2008 Mazda RX-8 Owner's Manual - Page 52

Essential Safety Equipment SRS Air Bags How the Air Bags Work qHow the Front Air Bags Work When air bag crash sensors detect a frontal impact of greater than moderate force, an electrical current is sent to the inflators. Gases are produced to inflate the front air bags and after the inflation, the front air bags quickly deflate. The front air bags will function only once. After that, the front air bags will not work again and must be replaced. Only an Authorized Mazda Dealer can replace the system components. The front, dual stage air bags control air bag inflation in two energy stages. During an impact of moderate severity the front air bags deploy with lesser energy, whereas during more severe impacts, they deploy with more energy. Deployment of the front air bags may differ between the driver and the front passenger depending on the driver seat position, front passenger weight and front seat belt usage, all of which provide data from each sensor to the air bag system. The front air bags will deploy only in a frontal or frontal offset impact. Driver seat slide position sensor Your vehicle is equipped with a driver seat slide position sensor as a part of the supplemental restraint system. The sensor is located under the driver seat. The sensor determines whether the driver seat is fore or aft of a reference position and sends the seat position to the diagnostic module (SAS unit). The SAS unit is also designed to control the deployment of the driver air bag depending on how close the driver seat is to the steering wheel. The air bag/front seat belt pretensioner system warning light flashes if the sensor has a possible malfunction (page 2-49). 2-40