Some guys are doing this because they installed a harness. Air bag is a bit useless when you have racing harnesses on. Although if you drive on the street and such air bag will be a bit better if it still works. However used to DD my Mk1 and it had no air bag since day 1 I turned out okay.

 

The airbags still work.. Trust me.

 

good to know

 

In all but the most serious crashes, early airbags are likely to do more harm than good (before some time in the mid 90's when the standards were revised). I have heard many stories of people in minor accidents ending up with broken bones, etc, from the airbags deploying. Accidents where there should have been no injuries. Just wear your seatbelt!

 

I experienced an mr2 airbag event-

Let me just say this-

If you are 150 LBS, and about 5-8 with a upright seating position- the airbag will gently kiss your face- It was a magnificent.

 

SRS stands for Supplemental Restraint System which basically means its worthless and even deadly if you don't have your seatbelt on. Airbags don't save lives 90% of the time, seatbelts do.

So I had no problem putting in a quick release steering wheel

 

Here is a little food for thought from a post I made in this very old thread...
http://www.mr2oc.com/showthread.php?t=267392&highlight=air+bag

This post is a little more updated now though.
The pre-1997 vehicles have the "old" high pressure air bag systems, ALL 1997+ vehicles are required to have the newer "low pressure" systems (regardless of manufacturer date if it is considered a '97 it has to have the low pressure system). Reason... There are typically MORE low speed impacts (collisions) than high speed impacts where the air bags shine. The old "high pressure" systems have been known to cause 1st-2nd degree burns to face & arms (from packing powder) & the occasional broken nose/jaw or wrist in low speed impacts where a person just wearing a seat belt would NOT be injured. Now, I have still NOT been able to find these old DOT reports on the web though, but I have not been looking any more either.

But, as a Firefighter/Paramedic for the last 20 years I can tell you I have personally witnessed this. I was an "Advanced Extrication Specialist" on Special Operations for the Memphis Fire Dept for 8+ years & would regularly get training & updates on air bag equipped vehicles, I know this to be the case as well simply from experience (thus the change to the low pressure systems). FWIW The low pressure air bag systems may cause some irritation from the packing powder but generally DO NOT cause much of a burn & I have not seen any broken bones from them being deployed. This still holds true & I am now Battalion Chief of EMS & frequent many Motor Vehicle Collisions while on duty & still get the vehicle updates as we have air curtain systems & eletrical cars to deal with now.

FWIW, our mark2 MR2's have the old High Pressure systems, not to mention 24-19 year old air bag components on our MR2's here in the USA. DOT recommends (as do most manufacturers) that air bag systems be "serviced" at least every 10 years. But who has had their sensors checked & calibrated?? Not many I'm sure. This still holds true even for the newer systems.

So, with the older air bag systems, we tend to see impacts that would normally NOT inflate the air bag system actually inflating the air bag & higher speed impacts where you would expect the bag to deploy it did NOT. But, generally the air bags on these old unserviced systems DO INDEED deploy.

It really comes down to your feelings on the situation. I personally have a Sparco 383 steering wheel on my MR2 now. Why, I like the wheel better than the OEM one & I do not trust the old air bag system to function "properly". I feel just as safe in my MR2 as I do in my 1990 Toyota 4x4 that did NOT come with an air bag. Not to mention that the mark1 MR2's did not come with an air bag too. But, I ALWAYS wear my seat belt.

Also, the removal of the air bag ECU & sensors & associated parts & wiring can be considered a weight savings modification, to those that wish to do that (I like did).

FWIW I do plan on putting in an Autopower (or similar) roll bar (with race & harness bars) & putting in a harness for added protection. This is still in the plans too.

Personally I say have the system checked & calibrated if you want to "be sure" your air bag will deploy "correctly". But, again this is personal preference & what you (or anyone else) are most comfortable with.

I was comfortable in putting on that Momo that I used to have & I really LIKE my Sparco 383 (it is quite comfortable & very grippy).

Hope this helps some!

Daniel :thumbup

 

Daniel (and others), that is exactly the kind of information that I was looking for, thanks!

 

I replaced my Sparco wheel + NRG hub with a stock wheel with the airbag intact, but not wired.

Wayy happier with it, and arguably its a safer wheel for my face to bash into when I eventually hit OverDrift

 

How about like those bumper car steering wheels with a soft foam pad you can hit your head into :thumbup

 

I would also get rid of the anti-lock brakes while you are at it. I hate the MR2 anti-lock logic.

 

I definitely fit in the category of more injury from the airbag in a low-speed impact than I would have had otherwise in my first MR2 (a 1992). I t-boned a girl who turned left in front of me doing probably 20-25mph by point of impact. She was in a Ford Explorer and actually drove up over the corner of my hood and headlight. The best I can piece together from my memory, I steered a bit left and thus had my left arm down at the bottom and right arm more or less straight at 11 or 12 o'clock. The inside of my right arm was cut/burned pretty extensively, though relatively mildly. It also bruised very badly - I had a lump somewhere between golf ball- and baseball-sized at the main spot the airbag hit it. I genuinely thought it'd broken my arm at first but it went down fairly quickly and felt a bit better.

I've been pretty tempted to disable the airbag in my current MR2, since I'm a 100% seatbelt wearer and I'm a bit leery of a repeat performance, but I haven't decided yet. I've also been tempted to go with something like a Corolla S or Celica GT-S steering wheel which also should fix the problem, I suppose.

 

My wife's aunt had both arms broken at the elbows from an airbag. It was crazy bad.

 

I understand everyone's argument against the original airbags, but a 97+ low pressure airbag should be just as safe if not safer than a non-airbag wheel in a non-harnessed car, right?

 

True. I would agree that an upgraded airbag should be the best options.

Personally I had another reason for my wheel upgrade. I am fairly tall, so to get a comfortable position relative to the pedals I end up further than I would like from the wheel. My arms end up all stretched out. An aftermarket wheel lets me run a 1" spacer to bring the wheel closer to me, for an overall more comfortable driving position.