[SR-71]

Originally Posted by souravc

Dear SR - 71 , whats the feedback from the workshop ? Have they given an estimate ? Did you inquire why the air bags didn't deploy ? In some cars they don't deploy unless one is wearing seat belts but you mentioned that you and your family were wearing seat belts .

Hi Souravc - I called them up today evening. The estimate as given by the surveyor was about 1.75L (I might have to shell out upto 40K !! cause plastic parts are covered only 50%). As the surveyor has given the nod to open the car they have started the work on checking the parts to figure out the damage. Finally they will do a check on chassis alignment. They expect to complete the assessment by Friday which is when an exact estimate will be prepared. I have been called upon to inspect the car on Friday to get all the information. Once this is done, they will start work on the car and expect to take a week to 10 days to do the entire job. So I will have an update for you by Saturday - my fingers crossed until then with a prayer hoping that nothing happened to the chassis frame.

Originally Posted by Abhinav.Daos

Passenger airbags don't deploy in any car if the seat belt is not worn, there's no such condition for deployment of driver airbag.

I was wearing the seat-belts - I always do. Else for a 50kmph crash i would have probably banged my head on the steering wheel . Like someone mentioned the airbag deployment is not merely due to an impact but on some G-Force calculation which takes into account a number of things at the time of impact. While 50kmph was the speed i was driving I obviously applied the brakes moments before the impact, so the impact could have been at a lower speed. Given the fact that my dad had just a big jolt and nothing more (he was in the rear seat and did not wear the belts) I think its not surprising that the air-bags did not deploy. At-least I am personally convinced that the air bag did not deploy for the right reasons.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by Abhinav.Daos

Passenger airbags don't deploy in any car if the seat belt is not worn, there's no such condition for deployment of driver airbag.

FYI , http://www.mbusa.com/vcm/MB/DigitalA...ts_airbags.pdf , refer to page-7 last line .
Do you mean that there is no such condition for the Vento because as I understand there are cars which does have the pre-condition for air bags to be deployed

[bala80]

SR-71- When you go to the workshop, find out where the collision detection sensors are. In your case, the front bumper was intact and my guess is they are somewhere near the center. They will not deploy for side on collisions, rolling over etc.

[Abhinav.Daos]

Originally Posted by souravc

FYI , http://www.mbusa.com/vcm/MB/DigitalA...ts_airbags.pdf , refer to page-7 last line .
Do you mean that there is no such condition for the Vento because as I understand there are cars which does have the pre-condition for air bags to be deployed

The last line deals with front passenger airbag. Read the first paragraph on the same page which clearly states that driver airbag will be deployed and you may get injured if you are not wearing a belt.

[bala80]

This discussion got me intrested, and I found the following post very informative in this regards

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post2288317

More expensive cars provide weight sensors and some less expensive one's provides manual switch off for passenger seat belt.

I recollect seeing a airbag off switch in the vento once you open the passenger door. I think it is safe to assume, the airbag will deploy irrespective of whether seat belts are worn or not for both driver and co-passenger. I dont know if vento has weight sensors or not, Will try to find that information and post here.

By the way - did you see where the airbag sensors are location in MB link that souravc shared? That is the reason I beleive airbag didnt deploy in SR-71's car.

Originally Posted by souravc

FYI , Do you mean that there is no such condition for the Vento because as I understand there are cars which does have the pre-condition for air bags to be deployed

Originally Posted by Abhinav.Daos

The last line deals with front passenger airbag. Read the first paragraph on the same page which clearly states that driver airbag will be deployed and you may get injured if you are not wearing a belt.

[mxx]

Originally Posted by bala80

By the way - did you see where the airbag sensors are location in MB link that souravc shared? That is the reason I beleive airbag didnt deploy in SR-71's car.

To my knowledge airbag sensors are accelerometers. the impact does not need to be right in front of the sensors, it depends on the speed, more specifically the deceleration -from speed at time of impact- due to impact.


Why airbag did not deploy is obvious. SR-71 said that he was doing 50kmph. Anticipating the crash he hit the brakes. Vento has reasonably good braking, and since this was an emergency situation I assume he hit the brakes hard. Which means the actual crash would have happened at less than 25 kmph, and it hit another car which is not a fixed object means the declaration would have been still slower,.
Remember the airbags deployment threshold is set based on the forces passengers are subject to inside the cabin, and NOT on how much damage happens to the car(specially in crumble zones). In these days of high priority to safety, to both passengers and pedestrians, the damage to the car in crumble zone areas will be more than damage used to happen in older cars at same speeds.

[Abhinav.Daos]

Originally Posted by bala80

This discussion got me intrested, and I found the following post very informative in this regards

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post2288317

More expensive cars provide weight sensors and some less expensive one's provides manual switch off for passenger seat belt.

I recollect seeing a airbag off switch in the vento once you open the passenger door. I think it is safe to assume, the airbag will deploy irrespective of whether seat belts are worn or not for both driver and co-passenger. I dont know if vento has weight sensors or not, Will try to find that information and post here.

By the way - did you see where the airbag sensors are location in MB link that souravc shared? That is the reason I beleive airbag didnt deploy in SR-71's car.

I'm pretty sure that Vento doesn't have a weight sensor nor a passenger airbag off switch (Driver airbag can't be turned off in any car and will deploy no matter what, because ECU always assumes that this seat is occupied even if seat belts are not worn). The thing on the passenger door you are talking about is not a switch but rather a sticker which clearly states that the passenger airbag will NOT deploy if seat belts are not worn, will confirm in the morning. The logic behind it, as I understand is that, if the passenger airbag goes off that there's a replacement bill of atleast 1.25 lakh for the airbag and dashboard itself, so if the seat is not occupied it doesn't want to waste the airbag and increase the damage. Since vento doesn't have weight sensors or a off switch, seatbelts are used to decide the occupancy of the front passenger seat.

[Equidae]

According to the dealers in Pune, Volkswagen will release a slightly upgraded version of Vento soon (they call it the 2012 Vento), with a price hike of INR 20,000 to 40,000 (that's for for diesel Highline). The Highline will now come with leather seats and Trendline will get parking sensors. They are currently offering discount of INR 40K on Ventos made in 2011. I chose to wait for the 2012 one and have booked one.

Does anyone have any news about the exact upgrades it's getting and more importantly, when it will be available? I am hoping for Bluetooth; especially since they have already made provisions for it (Call receive/reject button on the steering) in their September upgrade.

[bala80]

I agree, What you say is true about accelerometers, but in addition it also depends on the damage to the location where the sensors are housed. An (Front and passenger) airbag will not deploy in rear ending, roll over, T-boned etc irrespective of the speed of the impact. Refer the following picture - The front bumper is intact, which is the reason the airbag didnt deploy. So, in this respect, for the sensors to detect collision, they need to experience it in the first place.

Originally Posted by mxx

To my knowledge airbag sensors are accelerometers. the impact does not need to be right in front of the sensors, it depends on the speed, more specifically the deceleration -from speed at time of impact- due to impact.

Please refer to the image below, vento has a passenger airbag switch in the glove box. Why should an seperate switch be provided if the logic for deployment is linked to usage of seat belt? The ECU will display a message during start up if the switch is turned off. I took this picture from the maintanence manual of Indian polo/vento.

Originally Posted by Abhinav.Daos

I'm pretty sure that Vento doesn't have a weight sensor nor a passenger airbag off switch

[bosporus]

Originally Posted by Equidae

According to the dealers in Pune, Volkswagen will release a slightly upgraded version of Vento soon (they call it the 2012 Vento), with a price hike of INR 20,000 to 40,000 (that's for for diesel Highline). The Highline will now come with leather seats and Trendline will get parking sensors. They are currently offering discount of INR 40K on Ventos made in 2011. I chose to wait for the 2012 one and have booked one.

Does anyone have any news about the exact upgrades it's getting and more importantly, when it will be available? I am hoping for Bluetooth; especially since they have already made provisions for it (Call receive/reject button on the steering) in their September upgrade.

I picked up my Trendline end or December - VIN indicates it is Oct. 2011 manufactured. It came with parking sensors.

Also, I got a discount of nearly 70k, including corporate discount, exchange bonus and value of insurance. Plus, 15k worth of accessories.

I was also getting a discount of 40k on the Highline, in case I wanted to go in for that. However, you must know that I had been dilly-dallying for a month plus with this one dealership alone, and no other dealership was offering so much discount. So my guess is, the quantum of discount depends completely on the amount of time you spend with them

If they still have 2011 stock, my guess is you should get an even better discount. Btw, I picked my car from Delhi.

[mxx]

40k discounts for Highline Diesel are also available in Bangalore for 2011 stock. I got this info from VW whitefield.

[Equidae]

Originally Posted by bosporus

I picked up my Trendline end or December - VIN indicates it is Oct. 2011 manufactured. It came with parking sensors.

Also, I got a discount of nearly 70k, including corporate discount, exchange bonus and value of insurance. Plus, 15k worth of accessories.

I was also getting a discount of 40k on the Highline, in case I wanted to go in for that. However, you must know that I had been dilly-dallying for a month plus with this one dealership alone, and no other dealership was offering so much discount. So my guess is, the quantum of discount depends completely on the amount of time you spend with them

If they still have 2011 stock, my guess is you should get an even better discount. Btw, I picked my car from Delhi.

I chose to wait, because one of the dealers is known to provide good service, but I've heard few bad things about the other one. Unfortunately, the preferred dealer has only White Ventos left from their 2011 stock, and I want another color.

I'm also hoping for a few improvements in the newer models. They have improved the NVH levels and suspension in Rapid. Some owners from TBHP also claim that the post-September Ventos have better NVH levels than the older ones.

BTW they are offering the corporate discount of INR 17K no matter which model I choose. That's in addition to the 40K discount on 2011 models.

[skaja]

Originally Posted by mxx

40k discounts for Highline Diesel are also available in Bangalore for 2011 stock. I got this info from VW whitefield.

Elite Motors in Bangalore offered a discount of 29K for Highline Diesel. But did not hear of any discounts from VW Palace Cross Road.

[Abhinav.Daos]

Originally Posted by bala80

Please refer to the image below, vento has a passenger airbag switch in the glove box. Why should an seperate switch be provided if the logic for deployment is linked to usage of seat belt? The ECU will display a message during start up if the switch is turned off. I took this picture from the maintanence manual of Indian polo/vento.

I can't find this switch in my car, is this something new in the refreshed vento?

[manson]

I paid the next door VW dealership a visit last week and was offered a 60K discount on 2011 manafactured Ventos in the highline trim and fixed rate of interest at 11.25% without sitting across the table with tooken in hand. I'm guessing one could easily extract 70K odd with a slightly better interest rate.
On the flipside, I found the Vento way too gruff, the NVH levels were the loudest I have been around and the clutch felt a few shades heavier than even my 2.2 MHawk Scorpio.