually). I suppose it was a cost issue, because if they were free I would have gotten them. I decided not to get them, however, because I am concerned about the shoulder room in the Z. I am a big guy, 6'3" and 250, and I had to buy a Maxima rather than a Passat because I did not have enough shoulder room in the Passat. I think the Z will be big enough, but only barely and I did not want to give up an inch of shoulder room for the airbags. I had originally ordered a Base with side impact airbags, but I cancelled the airbags for the reason stated above and also I upgraded to the enthusiast. I decided from a safety standpoint, the traction control which could keep me out of an accident, was better than the marginal benefit the side impact airbags would provide if I got in an accident. Also by cancelling the airbags, the upgrade to enghusiast was only $1400.

 

I ordered 'em. I didn't really think twice about it. I'm all for safety features like side air bags. To be honest, if there is any controversy about the benefits/drawbacks of them, I don't know about it. But I would like to hear what others think.

 

One question. Have you ever had a significant wreck ? If you do, or have ,then you will buy all the safety you can afford. Personally ,I have had a car totaled, yet protect me and those inside,primarily due to all of the new safety features we have available to us. I NEVER considered not buying the side air bags. Am I really the only one planning to go fast ? Even the best drivers are sometimes involved in accidents. I want to walk away from mine should it happen a second time.

 

I thought about it for a while... keeping cost down was a factor, but in the end i decided to get them.

My luck works in that sort of opposite way.

Since i got the airbags, I will never ever need them. And that is worth every penny.

 

It is my understanding that the side air bag containment area, located just behind the "A" pillar on the side roof line, is the same whether or not you choose to fill the area with a bag. You will not save headroom by not ordering it.

 

I'm pretty sure that the side airbag is located in the side bolster on the seat- this way regardless of how the seat is adjusted, the airbag will be positioned properly. if you look closely in this picture, on the side of the seat, you can almost make out the word "AIR" or "SRS" I'm not certain on this- please take a look...

<IMG SRC="https://my350z.com/news/may24/scafremon-27.jpg">

 

I didn't order them, because of cost and because I tend to think something like that is of only marginal safety improvement. I don't know of any specific controversy surrounding them, and if there were some hard evidence (like an insurance discount?) in favor, I'd probably order them. From a side impact standpoint, I'm much more concerned about getting T-boned and smashed in the car than I am about wacking my head on the B pillar. Then again, my other car is a Jeep Wrangler, and I drive down the interstate with no doors on.

But if it's true that they're built into the seat.. hmm.. that certainly throws a wrench into everyone's plans to get aftermarket leather kits, doen't it???

 

Typically side airbags are considered different than head "curtain" airbags. In my Audi A4, the side airbags are built into the sides of the seats. (This seems to be how it is on most cars I've seen.) The A4 also has curtain airbags, and they are located in the a-pillar. (Other cars have the curtain airbags in the horizontal pillar between A and B, or even in the b-pillar.)

But anyway, "curtain" airbags are usually located up higher towards your head, while "side" airbags are usually in the side of the seats. If someone says "side curtain" airbag, I would assume that just means curtain.

As far as custom seats, I know a lot of A4/S4 guys who've gotten aftermarket seats. (Sparco, Recaro, etc.) This of course causes the airbag warning light on the dash to come on, since the car has lost contact with the airbag system in the front seats. (Since they no longer exist!) In this case, you have to put a resistor of some certain size in between the airbag wires going to the seats, and this gets rid of the errors. I'm assuming you could do something similar if you wanted to get aftermarket upholstery on your seats with airbags. You'd have to disable/disconnect the airbag system.

 

I did not get the side curtain air bags. Here are my reasons:

1) Questionable benefit
There are debates about the benefits of airbags. From my personal experience I don't know anybody who has benefited from an air bag. I do know someone who had a minor accident and the air bag went off and broke their wrist in several places. It took a few surgeries, pins, and a long time to heal.

2) Driving and Accident Record
I'll probably jinx myself here but with almost 30 years of aggressive driving I have never had an accident. The best policy is to drive well and defensively to avoid and accident.

3) I hate insurance
Buying the side curtain airbags is like buying insurance against having an accident from the side and getting injured. I never buy any insurance I don't have to and don't ever buy extended warranties. Those of you who say that you never skimp on safety I will respond my saying we all have our threshold of safety. If you really never skimped on safety you would stay at home all day in a sealed plastic bubble and never move. That way you'd be safe from injury and sickness. Of course we can't do that so we each judge what is acceptable risk vs. cost and inconvenience. And those of you who say cost is irrelevant, would you spend and extra $100,000 for a device that would prevent all accidents and injuries ? I doubt it. In my case I chose not to get these air bags.

4) I did not want to spend another $500+ for something I wasn't sure was worth it.

 

I will try to word this as to not be rude but do you even wear a seatbelt?? Your arguement and anaology is simply faulty. Insurance cannot prevent injuries. It only pays for the cost of repairing them and sometimes the human body can't be repaired, especially head injuries. We also aren't talking $100,000. We are talking $500; another unrealistic comparison. Even to the average buyer $500 is only $10 a month on their payment. If your safety isn't worth that to you then frankly you are scare me. I have been racing for half my life. I have cartwheeled a formula car at over 120mph and walked away. Why? Safety precations. Your friend broke their wrist? More than likely they had their arms improperly positioned inside the wheel. Nearly all airbag injuries/fatalities are preventable and come under the "user error" catagory. You don't believe they work because you don't personally know someone? See here:

http://www.tech.volvo.se/rt/trmag/vt...4/a4no198.html

On the track it seems that it's the people that have this attitude in the drivers meetings and preseason rules setting that always drive the most recklessly and have the worst accidents.

Oh well, I guess Darwinism is classic.

 

I've been in all kinds of accidents.

Real men bounce, they don't break.

 

led (sp?) = lead