"AMC/Renauledge" (n2skylark)
07/28/2015 at 00:47 • Filed to: None
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"AMC/Renauledge" (n2skylark)
07/28/2015 at 00:47 • Filed to: None | 2
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Q: What were the first cars to be available with dual airbags and computerized traction control?
1974 Buick LeSabre, Estate Wagon, Electra, and Riviera.
Buick offered their own proprietary computer-controlled traction control system called MaxTrac from 1971-74. But hardly anyone ordered it, so they discontinued it for 1975.
However, 1974 was the first year GM made the Air Cushion Restraint System, a dual-stage dual airbag system, optional on full-size Oldsmobiles, Buicks, and Cadillacs. The system wasn’t popular with buyers, and was withdrawn after 1977.
So 1974 was the first time any car worldwide had both TCS and dual airbag systems available in the same car. And Buick was the only brand that sold them. Not Cadillac, Mercedes, or anyone.
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AMC/Renauledge
> AMC/Renauledge
07/28/2015 at 01:07 |
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1974 was also the last year of the GS455 Stage 1 performance package. I want to find a Buick Riviera with all 3.
DrJohannVegas
> AMC/Renauledge
07/28/2015 at 01:11 |
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MaxTrac also cut spark, not fuel, so it would never have passed post-74 emissions. Good idea, and good execution, given tech at the time, but it wasn’t just slow buyer uptake that doomed it.
TA4K
> DrJohannVegas
07/28/2015 at 01:13 |
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so like an antilag without the turbo? hahaha
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DrJohannVegas
> TA4K
07/28/2015 at 01:20 |
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Yep. Fireballs down the headers. BRAPPP POP BRAPPP POP BRAPPP POP. (All while the wheels are spinning a bit.)
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TA4K
> DrJohannVegas
07/28/2015 at 01:24 |
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all show and no go.
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AMC/Renauledge
> DrJohannVegas
07/28/2015 at 02:03 |
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I didn’t realize it cut spark! Fuel is a way better idea.
I just find it astounding at how advanced the thinking was at GM as late as the mid-70s.
BloodlessWeevil
> AMC/Renauledge
07/28/2015 at 07:55 |
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That threw me, the Centurion was also offered with Maxtrac. Did it not have dual airbags?
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DrJohannVegas
> AMC/Renauledge
07/28/2015 at 10:10 |
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Carbs, my friend. Carbs.
Also, I think that some of the divisions had really smart folks, but they were doing “micro-level” innovations, like traction control, while the company continued to drive the “macro-level” design down the bigger, heavier, thirstier route.
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AMC/Renauledge
> BloodlessWeevil
07/28/2015 at 10:22 |
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The Centurion was discontinued after 1973. Airbags didn’t happen until ‘74.
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AMC/Renauledge
> DrJohannVegas
07/28/2015 at 10:27 |
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Right. A pretty sophisticated FI would be needed.
And I kind of wonder if the opposite isn’t true. That GM stopped innovating as much because all of a sudden they had to put their talents toward downsizing their cars and engines in the wake of the energy crises.
Buick would go on to reintroduce turbocharging for 1978. But the major innovations in technology definitely slowed down by then.