> 2011 mazda rx-8 Features: safety

Safety you don’t have to think about — that’s the reassurance of six standard air bags.

• Front air bags help provide driver and front passenger protection for head and chest.*
• Front side-impact air bags help provide protection of chest and abdominal areas.*
• Fast-inflating air curtains provide protection to both front and rear outboard passengers in side-impact collisions.*

* Always wear your seat belt and secure children in the rear seats in appropriate child restraints.

Accidents can happen in a flash, fortunately the RX-8’s seat-belt system responds just as quickly.

• Standard seat-belt pretensioners in the front seats.*
• Three-point seat belts for all seating positions.

*System is designed to remove slack and release belt in a controlled manner in case of an accident to reduce the belt force on the occupant’s chest

The RX-8’s exceptionally rigid body has a plus side — safety and superior handling.

• Locking pins hold the doors together and lock each door directly into the roof and floor, to help them stay closed in an impact.
• Additional frame components including reinforced side sills, a high-mount backbone and two cross-member reinforcements helps dissipate crash energy through the vehicle's structure.

Standard 4-wheel disc brakes help keep all the fun under control.

• Large, 4-wheel vented disc brakes help dissipate heat for increased stopping power.
• Standard Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) pulses the brakes hundreds of times per second to help prevent wheel lockup so stops are controlled and confident.
• Standard Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) monitors brake pedal pressure and vehicle weight to determine how much force to apply to the front and rear brakes.

RX-8’s advanced technologies work to preserve performance without sacrificing safety.

• Available Dynamic Stability Control (DSC)*† modulates the throttle and brakes when over- or understeer is detected, helping keep the vehicle stable during aggressive maneuvers.
• Available Traction Control System (TCS) detects any loss of traction then adjusts the throttle to provide the drive wheels with improved traction and more sure-footed acceleration in difficult driving conditions.

* Standard on Grand Touring and R3.

† Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) is an electronic system to help the driver maintain control under adverse conditions. It is not a substitute for safe driving practices. Factors including speed, road conditions and driver steering input can all affect whether DSC will be effective in preventing loss of control.