Pontiac G8 recalled over airbag timing

Following our August story in which a Chevrolet Camaro suffered an unexpected airbag deployment comes news that the Pontiac G8, also based on Holden’s VE Commodore platform, has suffered a similar malfunction.

According to the recall notice, General Motors is recalling 2008-09 build Pontiac G8 vehicles manufactured between November 2, 2007 and January 22, 2009 for passenger airbag timing issues.

The malfunction was discovered during testing in Australia of the 2012 Chevrolet “Police Caprice”, with further investigation finding the front passenger airbag module was out of compliance with the US federal standard for head injury protection.

The advice given is that the airbag deployed some 30 milliseconds later than required to properly protect a “fifth percentile female anthropomorphic test device” (aka crash test dummy) in a 48km/h frontal collision. With the seat positioned in the fully forward location, this lag in firing between the first and second stages of the sequence could cause head injuries that “exceed the requirements of the standard”.

The recall affects 38,444 vehicles in the USA. Owners will be notified and the control module recalibrated to resolve the issue. To date, there are no known complaints, crashes or injuries related to this issue.

As for Holden Commodores built in during the same time the news is nothing but good. US specification vehicles have airbags calibrated differently to our own due to their unique seatbelt/restraint regulations. As such, Commodore owners can rest assured that their airbags will operate as required, Holden says.