1996 TOYOTA SUPRA Owners Manual

24
FOLDING DOWN REAR SEAT
Unlock the seatback, and fold it down.
This will enlarge the luggage compart-
ment as far as the front seatbacks. See
Luggage stowage precautionsº in Part 2 for precautions to observe in loading lug- gage.SETTING UP REAR SEAT Unlock the seatback, and set it up.
CAUTION!
When returning the seatback to the
upright position: Make sure the seat belts are not
twisted or caught in the seatback
and are arranged in their proper
position for ready use.
Make sure the seatback is securely
locked by pushing forward and
rearward on the top of the seat- back.
To turn on the seat heater, push the Lº
switch for the driver's seat, and Rº
switch for the passenger's seat. The key must be in the ONº position. Once the seat is warmed up, the heat of
the seat heater is reduced automatically.
The indicator light above the switch illumi-nates when the seat heater is operating.
NOTICE
To prevent the battery from being discharged, turn the switch on
when the engine is running.
Fold-down rear seat Seat heaters

25
Toyota strongly urges that the driver and passengers in the vehicle be properly re- strained at all times with the seat belts
provided. Failure to do so could increase
the chance of injury and/or the severity of
injury in accidents.
Baby or
small child. Use a child restraint
system which fits your vehicle. See Child
restraintº for details.Child. If a child is too large for a child re-
straint system, the child should sit in the rear seat and must be restrained using the
vehicle's seat belt. According to accident
statistics, the child is safer when properly
restrained in the rear seat than in the front
seat. Do not allow the child to stand up or
kneel on either rear or front seats. If the
shoulder belt falls across the child's neck
or face, have the child sit slightly closer to the center of the vehicle so that the belt
lays across the shoulder.
Pregnant woman. Toyota recommends
the use of a seat belt. Ask your doctor for
specific recommendations. The lap belt
should be worn securely and as low as
possible over the hips and not on the waist.
Injured person. Toyota recommends the
use of a seat belt. Depending on the injury,
however, first check with your doctor.
CAUTION!
Persons should ride in their seats
properly wearing their seat belts
whenever the vehicle is moving.
Otherwise, they are much more likely
to suffer serious bodily injury in the
event of s udden braking or a collision.
When using the seat belts, observe the following: Use the belt for only one person at
a time. Do not use a single belt for
two or more peopleÐeven children.
Avoid reclining the seatbacks too
much. The seat belts provide max-
imum protection when the seat- backs are in the upright position.
(See the seat adjustment instruc- tions.)
Be careful not to damage the belt
webbing or hardware. Take care
that they do not get caught or
pinched in the seat or doors.
Inspect the belt system periodical-
ly. Check for cuts, fraying, and
loose parts. Damaged parts
should be replaced. Do not disas-
semble or modify the system. Keep the belts clean and dry. If they
need cleaning, use a mild soap
solution or lukewarm water. Never
use bleach, dye, or abrasive clean-
ersÐthey may severely weaken the
belts.
Replace the belt assembly (includ-
ing bolts) if it has been used in a se-
vere impact. The entire assembly
should be replaced even if damage
is not obvious.
Seat beltsÐ ÐSeat belt precautions

26
Adjust the seat as needed (front seats only) and sit up straight and well back
in the seat. To fasten your belt, pull it
out of the retractor and insert the tab
into the buckle.
You will hear a click when the tab locks into the buckle.
The seat belt length automatically adjusts
to you size and the seat position.
The retractor will lock the belt during a
sudden stop or on impact. It also may lock
if you lean forward too quickly. A slow, easy motion will allow the belt to extend,
and you can move around freely. If the seat belt cannot be pulled out of the
retractor,
firmly pull the belt and release it.
You will then be able to smoothly pull the
belt out of the retractor.
When a passenger's shoulder belt is com-
pletely extended and is then retracted
even slightly, the belt is locked in that posi-
tion and cannot be extended. This feature
is used to hold the child restraint system
securely. (For details, see Child restraintº
in this chapter.) To free the belt again, fully
retract the belt and then pull the belt out
once more.
CAUTION!
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and that the belt is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab andbuckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, i mmediately contact your
Toyota dealer.
Adjust the position of the lap and
shoulder belts. Position the lap belt as low as possible on
your hipsÐnot on your waist, then adjust
it to a snug fit by pulling the shoulder por- tion upward through the latch plate.
CAUTION!
High-positioned lap belts and
loose-fitting belts both could in-
crease the chance of injury due to
sliding under the lap belt during
an accident. Keep the lap belt as
low on your hip bone as possible.
For your safety, do not place the
shoulder belt under your arm.
ÐSeat belts

27
To release the belt, press the buckle-
release button and allow the belt to re- tract.
If the belt does not retract smoothly, pull
it out and check for kinks or twists. Then make sure it remains untwisted as it re- tracts.
CAUTION!
For your safety, do not use the rear
seat belts with the buckles stowed in
the rear seats. If your seat belt cannot be fastened se- curely because it is not long enough, a
personalized seat belt extender is avail-
able from your Toyota dealer free of charge.
Please contact your local Toyota dealer
so that the dealer can order the proper re-
quired length for the extender. Bring the heaviest
coat you expect to wear for prop-
er measurement and selection of length.
Additional ordering information is avail-
able at your Toyota dealer.When using the seat belt extender,
observe the following. Failure to fol-
low these instructions could result
in less effectiveness of the seat belt
restraint system in case of vehicleaccident, increasing the chance of
personal injury. Never use the seat belt extender if
you can fasten the seat belt with-
out it.
Remember that the extender pro-
vided for you may not be safe
when used on a different vehicle,
or for another person or at a d iffer-
ent seating position than the one
originally intended for.
CAUTION!
ÐSeat belt extender

28
To connect the extender to the seat
belt, insert the tab into the seat belt
buckle so that the PRESSº signs onthe buckle-release buttons of the ex-
tender and the seat belt are both facing
outward as shown.
You will hear a click when the tab locks into the buckle.
When releasing the seat belt, press on the
buckle-release button on the extender, not on the seat belt. This helps prevent
damage to the vehicle interior and extend-er itself.
When not in use, remove the extender
and store in the vehicle for future use.
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the seat belt extender is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, i mmediately contact your
Toyota dealer.
CAUTION!
The SRS (Supplemental Restraint Sys-
tem) airbags are designed to provide
further protection to the driver and
front passenger when added to the pri-
mary protection provided by the seatbelts.
In response to a severe frontal impact, the
SRS airbags work together with the seatbelts to prevent or reduce injury by inflat- ing, in order to decrease the likelihood of
the driver's or front passenger's head or
chest directly hitting the steering wheel or dashboard. The passenger airbag is acti- vated even with no passenger in the frontseat. SRS airbags

29
This indicator comes on when the
ignition key is turned to the ACCº or
ONº position. It goes off after about 6
seconds. This means the SRS airbags
are operating properly.
The SRS airbag warning light system
monitors the front airbag sensors, center
airbag sensor assembly, inflators, warn-
ing light, interconnecting wiring and power sources.The SRS airbag system is designed to
activate in response to a severe frontal
impact within the shaded area be-
tween the arrows in the illustration.
The SRS airbags will deploy if the severity
of the impact is above the designed
threshold level, comparable to an approxi-
mate 20 km/h (14 mph) collision when im-
pacting straight into a fixed barrier that
does not move or deform.
If the severity of the impact is below the
above threshold level, the SRS airbags
may not deploy. However, this threshold velocity will be
considerably higher if the vehicle strikes
an object, such as a parked vehicle or sign
pole, which can move or deform on im-
pact, or if it is
involved in an underride col-
lision (a collision in which the nose of the
vehicle underridesº, or goes under, the
bed of a truck). It is possible with collision severity at the marginal level of airbag sensor detection
and activation that only one of your ve-
hicle's two airbags will deploy.
For your safety, be sure to always wear your seat belts.

30
The SRS airbags are not designed to inflate if the vehicle is subjected to a
side or rear impact, if it rolls over, or if
it is involved in a low-speed frontalcollision.The center airbag sensor assembly con-
sists of a safing sensor and center airbag
sensor.
In a severe frontal impact, sensors detect
deceleration and the system triggers the
airbag inflators. Then a chemical reaction
in the inflators momentarily fills the air-
bags with non-toxic nitrogen gas to help
restrain the forward motion of the occu- pants.When the airbags inflate, they produce a fairly
loud noise and release some smoke
along with the nitrogen gas. This is not harmful and does not indicate a fire. Be
sure to wash off any residue as soon as
possible to prevent minor skin irritation.
Deployment of the airbags happen in a
fraction of a second, so the airbags must
inflate with considerable force. While the
system is designed to reduce serious inju-
ries, it may also cause minor burns or
abrasions and swellings.
Parts of the airbag module (steering
wheel hub, dashboard) may be hot for several minutes, but the airbags them-selves w ill not be hot. The airbags are de-
signed to inflate only once.
A crash severe enough to inflate the air-
bags may break the windshield as the ve-
hicle buckles. In vehicles with a passen-ger airbag the windshield may also be
damaged by absorbing some of the force
of the inflating airbag.

31
CAUTION!
The SRS airbag system is de-
signed only as a supplement to
the primary protection of the seat
belt systems of the driver and
front passenger. The front seat
occupants are particularly sus-
ceptible to injury if they do not wear their seat belts; when sud-
den braking or a collision occurs,
they may be thrown forward. To
obtain further protection in an ac-
cident, the driver and all passen- gers in the vehicle should always wear their seat belts when driving.
For instructions and precautions
concerning the seat belt systems,
see Seat beltsº in this chapter.
A baby or small child who is too
small to use a seat belt should be
properly secured in a rear seat us-
ing a child restraint system.
Do not use a rear-facing child re-
straint system in the front seat be-
cause the force of the rapid infla-tion of the passenger airbag may cause severe injury to the child.
Vehicles with a passenger airbag
display a caution label on the pas-
senger side instrument panel as
shown above to remind you not to
install a rear-facing child re-
straint system on the front seat. When using a forward-facing
child restraint system in the front
seat, the seat must be moved as
far back as possible. For instruc-
tions concerning the installation
of a child restraint system, see
Child restraintº in this chapter.