Airbag
Systems
TheAirbagsincombinationwiththesafetybelts
makesupasafetysystemwhichoffersthe
driverandthepassengerthegreatestknown
protectionfrominjuriesincaseofaccident.
Evenifyourvehicleisequippedwithairbags,
thesafetybeltsmustbewornatalltimes,
becausethefrontairbagsystemisonlyactu-
atedbyfrontalcollisionswithanimpactofsuffi-
cientseverity.
Seeshownfigureforrangesofeffectiveness.
44Controls,Instruments
Belowtheactuationthresholdoftheairbagsys-
tem,andduringtypesofcollisionswhichdonot
causetheactuationofthesystem,thesafety
beltsprovidetheprimaryprotectiontotheoccu-
pantswhencorrectlyworn.
Therefore,allpersonswithin
thevehicle
mustalwayswearsafety
belts(inmany
states,statelawrequirestheuseofsafety
belts).Seealsothechapter"SafetyBelts".
Thefrontairbagsarelocatedbehindthepadded
steeringwheelpanelonthedriver'ssideandon
thepassenger'ssideinthedashboard.
Thesideairbags(POSIP-PorscheSideImpact
ProtectionSystem)areinstalledinthedoors
underthedoortrimpanel.
Function
Thefrontairbagsaretriggeredduringafrontal
collisionofsufficientforce.
Intheeventofasideimpactofcorresponding
force,thesideairbagontheimpactsideistrig-
gered.
Theinflationprocessgeneratestheamountof
gasrequiredtofilltheairbagsatthenecessary
pressureinfractionsofasecond.
Airbagsprotectthefaceandupperbody,whilst
simultaneouslydampingthemotionofthedriver
andpassengerintheimpactdirectioninthe
eventofafrontalimpactorsideimpact.
A.Danger!
Toprovide
optimaloccupantprotection,
airbagsmustinflateatveryhighspeed.
Ifyouarenotwearingyoursafetybeltor
aretooclosetotheairbagwhenitsde-
ployed,inflatingairbagscanresultin
seriousinjuryordeath.
t>
Makesuretherearenopeople,animalsor
objectsbetweenthedriverorpassengerand
theareaintowhichtheairbaginflates.
t>Sitbackasfarfromthedashboardorsteer-
ingwheelasispractical,whilestillmaintaining
fullvehiclecontrol.
t>Donotleanagainsttheinsideofthedoors.
t>
Alwaysholdthesteeringwheelbytheouter
rim.
Neverrestyourhandsontheairbagpanel.
t>
Nevertransportheavyobjectsonorinfront
ofthepassengerseat.
t>
Alwayskeepthelidofthedoorstoragecom-
partmentclosed.Objectsmustnotprotrude
outofthedoorstoragecompartment.
t>
Giveyourpassengeralloftheinformationin
thischapter.
t>No
changesmustbemadetothewiringor
componentsoftheairbagsystem.
Temperature
A,B,C
ThetemperaturegradesareA(thehighest),B
andC,representingthetire'sresistancetothe
generationofheatanditsabilitytodissipate
heatwhentestedundercontrolledconditionson
aspecifiedindoorlaboratorytestwheel.
Sustainedhightemperaturescancausethema-
terialofthetiretodegenerateandreducetire
life,andexcessivetemperaturecanleadtosud-
dentirefailure.
ThegradeCcorrespondstoalevelofperfor-
mancewhichallpassengercartiresmustmeet
undertheFederalMotorVehicleSafetyStandard
No.109.
GradesBandArepresenthigherlevelsofper-
formanceonthelaboratorytestwheelthanthe
minimumrequiredbylaw.
A
Warning!
Thetemperaturegradeforthistireisestab-
lishedforatirethatisproperlyinflatedandnot
overloaded.
Excessivespeed,underinflation,orexcessive
loading,eitherseparatelyorincombination,can
causeheatbuildupandpossibletirefailure.
Tirepressures
A
Warning!
Incorrecttirepressurecausesincreased
tirewearandadverselyaffectsroadhand-
ling.
I>Alwaysuseanaccuratetirepressuregauge
whencheckinginflationpressures.
I>Donotexceedthemaximumtirepressure
listedonthetiresidewall.(Alsoreferto"Tech-
nicaldata").
I>Coldtireinflationpressuremeans:alltires
mustbecold,ambienttemperaturemaximum
68°F
(20°C),whenadjustingtheinflation
pressure.
Avoidsunlightstrikingthetiresbefore
measuringcoldpressures,sincethepress-
ureswouldrisefromtemperatureinfluence.
I>Valvecapsprotectthevalvefromdustand
dirt,andthusfromleakage.
Alwaysscrewcapstightlydown.
Replacemissingcapsimmediately.
I>Forsafetyreasons,don'tusetireinflating
bottles.
Tiretraction
A
Warning!
Whendrivingonwetorslushyroads,a
wedgeofwatermaybuild
up
betweenthe
tiresandtheroad.Thisphenomenonis
knownas"hydroplane"andmaycausepar-
tialorcompletelossoftraction,vehicle
controlorstoppingability.
I>Reducespeedonwetsurfacetopreventthis.
Tirelife
Tirelifedependsonvariousfactors,i.e.,road
surfaces,trafficandweatherconditions,driving
habits,typeoftiresandtirecare.
I>Inspectyourtiresforwearanddamagebe-
foredrivingoff.Ifyounoticeunevenorsub-
stantialwear,wheelsmightneedalignmentor
tiresshouldbebalancedorreplaced.
I>I>I>
PracticalTips,EmergencyService
199
