2006 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX Owners Manual

1-46 Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags

Trebol Subaru of Puerto Rico, Inc.
P.O. Box 11204, San Juan, Puerto Rico
00910
787-793-2828
There are currently no Subaru distributors
in any other U.S. territories. If you are in
such an area, please contact the Subaru
distributor or dealer from which you
bought your vehicle.

Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags 1-47
– CONTINUED –
Operation
A) Driver’s side
B) Passenger ’s side
1) SRS AIRBAGs deploy as soon as a collision occurs.
2) After deployment, SRS AIRBAGs start to deflate im mediately so that the driver’s vision is not
obstructed.
A B
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2
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The SRS airbag can function only when
the ignition switch is in the “ON ” position.
The Subaru advanced frontal airbag sys-
tem is designed to determine the activa-
tion or deactivation condition of the front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag depend-
ing on the total load on the front passen-
ger ’s seat monitored by the front passen-
ger ’s occupant detection system weight
sensor. For this reason, only the driver ’s
SRS frontal airbag may deploy in the
event of a collision, but this does not mean
failure of the system.
If the front sub sensors inside both front
fenders and the impact sensors in the air-
bag control module detect a predeter-
mined amount of force during a frontal col-
lision, the control module sends signals to
the airbag module(s) (only driver ’s module
or both driver ’s and front passenger ’s
modules) instructing the module(s) to in-
flate the SRS frontal airbag(s). The driv-
er ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal air-
bags use dual stage inflators. The two in-
flators of each airbag are triggered either
sequentially or simultaneously, depending
on the severity of impact, backward-for-
ward adjustment of the driver ’s seat posi-
tion and fastening/unfastening of the seat-
belt in the case of the driver ’s SRS frontal
airbag and depending on the severity of
impact and the total load on the seat in the

1-48 Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
case of the front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbag. After deployment, the SRS airbag
immediately starts to deflate so that the
driver ’s vision is not obstructed. The time
required from detecting impact to the de-
flation of the SRS airbag after deployment
is shorter than the blink of an eye.
Both when only the driver ’s SRS frontal
airbag deploys and the driver ’s and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags deploy,
the driver ’s and front passenger ’s seatbelt
pretensioners operate at the same time.
Although it is highly unlikely that the SRS
airbag would activate in a non-accident
situation, should it occur, the SRS airbag
will deflate quickly, not obscuring vision
and will not interfere with the driver ’s abil-
ity to maintain control of the vehicle.
When the SRS airbag deploys, a sudden,
fairly loud inflation noise will be heard and
some smoke will be released. These oc-
currences are a normal result of the de-
ployment. This smoke does not indicate a
fire in the vehicle.
The driver ’s SRS frontal airbag and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag are de-
signed to deploy in the event of an acci-
dent involving a moderate to severe fron-
tal collision. It is basically not designed to
deploy in lesser frontal impacts because
the necessary protection can be achieved
by the seatbelt alone. Also, they are basi-
cally not designed to deploy in side or rear
impacts or in roll-over accidents because
deployment of only the driver ’s SRS fron-
tal airbag or both driver ’s and front pas-
senger ’s SRS frontal airbags would not
help the occupant in those situations. The
driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbags are designed to function on a one-
time-only basis.
SRS airbag deployment depends on the
level of force experienced in the passen-
ger compartment during a collision. That
level differs from one type of collision to
another, and it may have no bearing on the visible damage done to the vehicle it-
self.
Examples of accident in which the
driver
’s/driver ’s and front passen-
ger ’s SRS frontal airbag(s) will most
likely deploy.
A head-on collision against a thick con-
crete wall at a vehicle speed of 12 to 19
mph (20 to 30 km/h) or higher activates
only the driver ’s SRS frontal airbag or both
driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbags. The airbag(s) will also be activat-
ed when the vehicle is exposed to a frontal
impact similar in fashion and magnitude to
the collision described above.
Do not touch the SRS airbag system
components around the steering
wheel and dashboard with bare
hands right after deployment. Doing
so can cause burns because the
components can be very hot as a re-
sult of deployment.
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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags 1-49
– CONTINUED –
Examples of the types of accidents
in which it is possible that the driv-
er’s/driver ’s and front passenger ’s
SRS frontal airbag(s) will deploy.
The only the driver ’s SRS frontal airbag or
both driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags may be activated when the
vehicle sustains a hard impact in the un-
dercarriage area from the road surface
(such as when the vehicle plunges into a
deep ditch, is severely impacted or
knocked hard against an obstacle on the
road such as a curb).Examples of the types of accidents
in which deployment of the driver
’s/
driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbag(s) is unlikely to de-
ploy.
There are many types of collisions which
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1-50 Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
might not necessarily require deployment
of driver ’s/driver ’s and front passenger ’s
SRS frontal airbag(s). If the vehicle strikes
an object, such as a telephone pole or
sign pole, or if it slides under a truck ’s load
bed, or if it sustains an oblique offset fron-
tal impact, the driver ’s/driver ’s and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag(s) may
not deploy depending on the level of acci-
dent forces involved.Examples of the types of accidents
in which the driver ’s/driver ’s and
front passenger ’s SRS frontal air-
bag(s) will basically not deploy.
The driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbags are designed basically not to deploy if the vehicle is struck from the
side or from behind, or if it rolls onto its
side or roof, or if it is involved in a low-
speed frontal collision.
1) First impact
2) Second impact
In an accident where the vehicle is impact-
ed more than once, the driver
’s and/or
front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag(s)
will deploy only once on the first impact.
Example: In the case of a double collision,
first with another vehicle, then against a
concrete wall in immediate succession,
once either or both of the driver ’s and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags is/are ac-
tivated on the first impact, it/they will not
be activated on the second impact.
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2
1
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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags 1-51
– CONTINUED –
SRS side airbag
The SRS side airbag is stored in the door
side of each front seat seatback, which
bears an “SRS AIRBAG ” label.
In a moderate to severe side impact colli-
sion, the SRS side airbag on the impacted
side of the vehicle deploys between the
occupant and the door panel and supple-
ments the seatbelt by reducing the impact
on the occupant ’s chest and head.
The SRS side airbag is designed as
only a supplement to the primary
protection provided by the seatbelt.
They do not do away with the need
to fasten seatbelts. It is also impor-
tant to wear your seatbelt to help
avoid injuries that can result when
an occupant is not seated in a prop-
er upright position.
Do not sit or lean unnecessarily
close to either front door. The SRS
side airbag is stored in both front
seat seatbacks next to the door, and
it provides protection by deploying
rapidly (faster than the blink of an
eye) in the event of a side impact
collision. However, the force of SRS
side airbag deployment may cause
injuries if your head or other parts of
the body are too close to the SRS
side airbag.
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Do not rest your arm on either front
door or its internal trim. It could be
injured in the event of SRS side air-
bag deployment.
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1-52 Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
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Never allow a child to kneel on the
front passenger ’s seat facing the
side window or to wrap his/her arms
around the front seat seatback. In
the event of an accident, the force of
the SRS side airbag deployment
could injure the child seriously be-
cause his/her head or arms or other
parts of the body are too close to the
SRS side airbag. Since your vehicle
is also equipped with a passenger ’s
SRS frontal airbag, children aged 12
and under should be placed in the
rear seat anyway and should be
properly restrained at all times.
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Do not attach accessories to the
door trim or near either SRS side air-
bags and do not place objects near
the SRS side airbags. In the event of
the SRS side airbag deployment,
they could be propelled dangerous-
ly toward the vehicle ’s occupants
and cause injuries.
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Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags 1-53
– CONTINUED –
Operation
1) SRS side airbag deploys as soon as a
collision occurs.
2) SRS side airbag protects the front pas- senger ’s head and chest.
3) After deployment, SRS side airbag starts to deflate immediately.
The SRS side airbag can function only
when the ignition switch is in the “ON ” po-
sition.
The driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
side airbags deploy independently of each
other since each has its own impact sen-
sor. Also, the SRS side airbag deploys in-
dependently of the frontal airbags in the
steering wheel and instrument panel.
An impact sensor is incorporated into
each of the vehicle ’s center pillars. If ei-
ther sensor detects a certain predeter-
mined amount of force during a side im-
pact collision, the control module sends a
signal to the side airbag module on the im-
pacted side of the vehicle, instructing it to
inflate the SRS side airbag. Then the side
airbag module produces gas, which in-
stantly inflates the SRS side airbag. After
deployment, the SRS side airbag will de-
flate in a few seconds.
The SRS side airbag deploys even when
no one occupies the seat on the side on
which an impact is applied.
When the SRS side airbag deploys, a sud-
den, fairly loud inflation noise will be heard
and some smoke will be released. These
occurrences are normal result of the de-
ployment. This smoke does not indicate a
fire in the vehicle.
Do not put any kind of cover or
clothes or other objects over either
front seatback and do not attach la-
bels or stickers to the front seat sur-
face on or near the SRS side airbag.
They could prevent proper deploy-
ment of the SRS side airbag, reduc-
ing protection available to the front
seat ’s occupant.
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