Page 44 of 263

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.
Page 45 of 263

t>Donotaddanyadditionalcoveringsor
stickerstothesteeringwheelorinthearea
ofthepassengerairbagandsideairbags.
Doingsomayadverselyaffectthefunctioning
oftheairbagsystemorcauseharmtothe
occupantsiftheairbagsystemshoulddeploy.
t>Donotundertakeanywiringforelectricalac-
cessoryequipmentinthevicinityoftheairbag
wiringharnesses.Doingsomaydisablethe
airbagsystemorcauseinflation.
t>Ifthewarninglightcomeson,theairbagsys-
temshouldberepairedimmediatelybyyour
authorizedPorschedealer.
Note
Airbagcomponents(e.g.steeringwheel,door
trim)maybedisassembledonlybyanauth-
orizedPorschedealer.
Whendisposingofausedairbagunit,oursafety
instructionsmustbefollowed.Theseinstructions
canbeobtainedatanyauthorizedPorsche
dealer.
{)Warninglight
Thecentraltriggeringunitmonitorstheoper-
ationalreadinessoftheairbagsystemandthe
warninglight.
Anymalfunctionsthatmayoccurwillbeindi-
catedbythewarninglightsintheinstrument
panelandon-boardcomputer.
t>Inthefollowingcasesyoushouldimme-
diatelyconsultanauthorizedPorsche
dealerinordertoassuretheairbagsys-
temisfunctioningproperly:
-
Illuminationoftheairbagwarninglightduring
travelorrepeatedilluminationlongerthan5
secondsaftertheignitioncircuitisturned
on.
-
Illuminationfailstolightupduringignitioncir-
cuitactivation.
Iftheairbagsonthepassenger'ssideare
switchedoffbythechild
restraint
system,or
ifaninstalledchildrestraintsystemisdetected
whentheignitionisswitchedon,thewarning
lightflashesfor60secondswhentheignition
is
on.
A.Danger!
Ifthelightdoesnotflash,theairbagsare
notdeactivatedandachildrestraintsys-
temmustnotbeinstalled.
t>
Havethefaultremediedimmediatelybyan
authorizedPorschedealer.
Airbagmaintenance
Inordertoensurelong-termfunctioning,theair-
bagsystemmustbeinspectedbyanauthorized
Porschedealerafter4,8and10yearsfromthe
dateofmanufactureshownonthesafetycom-
pliancesticker,andevery2yearsthereafter.
Importantinformation
IfyousellyourPorsche,notifythepurchaser
thatthevehicleisequippedwithairbags,and
referthemtothechapter,"AirbagSystems",in
theowner'smanual(safetyanddisposalrules).
Furtherinformationontheairbagsystemcanbe
foundonstickersatthesunvisors,aswellas
onallairbagcomponents.
Forspecialrecommendationsontheuseofchild
restraints,pleaserefertothechapteron"Child
RestraintSystems".
Controls,Instruments
45
Page 46 of 263

RolloverProtectionSystem
TheRolloverProtectionSystemonthe
Cabrioletconsistsoftwosupplementalsafety
barsthattogetherwiththefrontwindshield
framehelptocreateoccupantsurvivalspacein
caseofrollover.Becauseoftheextremeand
unpredictableforceswhichcanbeencountered
inarollover,itisnotpossibletoguaranteethat
occupantswillbeprotectedfromallcontactwith
exteriorobjectsortheground.However,the
RolloverProtectionSystemisdesignedtomain-
taintheoccupantsurvivalspace.
TheRolloverProtectionSystemisactivated
automaticallyintheeventofanaccidentorex-
tremedrivingsituation.
Theprotectivedevicesarelocatedbehindeach
rearseatandrapidlydeploywithinafractionof
asecond.
Theycandeployunder:
-Extremetiltingofthevehicle.
-Lossofgroundcontact(e.g.Goingoverthe
crestofahillathighspeed).
46Controls,Instruments
/!\Danger!
Riskofdeathorseriousinjury.
I>Donotblockareaofsupplementalsafety
barswithobjects.
Intheeventofadeploymentevent,suchob-
jectscouldpotentiallypreventsuchdeploy-
mentfromoccuring,orsuchobjectscould
impactthecaroccupantsathighspeed.
I>Donottamperwithorworkonwiringandor
componentsofRolloverProtectionSystem.
I>Allworkregardingthissystemmustbecar-
riedoutbyyourauthorizedPorschedealer.
I>Checkfunctionsandperiodicserviceintervals
accordingtomaintenanceschedule(seeyour
authorizedPorschedealer).
Toavoiddamagetotheconvertibletop:
I>Ifthesupplementalsafetybarsareextended
foranyreason,donotopenorcloseconvert-
ibletop.
@
Warninglight
Thewarninglightilluminateswhenignitionis
switchedonandgoesoffwhenengineisrun-
ning.
Shouldthewarninglightsintheinstrumentpanel
andon-boardcomputerilluminatewiththeen-
ginerunningorwhiledriving,itmeansthata
faulthasbeendetectedinthesystem.Theoper-
ationofthesystemmaybecompromised.
SeeyourauthorizedPorschedealerimmediately
andhavethefaultremedied.