knh

<br>hmm.. the audi has these. I'm generally not too concerned, but it is interesting.<p>from: http://www.msnbc.com/news/259284.asp<br>in offset crash tests:<p><br> Finally, the Volkswagen Jetta, also known as the Golf, a Marginal performer the first time around. Now the ’99 Jetta: even with more than 90 crash tests behind them, the Institute’s engineers have never seen anything quite like this before. <br> Mike: “It’s flaming, it’s actually on fire here.”<br> O’Neill: “Get a fire extinguisher. You got a problem guys, you got a fire.”<br> The crash triggered a fire just inside the driver’s side door. It didn’t take long to find the cause of the flame.<br> O’Neill: “This belt system has what is called a crash tensioner.”<br> A belt tensioner is a device which activates within milliseconds of a crash to eliminate slack in the seatbelt, holding passengers tighter to their seats. A mini-explosion inside the device generates gas.<br> O’Neill: “Gas drives this device around which tightens the reel and the webbing.”<br> Lea Thompson: “And holds you in?”<br> O’Neill: “And holds you tighter. This gas is hot.”<br> So hot, that Volkswagen discovered the tensioner had ignited soundproofing material inside the car.<br> Lea Thompson: “You can see where the flame reached all the way up here. That’s not very far from somebody’s head?”<br> O’Neill: “That’s correct, the actual flame was up at this point here, you can see the melting of the material.”<br> Volkswagen engineers quickly determined that improper installation of that sound-proofing material could lead to other fires. Although there have been no reported incidents of fires like this one, Volkswagen recalled almost 13,000 new Jettas and Golfs in the U.S. and Canada to remove that material.<br> Lea Thompson: “If you do not take your Volkswagen Jetta in, are you taking some risks with your family?”<br> O’Neill: “Every time there’s a safety recall and you ignore it, you’re taking some risks.”<br> So besides the fire, how did the Jetta perform in the offset test? <br> O’Neill: “The structural performance of the 1999 Jetta is a big improvement over its predecessor. They have strengthened the occupant compartment and done a better job of confining the damage to the front end of the vehicle.”<br> Because Volkswagen was quick to fix the fire problem and there were no serious injuries to the dummy in this crash, the Institute rates the Jetta Acceptable.

Zsolt

Thanks for posting... I had a very hard time trying to figure how seatbelt tensioners cause fire

Chad

There's a great illustration of these things in action in the video I received with my A4.