Procon-ten

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procon-ten (lower case initial "p") stands for Programmed Contraction Tension and is a proprietary secondary restraint system used by car manufacturer Audi from 1986 until the mid-1990s.

Audi was one of the last German manufacturers to use airbags in their cars, mainly due to the high reliability and cost effectiveness of the technology they trademarked as “procon-ten”. procon-ten used thick cables (similar to winch cables) running around the rear of the engine. In the event of an impact the engine would get shifted backwards, tightening the cables which were in turn connected to the steering column and seatbelt mounts. When the cable was pulled tight by the engine the cables would pull the steering wheel clear of the driver and remove any slack in the seat belts, holding the occupants more firmly in their seats until the accident had finished.

Audi engines are by tradition mounted longitudinal as opposed to transverse, with but a few exceptions in more recent models. This meant the engine was so close to the front bumper (especially on 5 cylinder variants) that the radiator often had to be offset to halfway down one side of the engine bay. One advantage of this technique is that the engine is one of the first things to be struck in an impact, taking much of the force and allowing for high responsiveness of the procon-ten system. procon-ten was available for cars such as the Audi 100/200 and the V8 as well as the Audi 80 and Audi 90 - but was discontinued with the introduction of the new A4 and A8 series in 1994 and the 1997 A6.

procon-ten is a trademark of Audi AG.