February 10, 2005
GM claims to have the auto industry's first passenger-side front air bag that deploys in different sizes and different pressures, depending on the location of the passenger seat and the force of the crash.
They call it the dual-depth air bag and the new system is found on the 2006 Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS.
A conventional bag inflates to a single shape with different pressure, but a dual-depth air bag helps retrain front-seat passengers in a greater variety of seating and crash situations.
The dual-depth air bag deploys from the front passenger side within the instrument panel. When the small air bag is required, a tether holds the air bag back to the smaller size, and gas is vented from the module housing.
For the larger air bag deployment, the tether is released, the module-housing vent is shut off, and the air bag is allowed to expand to its full size.
