Printable View
Funny how most only bring up the most difficult change/modification to make, adding a back up camera, side warning sensors, LED headlights could all be done IMO without much trouble. Also odd how they tested cars with airbags, no car company makes airbags yet a few laugh about how DMC would screw it up.
You know what? I asked a similar question several years ago about why on the world we have all these accessories like luggage and stainless dress up parts but after 30 years nobody made a desperately
needed transmission filter. A friend wrote me back and said "why don't you make one?"
So I did. I weighed the cost and liability issues vs the small reward of profit and did it. So my question to you is "Why don't you make one sport?
When someone who has a crash in one of the cars equipped with an "about time" airbag decides to sue you and although you may be completely innocent, will go bankrupt defending yourself in court, maybe then you will find the answer to your question.
Funny how those who wonder out loud "why doesn't someone do this or that" grow silent when they have to write the check and take all the risks to make it happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by About time
Three words:
"Lucas powered airbags"
Dear God/Allah/Buddha/Elvis PresleyQuote:
Originally Posted by Michael
Historically speaking, that just means that they would never work :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael
Or they would catch fire.
Its no secret that DMC was experimenting with air bags from the beginning. Read the books (stainless steel illusion, etc.) if you want to know more about the DeLoreans built with airbags that they were testing and John's decisions.Quote:
Originally Posted by About time
If you don't like the answers you're getting here then it's probably best to call DMCH themselves and ask why they're not putting airbags in their 'new builds'. 1.800.872.3621. Please let us know what they tell you.
I'm fine with the answers, it's the limited scope some are latching onto. They take one item and blow me up as if there were no other items that could be improved, talked about designed etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by dn010
Thanks for the info.
Bbuuttt the title of the thread specifically says “any airbag retrofits done “?
It looks bad, but the engineeering firm that conducted the tests said the car actually did very well. Data from the crash test dummies suggests injuries that were well within acceptable limits at the time, and cabin deformation was minimal.Quote:
Originally Posted by vwdmc16
My first reaction to this thread was first to ask "why?" and then to laugh out loud given DMCH's spotty history with bringing new products to market. I can't hate on them too much because it's not like they have a dedicated engineering department at their disposal to actually design much. They seem to rely heavily on the vendors who manufacture their reproduction parts to carry the design burden. After the production work is completed it's not like they have an advanced quality control department either to verify what they are receiving meets the required specs.
That being said, a few years back I did some design work related to frontal and side impact crash testing. Essentially we were trying to use a developed air bag system from one vehicle and adapt it to fit another vehicle without having to create a completely new program/profile for the truck. The ECU that controls the air bags is specific to each vehicle and determines the timing and deployment rate for the air bags during a collision. Initial impact speed and deceleration rate at set intervals during the impact are what typically determine the profile and if the airbags will fire or not.
We were adapting an existing system I think we did half a dozen actual crash tests for this one vehicle at three different impact speeds. This was for a heavy duty truck and not a passenger vehicle but the relative complexity of the system was about the same. Had we started from scratch to develop a crash profile it would have meant between 10-15 impact tests. Most of the instrumentation and impact testing was contracted out to a specialized company that we worked along side as we made modifications to the vehicle design so it would match the existing crash profile. The development time took about a year and the bill at the end was high six figures, approaching seven.
SO, if DMCH or anyone else were to attempt anything like this they would be looking and destructive testing on a handful of cars as well as an enormous bill at the end. Given that there is no law or regulation requiring airbags, what would be the point? I'm not sure I understand how airbags would "enhance the brand" or the "desire to own one". I'm genuinely interested to hear opinions though if anyone thinks this is actually a good idea.