On Tue, 24 Sep 2002 14:07:40 -0400, "Burns, James B."
<James.Burns@jhuapl.edu> wrote:
>Thanks for the replies. That's pretty much how I remembered it. Anyone
>know why it is written that way? Why are the non-airbag cars allowed to
>swap but the airbag cars cannot install a different airbag steering wheel?
Simple: You do NOT mess with government-mandated "safety" items in a Stock
car that theoretically sees lots of street duty. No professional mechanic
can legally remove or swap between model years an airbag assembly except
that said swap is listed as authorized by the OEM in question. In this
case, SCCA laid down the rules to obey the law of the land in the USA.
Reason? Airbags are tailored to the interior of the car in question and
the year-specific regulations laid down by the US DOT's NHTSA arm. While
it's *possible* that a '91 MR-2 and a '94 MR-2's interiors are identical
enough that Toyota may list only one replacement part number for both
airbags, if Toyota chose to list separate part numbers for each year of the
2nd generation MR2 (or for '91-'92 and '93-'95, and even if the "only"
change to the interior was a different steering wheel design necessitating
a different airbag module to fit the new steering wheel hub), then you're
stuck with what you got.
Ahh, but why, you ask, can we now "electrically disable but not remove"
airbags in SP? And still swap steering wheels around? Because SP is not
Stock. Other modifications allowed and common in SP can render airbags
more dangerous to the driver and/or passenger. I'm thinking of the
permitted seat swaps, primarily, but also update/backdate changes to
interior configurations. The reason they don't allow removing the
explosive devices pointed at your chest is one of not allowing weight
reductions.
Also recall that in Showroom Stock, Touring, and Improved Touring
categories in Club Racing, the GCR calls for outright removal of airbag
modules from the vehicle -- for slightly different reasons, but largely
because they can be a hazard to maintaining/regaining vehicle control in a
"bump drafting" or other racetrack situation that might inadvertantly
trigger the bags.
Jim "automotive engineer to the stars, or something like that" Crider
autojim@att.net
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Partial archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|