The Stuttgart brand comes with novelties in terms of passive safety: a new airbag for the A-pillar.
The patent was granted by Porsche at the end of last year, but has only now been approved by the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office). It is a new airbag installed on the A-pillar, as shown in the images below. In other words, a passive safety mechanism that can be especially useful in convertible models.The absence of a roof on this type of bodywork can make convertibles less safe in certain accidents, as the pillars can recede excessively. When deployed, the airbag completely covers the A-pillars, protecting the occupants from a possible impact.
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This mechanism will, of course, be able to equip not only Porsche convertibles but also closed bodywork. It could be an effective solution to overcome one of the most demanding tests when it comes to passive safety: the small overlap.
Put into practice by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the USA, it consists of a frontal collision at 64 km/h, where only 25% of the front of the car comes into contact with the barrier. It is a small area to absorb all the energy of the collision, which requires additional efforts at a structural level.
In comparison, in a regular head-on crash test, as in EuroNCAP, 40% of the head hits the barrier, increasing the area through which crash energy can be dissipated.
In this more demanding type of collision, the dummy's head tends to slide along the side of the front airbag, increasing the risk of violent contact between the head and the A-pillar. of injury to the occupants.
It remains to be seen whether (and when) this solution will reach production models.