Specifications for Airbag, Stability, traction control and other safety features

[DesiPower]

Do manufacturer disclose or list them? I mean the airbag system in a Kia and a Mercedes can't be the same, neither the stability and traction control, ABS, these things cannot be the same either...
There must be something like the response time for airbags and ABS, the pressure for airbags, sensitivity for stability control or the threshold for ABS or traction. Is there any kind of specification or ratings available for these from the manufacturers?

 

[Zenmervolt]

I'm sure that it's out there in the technical whitepapers that the engineers for each system have published, but I doubt this is anywhere close to easily found by people outside the industry.

Also, most companies use third-party controllers and actuators. For example, Japanese and other Asian manufacturers often use Nippondenso (I think they're just Denso now) electronics controls for things like ABS and airbags. While calibrations may differ from car to car (depending on things like how much sporting pretension a car has or what its weight distribution is, etc), the hardware is often effectively identical.

Similarly, European manufacturers tend to use electronic controls from Siemens, Bosch, or Continental Teves (now just Continental I think) for airbags, traction control, etc.

American manufacturers tend to favor either Bosch, Continental, or Delphi (formerly Delco), but again, the main electronics are often the same on very different cars.

Of course, there are exception to all of these, I'm just listing very broad generalities here.

So, while you're right that the airbag system in a Kia is almost certainly different than that in a Mercedes, chances are that the Kia uses the same (or substantially similar) system to a Lexus (I'd guess that both use Denso parts, though Bosch is not uncommon in Asian cars either).

Airbag response time and pressure are effectively legislatively-determined even though there aren't listed requirements. No matter what the manufacturer, the system will react fast enough to work in an accident and the pressure is going to be dictated by the constraints of keeping a person safe.

Stability control intervention is dictated by individual programming (software) far more than it is by hardware and that's definitely going to vary by manufacturer. However, this feel is far more subjective and would be very difficult to measure in any quantitative sense. ABS settings will be similar. These are probably not published in publicly-available documents.

The bottom line though is that you don't need to worry that the ABS system in a Kia isn't going to work properly. Frankly the physical brakes and the tire choice will affect braking performance infinitely more than any minute differences in ABS specification between the Kia and a Mercedes.

ZV

 

[radioouman]

Zemmervolt is correct. Each major OEM has a family of suppliers that they use, and those suppliers are often the ones that develop a technology. Other OEMs use the same suppliers and are often able to buy that technology or design something slightly different.

As for the specs, there are certainly guidelines for airbag inflation rate (remember low pressure airbags from a couple years ago?) There aren't as many guidelines for ABS and traction control. Those are mainly limited by computer processing speed and reaction time of the components and software. Each OEM wants to provide the best and the best for a Ferrari probably isn't the same as the best for a Tahoe. Cost plays a role too.

There are guidelines for the force that a seat belt exerts at a given g-force (think about how wide the strap is). There are government regulations for low impact damage to bumpers. There are government regulations for pedestrian impact I believe (That's why we have large frontal area cars again.)