How To Acquire Non-US Spec Head Restraints for a US-spec CX-5
- Thread starter CodyZoom
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- RDX Aspec Adv.
What's the point of the smaller headrest? Less safety? Why would anyone buy this? I am lost.
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- RDX Aspec Adv.
I guess I never considered rear visibility, as I find the CX-5 has great visibility.
I bought it for 2 reasons.
1. When you don't have passengers in the rear seats, these head rests can be pushed down to increase visibility. You can't do this with original head rests.
2. When you do have passengers, these can be adjusted easily to offer same level of comfort and safety as original head rests.
If I leave the original head rests on, I compromise rear visibility. If I remove it, I compromise passengers' safety/comfort.
With these, I don't have to choose between rear visibility and passengers' comfort. I can have both.
Visibility, as Rarebit and Arunka mentioned, but also so you can fold the rear seats forward all the way without removing the headrests. The North American OEM headrests hit the back of the front seats, preventing them from being folded all the way forward easily.
littlebear
Member
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- 2017 Mazda CX5
The US headrests are that size due to safety regulations for head and neck protection in an impact.
The non-US-spec headrests don't have the same safety specs so they are smaller in size.
I know from years of racing that larger properly supported headrests will prevent you from serious neck and head injuries. That is also why manufacturers are going to larger headrests to protect the head and neck during an impact.
With that being said I admit the non-US spec headrests provide better rear visibility and look "sportier" but it will come down to each owner and what they want and view as important.
If you carry rear passengers I believe you owe it to them to provide the safety that the OEM headrests were tested and provide. It's a free country but something to think about it...
The non-US-spec headrests don't have the same safety specs so they are smaller in size.
I know from years of racing that larger properly supported headrests will prevent you from serious neck and head injuries. That is also why manufacturers are going to larger headrests to protect the head and neck during an impact.
With that being said I admit the non-US spec headrests provide better rear visibility and look "sportier" but it will come down to each owner and what they want and view as important.
If you carry rear passengers I believe you owe it to them to provide the safety that the OEM headrests were tested and provide. It's a free country but something to think about it...
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SomeGuyFromNYC
Member
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- '14.5 CX5 Grand Touring AWD w/ tech
Pretty sure the Mazda 3 & 6 both have the smaller/lower headrests too. The posts just don't fit the CX5 slots 100%.
littlebear
Member
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- 2017 Mazda CX5
I don't mean to sound condescending, that is not my intention, but it's common sense that properly sized and fitted head restraints provide occupant safety. If your neck and head go snapping back from a collision, you can face serious neck and head injuries, even death. Proper head restraints are just as vital as proper seat belts.
From the IIHS website: (emphasis mine)
Neck sprains and strains are the most frequently reported injuries in U.S. auto insurance claims. Such whiplash injuries can be sustained in any type of crash but occur most often in rear-end collisions. Good head restraints can help prevent them.
Good geometry is essential for an effective head restraint. If a head restraint isn't behind and close to the back of an occupant's head, it can't prevent whiplash in a rear-end collision. IIHS evaluates the geometry of head restraints in passenger vehicles based on the height and backset relative to an average-size male. A restraint should be at least as high as the head's center of gravity, or about 3.5 inches below the top of the head. The backset, or distance behind the head, should be as small as possible. Backsets of more than about 4 inches have been associated with increased symptoms of neck injury in crashes. The restraints are measured with the angle of the torso at about 25 degrees, a typical seatback angle. IIHS classifies each restraint according to its height and backset into one of four geometric zones — good, acceptable, marginal or poor.
Head restraints have improved since the Institute first began rating them. In 1995, only 3 percent of measured head restraints received good geometric ratings, while 82 percent were rated poor. Among recent models, most head restraints have good geometric ratings, and the rest are acceptable. IIHS ratings have forced manufacturers to pay attention to head restraint design. More recently, a government standard in effect since September 2010 requires a minimum of 29.5 inches from an occupant's hip to the top of a head restraint and a backset of 2.2. inches or less. This guarantees that nearly all new head restraints would be rated good for geometry by IIHS.
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/ratings-info/rear-head-restraints-test
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littlebear
Member
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- 2017 Mazda CX5
I am very confident that those non-US-spec CX5 headrests DO NOT meet the IIHS requirements. They look cool, are maybe even more practical when folding seats, but they are NOT the ones the IIHS tested in the CX5.
Look at the way they are positioned. An occupants head would go snapping back. They are NOT the ones tested and certified for a US-spec CX5.
One can remove all headrests in the car if they want to, like I said, it's a free country but if you want to jeopordize your passengers safety and well-being, that's a call the owner has to make.
Also in the event of an accident resulting in injuries your vehicle will be towed and inspected and if they find that you changed out the headrests to non-spec headrests then you can face litigation. Something else to think about.
I am not a "negative Nancy" but a realist with a background in this area and it's just stupid to mess with occupant safety by modifying things that jeopardize occupant safety. I know people who suffered whiplash and other such neck and head injuries. The physical pain can and does usually last a lifetime, especially if they were older when the injury happened. It never goes away and having neck pain for the rest of your life is something you don't want for anyone, including your occupants.
Look at the way they are positioned. An occupants head would go snapping back. They are NOT the ones tested and certified for a US-spec CX5.
One can remove all headrests in the car if they want to, like I said, it's a free country but if you want to jeopordize your passengers safety and well-being, that's a call the owner has to make.
Also in the event of an accident resulting in injuries your vehicle will be towed and inspected and if they find that you changed out the headrests to non-spec headrests then you can face litigation. Something else to think about.
I am not a "negative Nancy" but a realist with a background in this area and it's just stupid to mess with occupant safety by modifying things that jeopardize occupant safety. I know people who suffered whiplash and other such neck and head injuries. The physical pain can and does usually last a lifetime, especially if they were older when the injury happened. It never goes away and having neck pain for the rest of your life is something you don't want for anyone, including your occupants.
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littlebear
Member
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- 2017 Mazda CX5
After researching more, those shorter non-US-spec head restraints do NOT meet the IIHS safety specs.
So it goes without saying, you get them, you take on the liability of any injuries sustained because one modified the safety restraints. Maybe you won't get sued but do you want to tell your occupants that suffered neck injuries that you changed the factory tested head restraints so you can fold your seats down easier?
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/mazda/cx-5-4-door-suv
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Like someone posted earlier, you can simply raise the head rest when you have a passenger in the car and the height is exactly the same as the standard headrests. The only difference is, you can then lower them when no one is in the seat and still be able to see clearly out of the rear of the car.
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littlebear
Member
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- 2017 Mazda CX5
That will not happen 90% of the time. People forget, people don't think about something like that when getting into a vehicle. 99.99% of people don't adjust headrests when entering as a passenger of a vehicle. They get in, put on their seat belt. Plus I go back to the scientific and engineered test and reports which clearly state that headrests like the non-spec ones being talked about here will NOT work properly in an impact.
I don't buy the "see clearly out of the rear" explanation because that is WHY there is a reverse camera on these cars. Even with the lower headrests, looking out the back window you will NOT be able to see a small child, animal or object. That is WHY there is a low-mounted reverse camera with a wide angle lens.
Studies show that backing collisions involving pedestrians is reduced or prevented with backup cameras since the field of vision is way better than twisting your head and looking out a rear view window. Especially on a CUV like the CX5 which has higher ground clearance.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Firstly, those non-US spec rear seat headrests are not small area wise. The only difference is they can be lowered and not blocking the rear visibility which may cause safety issue if the rear seat is occupied by a tall person and the headrest is not raised to the proper height. I believe there is a reason why Mazda is putting a different style of rear seat headrests in CX-5 for North America market. But you can't explain why Mazda3、Mazda6 and new CX-3 are using low-profile ones which may cause safety issues. In addition, those high-end Mercedes Benz and BMW models are all having (power) folding rear seat headrests and they still have excellent safety ratings. Beside, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, IIHS, is an independent、nonprofit、research and communications organizations funded by auto insurers, they have no business setting up government safety regulations. And you think ECE European safety standards are looser than US NHTSA safety standards which makes Mazda using less-safe、low-profile headrests in EU market?
Of course a better rearview visibility will increase the safety of driving overall, not just backing up. A reverse camera is useless when you drive forward.
littlebear
Member
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- 2017 Mazda CX5
The reason for the OEM headrests is because they have been studied, engineered, tested and verified by the scientists at IIHS to provide proper head and neck restraints during a collision in a CX5.
Again, this argument is moot because NOBODY here knows how a non-spec headrest will perform in a CX5 rear seat because a non-spec headrest was not tested in the rear seat of a CX5. If the non-spec headrest are used and people get injured, you can bet your behind that nobody will back them because they know they are non-spec and don't belong on a CX5.
The CX-3 headrests were tested in a CX-3 rear seat, not a CX5 rear seat. The Mazda6 headrests were tested in a Mazda6 seat, not a CX-5 seat. The Mazda3 headrests were tested in a Mazda3 seat, not a CX5 seat. The headrest design is dependent on the seat design. So comparing a Mazda3, Mazda6, CX3, Benz and BMW headrest is worthless because those headrests were designed & tested for their independent seat designs, not a CX5 seat. The seat and headrest work together and are tested as a unit.
The reverse camera provides better visibility when reversing than the non-spec headrests.
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- RDX Aspec Adv.
I don't like to fold the seats down. I have to press a button and pull to do that. Screw pressing a button. Am I right? *same logic is same*
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- RDX Aspec Adv.
The real reason people want to do stuff like this is because the grass is greener on the other side or they think it's "cool" to have "non US spec" stuff. For exactly the same reason that Mustangs cost so damn much in Germany. It's the same reason people do a lot of stuff. "Because they want/like to". Not because it's smart or good for them. But, this is 'Murica, and I support job security/the right for people do to things that hurt them.
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How do you know that? Can you back up this with any statistical data?
I'll restate what others have said, the backup camera does not work when the car is in drive, and that's when I wanted the additional sight line.
And there's no need for you to "buy" that, it is my reason for the purchase, and I'm perfectly happy with it.
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thanks for the link to the insurance company supported safety information
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not to sound condescending but you realize you can edit posts to add information instead of adding post after post, minutes apart at times?
and that it is not necessary to quote each and every previous post every time ?
i, and others i imagine, can quite easily follow a forum discussion - perhaps more easily without having to filter out reams of unnecessary quotes
/end rant - sorry, guess i'm used to discussion forums with much less quoting
ditto srad600 (above
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i prefer natural visual sightlines over tech add-ons, the blind spot monitoring,back up cams, etc - great additions but they also make for lazy drivers
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not to sound condescending but you realize you can edit posts to add information instead of adding post after post, minutes apart at times?
and that it is not necessary to quote each and every previous post every time ?
i, and others i imagine, can quite easily follow a forum discussion - perhaps more easily without having to filter out reams of unnecessary quotes
/end rant - sorry, guess i'm used to discussion forums with much less quoting
ditto srad600 (above
)i prefer natural visual sightlines over tech add-ons, the blind spot monitoring,back up cams, etc - great additions but they also make for lazy drivers
