rallycross and airbags.

goofy quick question.

is it easy to disable the airbag system for rallycross and then re-enable it later? Or once the sensor register they are done... (In general...)

Generally the sensors (if the vehicle has them) are reusable, but the module is not. I would unplug the control module, and plug it back in when you're done.

Why? Even a tall cone in February isn't going to be a hard enough hit to deploy the bags. If you hit a rut hard enough to deploy the bag, you'd probably be more concerned with getting people to help you find the rest of the suspension parts while you wait for a flatbed to drag your car away... Not that you'll find anything that hard at a rallycross.

I agree with Knurled. I've been following the national scca rallyx scene online (and in real life ) for 5 years and have never heard any mention of an airbag related incident. Knurled has been involved at least twice as long as myself.

Plenty of people drive production-based trucks with airbags in the offroad TSD here, none have been set off from MUCH harder impacts than you'll get in rallycross.

I even hit a deer with my KJ, $ 4k damage, no airbags deployed.

well, all righty then. fears unfounded.... And no need to call mythbusters..

Don't the airbags work only under sudden deacceleration (or a total failure of a component)?

I agree with the others, if you encounter something at a rallycross that sets off the airbag (TREE!), you might just be glad the airbag went off.

Brett_Murphy wrote: Don't the airbags work only under sudden deacceleration (or a total failure of a component)?

Something like 10 G of deceleration. Generally speaking, it takes roughly the same deceleration as what it takes for a properly strapped-in adult to stretch the seat belt enough to contact the steering wheel.

I hear tell that hitting a parking barrier at 60mph IS enough to deploy bags, but again, that's only because of the deceleration caused by a force hard enough to literally rip the subframe off of a New Beetle.