New Acuras with black boxes?

I asked in another newsgroup that all modern cars with airbags will have those data recorder/black box thingies. Is that true?

Reply to
Justin
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I'm pretty sure the ECU records a lot of stuff on it..

Reply to
James

I'm pretty sure all SRS controllers made in the last few years have data logging. The driving force behind it is the potential for litigation if the airbags fire when they aren't supposed to - the devices capture the inputs the controller uses for its decisions on a continuing basis, overwriting the oldest data. I don't know the typical recording time window, but I suspect a large part of a minute before the airbags deploy is captured. More would be unnecessarily expensive, and much less would not document the correctness of the decision very well.

The recorded data certainly includes speed, and probably at least forward acceleration/deceleration. In the case of side curtains, there is probably also lateral acceleration recording.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

"Michael Pardee" wrote in news:UsudnTiCq4xopLbZnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@sedona.net:

It does more than protect against litigation, it also helps cut down on fraudulent warranty claims.

There was a case recently in alt.autos.toyota where a brand-new Toyota Celica blew its engine. Ordinarily, Toyota would have covered the warranty replacement, except that the black box revealed that the engine was turning

9,500 rpm at the time it went south. Oops! Claim denied!
Reply to
TeGGeR®

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