Found a photo on the forum for a Euro version. What is that Yellow button next to the instrument brightness adjustment and the DSC off switch?

 

How bout posting the picture too?

 

Sorry. Forget the Pic Needs to be a JPeg

 

It looks to me like that's a yellow indicator light with a switch above it (I see what look like two small labels above the yellow). I suspect it's the switch and indicator for the rear fog light.

 

Hi GTA3VC,

this is a lock to turn on or off the co-driver airbag!!

Greetings
Oliver

 

Thanks for the Info! How come we never get the extra goodies here in the states?

 

Cause Americans are willing (and able) to dish out top money for less goodies. Europe and Japan are more demanding markets.

 

because GM doesn't think that you need them...:D :D

seriously now, i think there is a law in Europe that makes mandatory the on/off switch for the passenger's airbag.

 

Because choice and responsibility go hand in hand. Too many of us Americans are irresponsible.

Then these people will sue Mazda for not anticipating their irresponsible behavior.

Can you imagine what will happen when some one turns off the airbag and the passenger gets hurt in an accident.

Lawyers have a saying, "sue everyone in sight, one of them will settle."

 

Yes, but conversely when someone has a baby carrier in the front seat and the poor kid gets squashed by the exploding airbag then they'll sue for that too, so noone wins. That's why we can turn it off by the way.

 

Indeed, it's odd that that option is not available in the US market. Post-'97 Miatas have it, though the switch and indicator light are on the center console where the passenger can see for himself that his bag is disabled.

 

read my post here

 

Has to do with Federal laws and the back seats. Miata's and trucks can have the switch and still do, but they don't have back seats that are capable of securing a child safety seat.

 

I dont understand exactly why its an option. Why would you turn off the the passenger side airbag. Is it legal to put a child seat in the front passenger seat?

 

From the above posts, I assume that in the UK, it's legal.... stupid, but legal.

 

Doesn't our US spec'd RX-8 have the passenger airbag on/off switch located inside the glove box? And the lighted indicator is beside the glove box. I believe the switch is there, it's just not located on the dash by the driver. Somebody that already has their car should be able to confirm this.

 

I for one would love to know if there is a switch. I have 3 sons under the age of 5, and they'll be dying for a ride.

BTW, for those of you that don't know, if an airbag deploys and a child is in that seat it will more than likely kill the child due to the force it comes out with. From what I hear it usually breaks their necks.

 

I admit I don't know the answer to the original question, but I don't believe this is it.
The years I lived in both Japan and Europe I saw some of the most base bottom of the line cars I've ever seen. Many without A/C and most with hand crank windows etc. And the prices of the cars were outrageous.

 

Tom,

Is there an airbag switch in the glovebox? The pre-production cars had one, I THOUGHT.

 

my old ranger had on of those but you had to use the key (so the passenger couldn't change it) and it was in the center (where the passenger could see it), i used to tease passengers by disabling it

 

i believe all cars in the uk with passenger side airbags have an off switch, my understanding was that it was to deactivate the system for use with rear facing baby chairs.

normally they need the key to turn them off, and are usually hidden in the glovebox, i've never seen one on the dash before.

perhaps one of the guys with kids can clear this up a little.

(my 93 MX-6 is a little light on the safety features, no abs, no airbags, stodgy brakes, looking forward to something a mite safter)

 

As far as I was aware, and this was confirmed by the RX-8 Customer (mis) information line in the UK.

The passenger airbag can be disabled but this is only acheived by using a Mazda Rear facing Child Seat, which has a radio transponder which tells the car to turn off the airbacg.

The price of this seat is £125, which is considerably more than a standard car seat.

Chris

 

No switch at all on this canadian one, but a very suspicious smooth circle of plastic, just left of the glovebox...........
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doc

 

Nope, just a "trunk release" on/off button to disable the dash mounted trunk opener button.
I didn't see anything in the owner's manual about a switch either.

 

Looks like another thing that they left out on the production model. I could swear that I saw pics of the passenger airbag disable switch on the pre-production models.

Not that a disable switch matters to me since it is not a two seater. If I want to haul kids, I would just throw them in the back. Not the trunk, the back seat.