Porsche 911 Turbo Owner's Manual page 47

f Using accessories not approved by Porsche
can cause the weight sensing system to be im-
paired.
f Do not squeeze objects, such as the fire extin-
guisher, or first aid kit under the seat.
f Only have seats removed and installed by an
authorized Porsche dealer so that weight sens-
ing components will not be damaged.
f Give your passenger all of the information in
this chapter.
Note
Airbag components (e.g. steering wheel, door lin-
ing, seats) may be disassembled only by an autho-
rized Porsche dealer.
When disposing of a used airbag unit, our safety
instructions must be followed. These instructions
can be obtained at any authorized Porsche dealer.
Function of the airbag system
Airbags are a supplemental safety system. Your
primary protection comes from your safety belts.
The front airbags are triggered during a frontal col-
lision of sufficient force and direction.
In the event of a side impact of corresponding
force, the side airbag on the impact side is
triggered.
The inflation process generates the amount of gas
required to fill the airbags at the necessary pres-
sure in fractions of a second.
Airbags help to protect the head and upper body,
while simultaneously damping the motion of the
driver and passenger in the impact direction in the
event of a frontal impact or side impact.
In order to help provide protection in severe colli-
sions which can cause death and serious injury,
airbags must inflate extremely rapidly. Such high
speed inflation has a negative but unavoidable
side effect, which is that it can and does cause in-
juries, including facial and arm abrasions, bruising
and broken bones. You can help minimize such in-
juries by always wearing your safety belts.
There are many types of accidents in which
airbags are not expected to deploy. These include
accidents where the airbags whould provide no
benefit, such as a rear impact against your vehi-
cle. Other accidents where the airbags are de-
signed not to deploy are those where the risk of
injury from the airbag deployment could exeed any
protective benefits, such as in low speed acci-
dents or higher speed accidents where the vehicle
decelerates over a longer time. Since airbag de-
ployment does not occur in all accidents, this fur-
ther emphasizes the need for you and your pas-
sengers to always wear safety belts.
Your vehicle is equipped with a crash sensing and
diagnostic module. This module will record the
use of the seat belt restraint system by the driver
and front passenger when the airbags and/or belt
tensioner work.
Advanced Airbag
Your vehicle is equipped with a weight sensing sys-
tem for the passenger's seat in accordance with
U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208.
Depending on the weight acting on the front pas-
senger's seat, the front passenger's airbag will au-
tomatically be switched on and off.
Depending on the angle and force of impact, the
front passenger's airbag which is activated will be
triggered during a collision.
Precondition for switching the front passenger's
airbag on and off, depending on weight:
– Vehicles equipped with key-operated airbag
deactivation device:
Switch position AUTO.
– Ignition key is inserted.
Improper handling of the weight sensing
system can unintentionally impair switching
the passenger's airbag off and on.
Operation, Safety
45