So I bought some '06 Miata seats for my 83 GS. I'm working on getting them mounted in the car and noticed that there was a bunch of garbage bolted to the bottom of the passenger seat. The driver's seat didn't have all this stuff, just the passenger side. There are two long flat metal pieces that have some kind of electrical sensor on them. The plug into the silver foil covered box that was also mounted on the bottom of the passenger seat. At first I thought maybe it was something to make sure that the passenger has their seatbelt fastened, but quickly ruled that out.

Is this something to do with side curtain air bags, or some kind of safety device? I'm sorta stumped as to what these things are. If they're worth anything I'm gonna put them up on ebay since I don't need them. But mainly my curiousity has the best of me now....

 

Call the dealer and ask them to search the part minber.

 

Possibly........ seat position sensors to alter airbag deployment based on the passenger's distance from the airbag.

Its common to see electical stuff shoved under the seats,but that is actually part of the rail,so its likely that they detect seat position.For what reason is the real question......

 

Maybe the sensor to tell if there is indeed a person in the seat?

 

That's hella weird... I'd go with some sort of position sensor... It probably is for the side curtains or adjusting for how close or far away the seat is from the airbag since its a fairly modern car...

Or maybe its just a built in car bomb? lol

 

I just wondered what the heck they were for. I hate to throw them in the dumpster if I could sell them on ebay and make a little cash back. Also, it would be a cheap alternative for someone who needed them (although I'm thinking that's not very likely.)

 

My wifes mazda6 wagon had something like thoes under the right seat and what it is a sensor for the airbag...

Dan

 

I have a newer car that I use for a daily (Toyota) and I suspect that it has something similar. It does have a sensor to detect if there is more than ~10lb in the passenger seat. This will trigger the passenger seat belt warning light and likely activate the passenger air bag as well. I haven't looked at the sensor to see if it looks like what you have. Yours looks like it might also have a seat position sensor (likely to control the passenger airbag). Check with the dealer or post it up on a miata forum.