2011 Toyota iQ and Scion iQ Body Structure and Airbags

UPDATE May 22, 2012 –  Check out Brock Archer’s post on the Scion IQ Eleven Airbags,  it now has 11 airbags!

Scion is a Toyota brand and the Scion iQ is based off the Toyota iQ, so consider them one in the same. The 2011 Toyota iQ and Scion iQ is a tiny car that is packed with Ultra-High Strength Steel. However, the thing that scares me about this car are the nine, count them, 9 airbags. That means 9 cylinders stuffed into hidden areas of the body structure behind the trim panels.

The rear air bag is ejected from the headliner during a fender bender. Toyota says it will help protect the heads and necks back seat passengers. So there is a good chance that the rear air bag will be deployed by the time that first responders arrive. Just remember to always strip away the trim to find the gas filled cylinders. Ron Moore posted on the University of Extrication forum that “inflators now have a stored gas pressure of up to 10,000psi”. Take the time to find the cylinders or at least make sure your cutting thru one. As cars like the iQ hit the market, airbag cylinders are going to show up more often.

I was looking around for a image of the inflators and I ran into an article by Dave Dalrymple that he wrote for Fire Engineering, New Vehicle Technology and New Extrication Challenges.

The curtain’s inflation module is inside the air bag itself and located in the rear roof edge between the rear head rests. As for the rest of the nine systems, count them from the crash recovery system diagram (photo 8). So it’s not just high-end vehicles that have a wide spectrum of SRS systems. Although this vehicle is not yet for sale, look for it in 2010, possibly as the Scion IQ.

About Smitty

4 comments

  1. The rear curtain airbag was also mentioned in Moditech’s ‘New vehicle technology update’ back in 2008. See: http://www.moditech.com/rescue/index3.php?action=newsletter&detail=22

  2. Thanks for the link Jorg! Modtech is truly one of the first information sources I found when I started researching information a couple of years ago for this site.

  3. The body structure of this car is really awesome. I think this is the perfect city car which is all most people need..
    black scion tc(http://www.scion.com/htmlsite/tC.html)

  4. Scion iQ seems pretty cool, with a coupe body style, sharp looks and a variety of customization opportunities for younger buyers accustomed to getting things the way they want them.
    all new tc(http://www.scion.com/takeonthemachine/)