2012 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX Owners Manual

1-44Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
CAUTION
Observe the following precautions.
Failure to do so may prevent the
SUBARU advanced frontal airbag
system from functioning correctly
or cause the system to fail. . Do not apply any strong impact
to the front passenger ’sseat
such as by kicking.
. Do not spill liquid on the front
passenger ’s seat. If liquid is
spilled, wipe it off immediately.
. Do not remove or disassemble
the front passenger ’s seat.
. Do not install any accessory
(such as an audio amplifier) other
than a genuine SUBARU acces-
sory under the front passenger ’s
seat.
. Do not place anything (shoes,
umbrella, etc.) under the front passenger ’s seat.
. The front passenger ’s seat must
not be used with the head re-
straint removed.
. Do not leave any article including
a child restraint system on the
front passenger ’s seat or the
seatbelt tongue and buckle en- gaged when you leave your ve-hicle.
. Do not place a magnet near the
seatbelt buckle and the seatbelt
retractor.
. Do not use front seats with their
backward-forward position and
seatback not being locked into
place securely. If any of them are
not locked securely, adjust them
again. For adjusting procedure,
refer to “Front seats ”F 1-2.
If the seatbelt buckle switch and/or frontpassenger ’s occupant detection system
have failed, the SRS airbag system
warning light will illuminate. Have the
system inspected by your SUBARU deal-
er immediately if the SRS airbag system
warning light illuminates.
If your vehicle has sustained impact, this
may affect the proper function of the
SUBARU advanced frontal airbag system.
Have your vehicle inspected at your
SUBARU dealer. ! Passenger ’s frontal airbag ON and
OFF indicators
Refer to “Front passenger ’s frontal airbag
ON and OFF indicators ”F 3-14. !
Conditions in which front passen- ger’s SRS frontal airbag is not
activated
The front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag
will not be activated when any of the
following conditions are met regarding the
front passenger ’s seat:
. The seat is empty.
. The seat is equipped with a rearward
facing child restraint system and an infant
is restrained with it. (See WARNING thatfollows.) . The seat is equipped with a forward
facing child restraint system and a small
child is restrained with it. (See WARNING
that follows.) . The seat is equipped with a booster
seat and a small child is in the booster
seat. (See WARNING that follows.) . The seat is relieved of the occupant
load for a time exceeding the predeter-
mined monitoring time period. . The seat is occupied by a child who
has outgrown a child restraint system
(See WARNING that follows.) or by a
small adult. . The front passenger ’s occupant detec-
tion system is malfunctioning.

WARNING
NEVER INSTALL A REARWARD FA-
CING CHILD SEAT IN THE FRONT
PASSENGER ’S SEAT EVEN IF THE
FRONT PASSENGER ’S SRS FRON-
TAL AIRBAG IS DEACTIVATED. Be
sure to install it in the REAR seat in
a correct manner. Also, it is strongly
recommended that any forward fa-
cing child seat or booster seat be
installed in the REAR seat, and that
even children who have outgrown a
child restraint system be also
seated in the REAR seat. This is
because children sitting in the frontpassenger ’s seat may be killed or
severely injured should the frontpassenger ’s SRS frontal airbag de-
ploy. REAR seats are the safest
place for children.
CAUTION
When the front passenger ’s seat is
occupied by a child, observe the
following precautions. Failure to do
so may increase the load on the
front passenger ’s seat, activating
the front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbag even though that seat is
occupied by a child. .
Do not place any article on the
seat other than the child occu-
pant and a child restraint system.
. Do not place more than one child
on the seat.
. Do not install any accessory
such as a table or TV onto theseatback.
. Do not store a heavy load in the
seatback pocket.
. Do not allow the rear seat occu-
pant to place his/her hands or
legs on the front passenger ’s
seatback, or allow him/her to pull
the seatback.
! If the front passenger ’s frontal air-
bag ON indicator illuminates and the
OFF indicator turns off even when
an infant or a small child is in a child
restraint system (including boosterseat)
1. Turn the ignition switch to the “LOCK ”
position.
2. Remove the child restraint system
from the seat.
3. By referring to the child restraint manufacturer ’s recommendations as well
as the child restraint system installation
procedures in “Child restraint systems ”F
1-21, correctly install the child restraint
system.
4. Turn the ignition switch to the “ON ”
position and make sure that the front passenger ’s frontal airbag ON indicator
turns off and the OFF indicator illuminates.
If still the ON indicator remains illuminated
while the OFF indicator turns off, take the
following actions. . Ensure that no article is placed on the
seat other than the child restraint system
and the child occupant. . Ensure that there is no article left in the
seatback pocket. . Ensure that the backward-forward po-
sition and seatback of front passenger ’s
seat are locked into place securely by
moving the seat back and forth.
If the ON indicator still remains illuminated
while the OFF indicator turns off after
taking relevant corrective actions de-
scribed above, relocate the child restraint
system to the rear seat and immediately
contact your SUBARU dealer for aninspection. NOTE
When a child who has outgrown a child
restraint system or a small adult is
seated in the front passenger ’s seat,
the SUBARU advanced frontal airbag Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-45
– CONTINUED –

1-46Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
system may or may not activate the
front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag
depending on the occupant ’s seating
posture. If the front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbag is activated (the ON
indicator remains i lluminated while
the OFF indicator turns off), take the
following actions. . Ensure that no article is placed on
the seat other than the occupant. . Ensure that there is no article left in
the seatback pocket.
If the ON indicator still remains illumi-
nated while the OFF indicator turns off
despite the fact that the actions noted
above have been taken, seat the child/
small adult in the rear seat and im-
mediately contact your SUBARU dealer
for an inspection. Even if the system
has passed the dealer inspection, it is
recommended that on subsequent trips
the child/small adult always take the
rear seat.
Children who have outgrown a child
restraint system should always wear the
seatbelt irrespective of whether the airbag
is deactivated or activated. !
Conditions in which front passen-ger’s SRS frontal airbag is activated
The front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag
will be activated for deployment upon
impact when any of the following condi-
tions are met regarding the front passen- ger ’s seat.
. When the seat is occupied by an adult.
. When a heavy article is placed on the
seat.
CAUTION
When the front passenger ’s seat is
occupied by an adult, observe the
following precautions. Failure to do
so may lessen the load on the frontpassenger ’s seat, deactivating the
front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag
despite the fact that the seat is
occupied by an adult. This could
result in personal injury. . Do not allow the rear seat occu-
pant to lift the front passenger ’s
seat cushion using his/her feet.
. Do not place any article under the
front passenger ’s seat, or
squeeze any article from behind
and under the seat. This may lift
the seat cushion.
. Do not squeeze any article be- tween the front passenger
’s seat
and side trim/pillar, door or cen-
ter console box. This may lift the
seat cushion.
! If the passenger ’s frontal airbag OFF
indicator illuminates and the ON
indicator turns off even when the
front passenger ’s seat is occupied
by an adult
This can be caused by the adult incor-
rectly sitting in the front passenger ’s seat.
1. Turn the ignition switch to the “LOCK ”
position.
2. Ask the front passenger to set the
seatback to the upright position, sit up
straight in the center of the seat cushion,
correctly fasten the seatbelt, position his/
her legs out forward, and adjust the seat to
the rearmost position.
3. Turn the ignition switch to the “ON ”
position.
If the OFF indicator remains illuminated
while the ON indicator remains off, take
the following actions.
1. Turn the ignition switch to the “LOCK ”
position.
2. Ensure that there are no articles,
books, shoes, or other objects trapped
under the seat, at the rear of the seat, or
on the side of the seat.

3. Ensure that the backward-forward
position and seatback of front passenger’s
seat are locked into place securely by
moving the seat back and forth.
4. Turn the ignition switch to the “ON ”
position and wait 6 seconds to allow the
system to complete self-checking. Follow-
ing the system check, both indicators turn
off for 2 seconds. Now, the ON indicator
should illuminate while the OFF indicator
remains off.
If the OFF indicator still remains illumi-
nated while the ON indicator remains off,
ask the occupant to move to the rear seat
and immediately contact your SUBARU
dealer for an inspection. ! Effect vehicle modifications made
for persons with disabilities may
have on SUBARU advanced frontal
airbag system operation (U.S. only)
Changing or moving any parts of the front
seats, rear seat, seatbelts, front bumper,
front side frame, radiator panel, instrument
panel, combination meter, steering wheel,
steering column, tire, suspension or floor
panel can affect the operation of the
SUBARU advanced airbag system. If
you have any questions, you may contact
the following SUBARU distributors. of Columbia>
Subaru of America, Inc.
Customer Dealer Services Department
P.O. Box 6000
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034-6000
1-800-SUBARU3 (1-800-782-2783)
Servco Subaru Inc., dba Subaru Hawaii
2850 Pukoloa Street, Suite 202, Honolulu,
HI 96819 808-839-2273 Shen
’s Corporation dba Prestige Automo-
bile
491, East Marine Drive, Route 1 Dededo, Guam 671-633-2698

Trebol Motors
P.O. Box 11204, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00910 787-793-2828
There are currently no SUBARU distribu-
tors 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. &
System operation
CAUTION
Do not touch the SRS airbag system
components with bare hands right
after deployment. Doing so can
cause burns because the compo-
nents can be very hot as a result ofdeployment.
The SRS airbags can function only when
the ignition switch is in the “ON ”position.
When the SRS airbag(s) deploy(s), a
sudden, fairly loud inflation noise will be
heard and some smoke will be released.
These occurrences are a normal result of
the deployment. This smoke does not
indicate a fire in the vehicle. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-47
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1-48Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
! SRS frontal airbag 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 immediately so that the driver ’s vision is not
obstructed. The SUBARU advanced frontal airbag
system is designed to determine the
activation or deactivation condition of the
front passenger
’s SRS frontal airbag
depending on the total load on the frontpassenger ’s seat monitored by the front
passenger ’s occupant detection system
weight sensor. For this reason, only thedriver ’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 and the impact
sensors in the airbag control module
detect a predetermined amount of force
during a frontal collision, 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 inflate the
SRS frontal airbag(s). The driver ’s and
front passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags use
dual stage inflators.
The two inflators of each airbag are
triggered either sequentially or simulta-
neously, depending on the severity of
impact, 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 case of the front passen-ger ’s SRS frontal airbag.

After deployment, the SRS airbag imme-
diately starts to deflate so that the driver’s
vision is not obstructed and the driver ’s
ability to maintain control of the vehicle is
not impaired. The time required from
detecting impact to the deflation 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.
The driver ’s SRS frontal airbag and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbag are de-
signed to deploy in the event of an
accident involving a moderate to severe
frontal collision. They are basically not
designed to deploy in lesser frontal im-
pacts because the necessary protection
can be achieved by the seatbelt alone.
Also, they are basically not designed to
deploy in side or rear impacts or in roll-
over accidents because deployment of
only the driver ’s SRS frontal airbag or both
driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS frontal
airbags would not help the occupant in
those situations. The driver ’s and front
passenger ’s SRS frontal airbags are de-
signed to function on a one-time-onlybasis. 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 vehicleitself.
!
Example of accident in which thedriver ’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 acti-
vated when the vehicle is exposed to a
frontal impact similar in fashion and
magnitude to the collision describedabove. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-49
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1-50Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
! Examples of the types of accidents
in which it is possible that thedriver ’s/driver ’s and front passen-
ger ’s SRS frontal airbag(s) will de-
ploy.
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
undercarriage 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 occur.1) The vehicle strikes an object, such as a
telephone pole or sign pole.
2) The vehicle slides under the load bed of a truck.
3) The vehicle sustains an oblique offset frontal impact.
4) The vehicle sustains an offset frontal collision.
5) The vehicle strikes an object that can move or deform, such as a parked vehicle.
There are many types of collisions which
might not necessarily require deployment
of driver ’s/driver ’s and front passenger ’s
SRS frontal airbag(s). In the event of
accidents like those illustrated, the dri-ver ’s/driver ’s and front passenger ’s SRS
frontal airbag(s) may not deploy depend-
ing on the level of accident forces in-volved. Seat, seatbelt and SRS airbags
1-51
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