VIDEO: Mercedes-Benz ESF S400 Concept's "Braking Bag" in action

[Bill Wood]

Filed under: Concept Cars, Sedans/Saloons, Safety, Tech, Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz ESF 2009 - Click above for a high-res gallery. Follow the jump for video.

Mercedes-Benz has built an S400 Hybrid called the Experimental Safety Vehicle (ESF in German) as a rolling jack-in-the-box of the company's safety technology. One of those tech highlights is the braking bag -- the panel under the car in the picture above -- which operates both as an air brake and a support in the event of an accident.

When the PRE-SAFE system detects a crash is imminent, it will deploy an airbag located in the vehicle floor above the front axle carrier. This action will thrust a panel to the ground that, in its most simple form, slows the car down fractionally due to aerodynamic and friction drag.

But the panel is also thrust down forcefully enough to raise the car up 8 centimeters, reducing dive and possibly helping to prevent the car from submarining under an obstacle in front of it. The Mercedes-Benz ESF S400 will be displayed at the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles conference on June 15 in Stuttgart. To learn all about it right now, check out the gallery below, then follow the jump to watch three videos and read MB's excruciatingly-long press release.


Gallery: Mercedes ESF 2009




[Source: Mercedes-Benz]Continue reading VIDEO: Mercedes-Benz ESF S400 Concept's "Braking Bag" in action

VIDEO: Mercedes-Benz ESF S400 Concept's "Braking Bag" in action originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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06-14-2009 03:09 PM