| Preface
In Part-III of this 'series', I shared with you some of my thoughts and
experience about Accessories and Customising one's car.
So, let's get still wiser on this aspect as there is some more .
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1)
Converting Mpfi's to Gas
Although there are some so called 'RTO Certified' Gas kits suitable
for Mpfi's in the market, there seem to be none that have the Car Makers’
approval also for retrofitting on their various models. The reason is
simple - the control system of such a Kit has to actively interface with
the Car's main ECU and that doesn't come cheap - Rs: 30k upwards - so
there are no takers for it.
To double check, seek your Car Dealer's advice whether he has any Kit
to recommend and install w/o affecting the Car's warranty - even if it's
out of it - as some RTO certified kits for Mpfi's have just started coming
into the mkt - though for 'distributor' types to begin with and NOT for
'Distributor less' Ignition types - to the best of my knowledge.
For further insights into the matter, please Surf our following URL and
checkout what all should comprise a technically suitable Kit for EU-I
and EU-II cars as well as the hazards of using Domestic LPG/Cylinders
for automotive purposes -
http://www.indiacar.com/infobank/lpgcng.htm
2)
Whether Car Covers
Although a wide variety of CC's are available in the mkt today, in my
humble opinion they are all not only impractical for daily use but can
do more harm than good. Just imagine you're all dressed up to go to work
and you've to take-off a grime laden CC, fold it and tuck it away inside
your Car and repeat the same exercise when you get to work !
As for their harmful part, they trap water/humidity/dust underneath and
their inevitable dragging across to mount/dismount will lead to paint
deterioration and scratches.
However, they do have some utility while parking 'long-term', like protecting
against street vandalism.
3)
Airbags
There’s
a lot of sales buzz these days about Airbags, which quite frankly are
not a ‘must have’ in our slow speed driving conditions. They
not only cost quite a packet to begin with but also being ‘single
use’ only - cannot be re-used coz of the 'explosive' nature of the
inflation mechanism employed. In fact they go off with quite an audible
bang, sometimes even when NOT when called upon to so and cost more than
Rs: 25k to replace ! To know how they work, read on…….
i) They are ‘triggered’ by an 'electronic accelerometer',
which is housed in the SRS Control Module. The SRSCM is located on the
floor in the Passenger Compartment just behind the Firewall.
ii) The Accelerometer continuously monitors the acceleration AND de-acceleration
of the Car and it's so 'sensitised' that it triggers the Airbag release
under 'frontal or near frontal impacts of moderate to sever force'. So
it can only be assumed that it'd be immune to 'mild' bumps, such as the
ones encountered in a routine manner. On the other hand, there have been
several instances when they didn’t ‘deploy’ when actually
required !
iii) There is another 'safety interlock' to prevent their 'nuisance deployment'.
This is done by de-activating the entire System 150 ms to 30 seconds after
the ignition switch is 'locked out'. So it can be surmised that after
this time, if a Car gets bumped in a parking lot or some such place else,
it won't go off.
iv) However, the flip side of it is that in the case when one is parked
somewhere with ign sw lock out and still inside the car for whatever reason,
they won't go off if one gets hit after 30 secs or so ! Or the moral of
the story would be not to lock out the Ign Sw till ready to get out of
a Car fitted with Airbags !!
v) Interestingly enough, there seem enough no. of Cars whose SRSs never
go off in their life-time and there no way one can safely test that they’re
reliably in good working order. However, there is a procedure prescribed
to 'de-activate' them before disposing them off under a crusher or some
such device ! |
