Rotary Engine in VW's New Beetle
03-16-2006 | 01:49 PM
#1
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From: Toronto, Canada
Rotary Engine in VW's New Beetle
No, the Beetle isnt rotary powered, but appreantly, their seat belts are!!! I caught this on wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine
"Perhaps the most exotic use of the Wankel design is in the seat belt pretensioner system of the Volkswagen New Beetle. In this car, when deceleration sensors sense a potential crash, small explosive cartridges are triggered electrically and the resulting pressurized gas feeds into tiny Wankel engines which rotate to take up the slack in the seat belt systems, anchoring the driver and passengers firmly in the seat before any collision."
I'd love to see how exactly this works, maybe some diagrams from their mech. manual.
________
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine
"Perhaps the most exotic use of the Wankel design is in the seat belt pretensioner system of the Volkswagen New Beetle. In this car, when deceleration sensors sense a potential crash, small explosive cartridges are triggered electrically and the resulting pressurized gas feeds into tiny Wankel engines which rotate to take up the slack in the seat belt systems, anchoring the driver and passengers firmly in the seat before any collision."
I'd love to see how exactly this works, maybe some diagrams from their mech. manual.
________
Depakote lawsuit info
Last edited by Renesis_8; 09-11-2011 at 07:58 AM.
03-16-2006 | 11:55 PM
#4
Was a Z Guy...
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From: Wichita Falls, Texas
I saw this a while ago, an it didn't really make much sense to me, especially the "explosive cartridges" part. So what if you have to slam on your brakes? Do you have to replace the cartridges then? I think it's bogus. I also couldn't find anything else out about it.
03-17-2006 | 12:08 AM
#5
NoahZoom Cop'n'Training
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From: Orange County, California
Originally Posted by Michael
A lot of people put BS they find humorous on Wikipedia, so i take everything with a grain of salt.
Wikipedia has never failed me before.
03-17-2006 | 01:41 AM
#6
Was a Z Guy...
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From: Wichita Falls, Texas
You know, I've looked up some more stuff, and I believe it's probably for real. I've read things about Volkswagen seatbelts, some stuff about risk of igniting flammable materials during activation of tensioners, and some stuff about other, tiny rotary engines. The explosive part still makes no sense to me, though. But I guess they don't expect you to crash more than once.
03-17-2006 | 08:31 AM
#8
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From: Cincinnati
Originally Posted by nzarnow
you can't just put whatever you want up there...can you? Don't they check anything before making it official?
Wikipedia has never failed me before.
Wikipedia has never failed me before.
Oh, I changed it back. (but still might not be right... )
03-17-2006 | 09:38 AM
#9
Senor Carnegrande
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I thought seat belt tensioners were basically a little weight that pivots forward under extreme deceleration, blocking a saw-blade looking thing on the seat belt spool from turning. Simple and effective. I'd be extremely surprised if VW or any other car company used some wacky Rube Goldberg-esque setup like the one described above.
03-17-2006 | 10:19 AM
#10
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Originally Posted by 280RX-8
I saw this a while ago, an it didn't really make much sense to me, especially the "explosive cartridges" part. So what if you have to slam on your brakes? Do you have to replace the cartridges then? I think it's bogus. I also couldn't find anything else out about it.
After the crash it seemed like insult added to injury because I had to drive my car home the last few miles with the airbag in my lap and the seatbelt hanging uselessly at full extension. Both front seatbelts would drag the ground when the doors were opened and would not retract at all.
Seems unlikely that it would be a wankle system, but I can tell you first hand it is a one-time charge.
03-17-2006 | 10:34 AM
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03-17-2006 | 10:39 AM
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From: Visalia, CA
Interesting read about pretensioners. I had no idea car's employed anything like this.
http://www.advanceautoparts.com/engl...0040501es.html
http://www.advanceautoparts.com/engl...0040501es.html
03-17-2006 | 10:41 AM
#13
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Originally Posted by tuj
Anyone else experienced these in an RX-8 or another car? My experience was hitting a 200lb deer at 55mph - not as rough as hitting another car or a wall, but it was enough to trigger both front airbags and the pyrotechnic front seatbelt pretensioners.
The effect was incredible. There was a ton of damage to the front of the car, but I was unharmed and not even rattled. The front seatbelt held me perfectly and the airbag just tapped me on the chest (must have been the lesser of the two-stages). The impact point of the airbag was especially interesting - I'm 5'11" and it struck me on the chest, not at all on my face.
No abrasion from the seatbelt across my chest, no bruise from the buckle on my hit, no fat lip from the airbag. If the deer hadn't done $10,000 damage to my car I wouldn't have felt bad at all.
03-17-2006 | 06:00 PM
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Mercedes used these back in the 2000 model year. It really is a little wankel engine. It can real up a fair amount of seatbelt if necessary, or just a little, if that's all that's required. The wankel allows it to real in a lot while limiting belt force... due to the low torque of the rotor 
Simple pyrotechnics are old news and the newest systems are way more advanced than the wankel type.
Simple pyrotechnics are old news and the newest systems are way more advanced than the wankel type.
03-17-2006 | 11:43 PM
#18
i pwn therefore i am
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From: Delaware, USA
What the hell. I guess the engine that powers the RX-8 is being used by other companies to tighten seat belts. Oh man, I hope this doesn't get out. I can just see pulling up to a stop light next to some Civic and some guy looks over and says, "excuse me, could you tighten my seat belt for me?"
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