AIRBAGS on a Kit Car?????

[George75 Member Find all posts View Profile Close George75]

Hello everybody,
It's been a long time Im doing my research before I start building my project.
Actually Im intresting for the Aventador or the LaFerrari, and I would like to know,
if I finally start building it, is there any possibility to instale AIRBAGS on this car?
Has anyone done this yet or we don't have this possibility for the moment?

[ncrazyballa Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ncrazyballa]

yes, why couldnt you?

[George75 Member Find all posts View Profile Close George75]

what do you mean ncrazyballa? (Most of all Im intresting for the LaFerrari concept). what kind of steering wheel im gonna need? is LaFerrari replica steering wheel avaliable?
what kind of parts Im gonna need for the whole concept? of which car airbag system I have to use?

[ncrazyballa Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ncrazyballa]

what do you mean ncrazyballa? (Most of all Im intresting for the LaFerrari concept). what kind of steering wheel im gonna need? is LaFerrari replica steering wheel avaliable?
what kind of parts Im gonna need for the whole concept? of which car airbag system I have to use?

oh my bad, i thought you were talking about airbag suspension.

[George75 Member Find all posts View Profile Close George75]

So, no infos for the moment?

[76mx Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 76mx]

Unlike the LaFerrari kit that you want to put this in, all of the components for an airbag system designed for any vehicle are commonly available off the shelf stock items from several companies specializing in this.

[G35Mike Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close G35Mike]

I too had a question about this recently.

The driver side would be easy enough I would think...

The passenger side however is usually tucked behind the dash and has a thin line that splits when the airbag deploys.... When putting together a kit car dash, It seems that most do not allow, unless you cut and modify an opening, for a passenger side airbag.

This is only a perception and may certainly not be fact. But if your going for a OEM looking interior and your dash is fiberglass... does this mean you would have to purchase the factory components to get the passenger to work?

I suppose it's a kit... so to each their own. I for one would like to maintain some level of safety if at all possible, aside from just seat belts I mean...

Sorry George, Not trying to hijack your question, rather, add to the discussion.

Like I supposed before, the driver side I would think would be an easy solution depending on the steering wheel you choose. I have seen some get OEM wheels and others recover a donor wheel to look close to the replica look. Either way you would not loose the airbag on the driver side of the car... my thoughts anyhow.

[aflo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close aflo]

Buckle UP! The idea of installing an airbag system in a kit car? Are you nuts?

[G35Mike Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close G35Mike]

Buckle UP! The idea of installing an airbag system in a kit car? Are you nuts?

LOL, no they are just trying to protect them. lol

[cdd Member Find all posts View Profile Close cdd]

I think Tekata is having a sale on airbags. I think if a car did not come with airbags you would open yourself up to lawsuit issues if anything ever happened. If the car came with airbags and you removed them, same issues with lawsuit possible.

[cutlass442 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close cutlass442]

Kit cars are rolling death traps , an airbag is the last concern to have

[justincosgrove Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close justincosgrove]

Kit cars are rolling death traps , an airbag is the last concern to have

Cutlass, maybe over there but not over here! they are pretty much road going race cars here in no small part due to the certification process. I'd be very interested to know if air bags can be installed in a car which was never equipped with them. The sensors would have to be positioned carefully and the control unit would need input from the speed sensor to ensure they didn't go off when the car was stationary or traveling below 50kmh other than that I can't see why they couldn't be fitted. Surely there is a company specializing in this already.

[cdd Member Find all posts View Profile Close cdd]

The airbag system must be engineered to work with the space between the passenger and steering wheel in a fraction of a second (a matter of milliseconds). The airbag must inflate fast enough, and then deflate at the right time, slowing the passenger's speed to zero evenly rather than forcing an abrupt halt to motion (to prevent injury to the passenger). In addition, the airbag unit must also stay intact at low-velocity collisions. There are cases where passengers have been injured not by the low speed impact, but by the airbag's powerful deployment into their body. All these constraints must be taken into consideration in the design of a crash sensor that can detect collisions and will trigger the bag to inflate.

from here
http://illumin.usc.edu/88/the-engineering-behind-automotive-airbags/

I think you would need several crash tests to determine the timing of the airbag.

After seeing an airbag throw a grown man in the air I realized how strong they are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6YLIwzbbyM

[76mx Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 76mx]

Kit cars are rolling death traps , an airbag is the last concern to have

Cutlass, I would agree that they are at least $50,000 and a year away from any concern about airbags, but saying that kitcars are rolling death traps seems a bold statement. I can only interpret this to mean that all kitcars are a rolling death trap since you have not qualified it any other way. Are you familiar with all kitcars? This seems particularly odd to me since less than a week ago you had such high compliments for Fran and his Superlite coupe kitcar, which is structurally certified by several race sanctioning bodies. Can you see how some builders and vendors who actually put a little thought into their product might take offense?

[cutlass442 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close cutlass442]

I can understand your offense as a builder . So let me qualify it by saying Most kit cars are rolling death traps