Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Non-Tech : Simula (SMU) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jaime H. Ayalde who wrote (1288)	8/15/1998 5:23:00 PM
From: charlie sawyer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1671

Jaime, You would have to ask that question. <G>. From a very cursory look and description (BTW there is also a description but no picture in a review of the same car in this months Road @ Track), my impressions would be as follows. The curtain covers both the front and the back windows from a little behind the A pillar to just in front of the C pillar, i.e., it's a rectangle. Much of the extra area covered may not mean much. The Volvo, like the BMW, has seat-mounted side impact airbags. This means that the "extra" area covered by the curtain is a triangular area in the upper corner of each window. The extra protected area shouldn't be very relevant unless the seat was pushed all the way forward and/or the occupant was leaning forward at the time of a crash. I couldn't tell if the system produced a tight fit at the bottom like ITS or if it is just loose. However, to the average consumer it may look like a safer system. It doesn't look quite as "thick" as the ITS system but that's just an impression on my part. We'll have to wait for the government to crash one of these cars to get a better read. Volvo deservedly has an excellent reputation in safety issues and I'm a bit concerned that they selected this system. On the other hand BMWs full page ad in the WSJ on Friday as well as other marketing efforts seems to indicate that they are really committed to ITS. Presumably they must have at least considered a curtain system. One would assume that Delphi and TRW must have done some thinking along the same lines. Thus Volvo's selection of a curtain surprised me somewhat. The competition between the two systems may prove to be really interesting. Hope the above was of some use. Best Regards, Charlie Sawyer