Off-topic chat thread

[luv2spd]

I only heard of a couple of GM cars deploying their air bags at track days a few years ago, I think the newer cars are better designed. My point was that all these new safety features are mostly gimmicks, so what if the car has 10 air bags; that's six more than necessary.

The big issue with air bags is Takata. They filed for bankruptcy, but the onus is still on the car manufacturers to replace all the defective air bags. This mainly affects Japanese cars and some American made ones. There are still people who are waiting on replacements parts to replace the air bag; some of them have been waiting for years. And then there are others that don't bother replacing because they don't think it's a big issue.

Takata knew a while back before the deaths started that their air bags were defective, but they choose to keep it a secret to avoid any recalls. There are records of engineers covering up test results. I think in total there are 1.5 million vehicles affected. I read two stories on Jalopnik where people still drove their car after the recall and ended up dying because of it. One was a farmer driving his Ford Ranger and hit a pole at 40mph, he died due to shrapnel hitting his face instead of having a small bruise if he hadn't had a faulty air bag. There was another story of a girl driving her Honda Civic and dying in a collision due to her air bag blowing up in her face; according to the story she had multiple recall letters from the dealer urging her to bring her car in and have the air bag replaced.

If I had a car with a Takata air bag I would disconnect the air bag wires. I recently replaced the indicator stalk on my Mercedes, and the two yellow wires inside the steering wheel are for the air bags in the picture below, all you would have to do is unplug those wires after you take the steering wheel apart.

[JockoT]

If the airbag is disconnected, here in the UK, that is an MOT fail.

[trollbait]

I don't think disconnecting the airbag will prevent a faulty Takata airbag from going off. The chemical propellant is degrading and becoming unstable. This is leading to it spontaneously going off.

[R.I.D.E.]

Any examples of spontaneous ignition, without the electrical connections connected? Haven't heard of that one. On board diagnostics would confirm that event (not reported due to the disconnect).

What I have read and remember is the shrapnel issue, not spontaneous ignition. Not sure why anyone would race a car on a track with active airbags, seems like a collision that activated the bags would render the driver incapable of any further effective control which could lead to more unintended consequences. Airbags are useless to a properly restrained race car driver. I would think they would be illegal in any sanctioned event.

Many propellants degrade over time. Mercedes recommends replacing the airbags at 15 years age. That's one recommended repair I'd bet is almost never done. It's printed on a label in the door jamb. Basically that means every MB is junk at that age if the replacement was required.

[trollbait]

Didn't find anything.
Sounds like the degraded propellant is just more violent when ignited.

[cuts_off_prius]

Civic hatch road trip fuel economy, I'm sold.



Just had to fuel up once, I liked to stay at 78 mph for the most part. 80 mph and higher will make it drop below 40 MPG. Calculated MPG was 39.2. This was impressive for carrying my stuff. Filling up and paying only for 87 octane is a great feeling as well. I’ve always wanted the mileage of a diesel while being fun to drive and this thing is a great alternative IMO, just try to get the manual.

[LDB]

Imagine what it might do at 68 or even 62-63 where you get such a better view of the scenery and everything else as well.

[cuts_off_prius]

Originally Posted by LDB

Imagine what it might do at 68 or even 62-63 where you get such a better view of the scenery and everything else as well.

Very true. Also depends on the type of trip. For this one, it was roughly 520 miles and I had time constraints to get the keys to my new apartment by a certain time. This speed was a good balance for this trip.

[Draigflag]

Such a shame the DTEC isn't offered there, it won "Best real MPG" with an average of 66.2 MPG recorded by real owners.

Honest John crowns Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC ‘Best Real MPG’ winner and rates engine as best small diesel on the market

Even Honda themselves managed a huge 8387 mile road trip in a Civic DTEC with an average of 100.31 UK MPG, quite impressive!

Honda sets new efficiency record with 100mpg Civic run | Auto Express

[cuts_off_prius]

LDB, I did just that on the first leg of my return trip which involved local state highways posted at 60-65 mph. Mostly 62-68 mph cruising and some WOT pulls to pass slower traffic gave me 46 MPG, which was 36 miles in when I sent a snap of it to my buddy. I had a little less luggage this time, btw. By the time I was back to Chicago with my higher speeds (78-82 mph), I ended up with a 41 MPG average, but that was after I topped off somewhere in between and reset. I imagine for anyone who commutes not too far via highway, cruising in the 60s would yield great numbers for this car.