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.