from the carconnection.com :"The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's latest study indicates that side-impact airbags can reduce road fatalities by as much as 45 percent in cars so equipped. The insurance industry-funded group reports that side curtain airbags are the more effective type; through data interpretation the IIHS reports that side airbags that do not protect the head, only the chest and abdomen, can still reduce deaths by 10 percent. The IIHS says its study is the first of its kind for the new type of airbag, which helped some sport-utes finish well in the group's last rollover and crash tests as well. "Before head-protecting airbags were available there was virtually nothing to prevent people's heads from being struck by intruding vehicles or rigid objects like trees and poles in serious side impact crashes. Now we know side airbags can change this and do a good job of protecting heads," said Institute president Brian O'Neill in a release."

It;s a very good solution to T-bone side impact crashes, especially red-light runners.
;)

So as not to generate a new thread, I thought I would dredge this very old thread up from the dead to ask my question. What area, specifically, do the front seat-mounted side-impact airbags protect in a crash? Is there a demo pic of all the SRS bags deployed in the RX8? Just what risk is involved in the absence of these specific air bags in a side impact? Appropriate links are appretiated.

The front seat-mounted side-impact airbags in the RX-8 only protect the chest/ribs of the front seat occupant. The side-curtain airbags which protect the head are in the ceiling/pillar and are separate. I searched for deployment pics/vids of the side and side-curtain airbags during the fall, but didn't find anything really clear or impressive.

I've also wondered, but not found, what happens to the side impact SRS if you use racing seats? Obviously, the seat-mounted ones are gone, but would the SRS computer be confused by the lack of that seat-mounted system and thus not deploy the ceiling/pillar mounted side-curtain bags in a crash due to sensing the fault?

Deflated, but better than nothing.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c92/polodoggie/100_1631Small.jpg

The front seat-mounted side-impact airbags (http:///#) in the RX-8 (http:///#) only protect the chest/ribs of the front seat (http:///#) occupant. The side-curtain airbags (#) which protect the head are in the ceiling/pillar and are separate. I searched for deployment pics/vids of the side and side-curtain airbags during the fall, but didn't find anything really clear or impressive.

I've also wondered, but not found, what happens to the side impact SRS if you use racing (http:///#) seats? Obviously, the seat-mounted ones are gone, but would the SRS computer be confused by the lack of that seat-mounted system and thus not deploy the ceiling/pillar mounted side-curtain bags in a crash due to sensing the fault?Thanks Cool and 8is>enuff. The loss of these bags with a set of new seats (my eyes are on a set of Brides) is a major concern to me and I am not sure what to think. With that pic, I think it is resonable to think that while your injury risk will go up, it is not as if the area covered is huge. The important thing here, I think is to know that the rest of the SRS will deploy and act correctly in an accident. I think the only ethical way to know this for sure is a retrospective survey of 8 owners that have aftermarket seats (and a 2-3 Ohm resistor properly installed) that have been t-boned. (the unethical way is to go find an 8 owner with the above characteristics and t-bone them with an F-150)

Saved me from a sure trip to the hospital when I was t-boned in my old Nissan Spec V back in late '03. They weren't the curtain variety, but rather the kind that explode out of the chair. Nevertheless the medics on seen couldn't believe I was the driver when they saw the car. I made sure my next car (SRT-4) had them, and then I sold that for my Evo. It has some supplemental side restraints, in the form of aluminum reinforced door beams, but it still boggles my mind why Mitsubishi can't offer side airbags in this car. In 5 years they'll be as standard as ABS and frontal airbags IMHO.