Airbags, Why do Miatas not need them?
 

Question related to topic on another thread...

Why do we generally on this forum think it is OK to remove our airbags and drive on the street? Is it typically done only when adding additional restraints, like harnesses? Are they removed because airbags are disallowed at certain types of track events?

most Miata's without airbags are tracked more than driven on the street. I have no airbags but don't track the car. I just don't care about my life I guess.

I see alot of people saying, they worry about 20 year old airbags.

Arctct had both airbags go off when he was hit. His face didn't hit the airbag because of his harness. That was at 35-40mph, so maybe with more speed it would be good to have.

I just hope my rollbar + harness will keep me alive.

1. I had perpetual airbag system problems...meaning the system wasn't functioning anyhow.

2. They are the first gen type of airbags, that do not meter explosion force based on impact G force, and will blow, full force, in a fender bender, possibly causing injury that wouldn't otherwise happen.

3. The benefits outweighed the probability a 20yr old airbag might help me. Better looking steering wheel, weight savings (pulled brain and full harness).

When my 90 got pwnt by an Explorer my bag didn't go off :dunno:

Frontal hit btw.

those were one of the first things to go on my car! :giggle: i is scerd of dem...

Factory seat belts have a bit of "give" in them by design.

Take a close look at the end of your seat belt where it bolts to the car (the end opposite the reel). Underneath that sock, the belt is folded over itself and stitched. In an impact, the force of your body against the belt tears the stitches, and the belt gradually gives way and expands, so as to slow you more gradually.

Racing harnii have not these things, which is why Mr. Face didn't get anywhere near Mr. Airbag. The downside to this lack of play is an increased propensity towards the snapping of Mr. Spinal Column as Mr. Head suddenly tries to accelerate away from Mr. Body.

This. On a new car, not so much, but on an old car like this, any time I was in front of the wheel or passenger dash I was a bit worried. It was like it was always staring at me ready to ruin my day. So I removed the driver side, and have yet to get around to doing the passenger side. I will eventually. I don't feel safe in this little car even with an airbag, so I'm not too worried about it being gone.

Thats Mr. Hat mmmkay

oh shit pheil lol

I've only been fortunate enough to get hit in the face by airbags twice. Once was in the miata.

The first time it happened I remember trying to stuff the airbag back into the steering wheel so I could drive away. Too bad there was a telephone pole laying across the roof of the car and the road. Not to mention the car was completely fucking totaled.

The time it happened in the miata I didnt have my seat belt on and somehow the bag pushed my forehead into the windshield frame. I remember crashing and thinking "what the fuck.....again?!". Luckily a bunch of kids hanging out at the gas station across the street came over and helped me push it back onto the road. It was stuck in reverse so I had to drive it home in reverse! lol

Fuck I used to be crazy. lol

Tits ok, we forgive you. Only because you sex me up :giggle: Give meh some suga :makeout:

Was that before or after you broke your hand in 47 places beating the shit out of an inanimate object?

Vashthestampede, I wanna hear more of these stories, I am intrigued now.

Hmmm....now that you mention that. lol

The group of guys down at the shop complex are mostly in their 50's-60's, and whenever I stop down there to have some beers with them they always ask me what new stories or pussy I can tell them about. lol

Back on topic.

Canadian Miatas didn't get airbags until '93.

If you are pulling the airbags you might want to replace your seatbelts with '90-'92 Canadian ones. They don't have the tearaway stitching that Joe mentions. Just my 2c.

I will say that it's probably not the best idea to pull the bags out of a newer car, unless you are specifically using a racing harness or going to be on track.

Went I took an excursion through the woods in my wife's Cavalier the airbag surely kept me from having serious injury. I COULD NOT BELIEVE how I walked away from that one considering the speed, angle and damage. I felt like I'd been form tackled, but didn't have a scratch, bruise or broken appendage on me.

Had I done the same thing in my '92, airbag or not, it would have been much uglier.

With the stock wheel in my car, my knee hits the steering wheel with my foot just barely above the brake pedal.

I opted to have a clear shot at the brake pedal over having an air bag -- I got a dished wheel that clears my leg better.

How tall are you?

I ask because, at 6'1", I don't have this problem. I have my seat adjusted such that my knees come up slightly behind the steering wheel, and while the wheel does occasionally rub my thighs, this doesn't seem to create any problems for me.

I'm 6' with short legs, but the wheel infringes on my "oh shit" braking ability.

i would 86 mine cause the controller is freid anyway.

The airbag is the primary reason that my '94 still has the OE steering wheel in it. If I get into a front end collision, I'm going to get fucked up, airbag or not; I simply prefer that I be taken away on a stretcher without a sheet over my body.

Same here, a friend hit me from behind when I stopped to avoid hitting the motorcycle that stopped in front of me. My friend was doing 35 or 40 and the airbags didn't go off. I simply don't trust mine anymore. If I could remove them without failing a CA safety/smog inspection figuring it out I just might do so.

first of all LOL:giggle:
Second of all, they're not supposed to go off when you get rear ended.

I think he's saying that the airbags in his "friend's" car did not deploy.

Yeah... there is no good way to tell that story. On an intersting side note, if you show up at the hospital complaining of neck soreness and restricted mobility in the way of a car accident, they get you into the x ray room very quickly.

I would have thought a rear end collision would be a great use of the airbags to avoid whiplash?

Actually, neither of us had our airbags deploy. My friend's 97 or my 94.

Not quite, a rear end collision makes your head slam back into the seat first then go forward by which point the airbag would have already been deflating doing nothing for you. Yeah, it happens that fast.

Which is why they are "Supplemental Restraint" since they do nothing for you after the initial deploying impact. Think: Hitting that guy who ran the red = Airbag deploy, then loosing it into the light pole because your steering is farked = better be wearing that seatbelt, eh?

I swapped in an NB wheel with an NB airbag, swapped connectors, mailed in my airbag diagnostic box for "repair", it came back just as screwy as it was when I yanked it the first time.

I didn't like the Russian Roulette feeling of driving around with a (possibly) malfunctioning airbag module so I yanked the module again. So, airbag doesn't work, but at least it's flat plastic and not hard metal.

Exactly. Also on a side note, Just racing harnesses without anything else can be just as bad. Take it as an all or nothing type of thing. Harness, Seat(designed for a harness), Rollbar/cage, And padding. 1 out of the 4 is no bueno. ;)

It's because my car wasn't made with airbags. Mazda Canada waited until 1994 to put them in, so therefore, I don't need them.

Posting for future search accuracy: Sorry man, 1993 was the first year and it was driver's side only.

I rear-ended an Explorer at ~50-mpg in a 96. Airbags deployed, I was wearing my seatbelt. My body/head were fine because of the seatbelt. My left arm and hand got the shit beat out of it because of the airbag. Not to mention the damage the airbags do to the dash,windshield and top (blew the rear window right off the top as it was up and the windows were up as well). If there were no airbags, I would have been better off.

I see this quite frequently. A Pre-airbag car in a 40mph collision=dead driver. A newer airbag equipped car doing 70-80mph, driver walks away. Most newer systems have secondary charges for second impacts. A newer sub-compact is WAY safer than an older SUV.

With that said, my 90 no-longer has airbags. They probably wouldn't have worked anyway. We obviously have no regard for personal safety.

That's some pretty good gas mileage. Had you not been eyeing you instantaneous mpg gauge like a prick Prius driver you might not have hit that truck.

Fuck you...and I mean that in the most dignified way..asshole.

You girls are silly!


Mike- You rear ended someone at 50 mph and didn't contact the airbag with your face and chest? Was the seat leaned way back or what? I would think that would be nearly impossible to do. You must have had the shoulder belt really snug before the impact.

I'm concerned about safety in a major collision. I intend to add a seat, harnesses, and a rollbar at some point, but was questioning the sense it made to replace my airbag steering wheel with an aftermarket one without adding the other safety measures.

I am somewhat surprised how little regard is given to the airbags and their removal here on the forum and am starting to understand why they are taken so lightly. Some of your airbags have bad computers, some of you have upgraded to full harnesses, some of you believe they are voodoo and don't work or are unsafe, and some of you don't have much regard for your own safety.

I'm still trying to formulate my decision, so please keep the info/stories coming.

Has there been any study done on air bag sensors after they've been out in the elements for 15 years? Do they still function as new?

A couple factors I took into consideration before removing mine:
1> Airbag technology from the early 90s/late 80s is probably about as effective as my windshield stopping my head. I've read in several locations that airbags reach "shelf life" around 10-15 years.
2> Most guys on this forum are either tall or wide - the fucking car is really a tin can wrapped around us. If I wreck my miata I'm most likely going to end up pretty mangled regardless of airbag usage. I've been in exactly 1 miata wreck (thx scott) in which case a telephone pole ended up inches from my back - if it had happened in the front an airbag would most likely not have helped for shit.

I wouldn't worry about the sensor itself. In my experience, an electronic sensor which is sufficiently well protected that it can survive being in a harsh environment (eg: a fender well) for 5 days will probably survive for 5 decades.

I'd be more concerned about the pyro, and the electronics in the controller (specifically the electrolytic capacitors.)


Actually, I'm more concerned about the seatbelts themselves. 20 years in the sun and that nylon is looking pretty funky.


Hell, I didn't know you were in the car when that happened!

And don't go exaggerating- that pole was easily a full foot away from your head. :giggle: