Side Impact Protection System

SIPS was first introduced in 1991^[1] for the Volvo 700, 900^[2] and 850 series cars of model year 1992.^[3][4][5][6] It has been standard on every new Volvo since.

SIPS consists of a reinforced lower sill panel, "B pillar" and reinforcements with energy absorbing honeycomb materials^[7][8] inside the doors.^[9] The idea is to more widely distribute the energy in a side collision across the whole side of the car rather than having the b-pillar absorb it all.^[6] Driver and passenger seat are mounted on transverse steel rails,^[10] not bolted to the floor as per the standard configuration.^[11] In a side impact these transverse rails allow the seats to crush a reinforced center console designed to absorb additional energy.^[12]

In 1994,^[13] for the 1995 model year,^[14] the SIPS-Bag^[15] was introduced. Initially an option^[16] on 850 models,^[17][18] it became standard equipment^[13] of all new Volvo automobiles beginning in 1995^[19] for the 1996 model year.^[15] The system consists of a mechanically^[20] activated^[21] side airbag that protects the front seat occupants torsos from hitting the cars interior.^[22]

In 1998, for the 1999 model year, the system was extensively redesigned. With the launch of the Volvo S80 the IC airbag,^[23] a curtain style airbag^[24] deploying from the headlining to protect the head, was added. It has since been standard equipment on all newly released Volvos.
Because of technical reasons the existing Volvo S70, V70 and C70 models were instead equipped with the SIPS-BAG II.^[13][25]

In 2006,^[26] for the 2007 model year, the fourth generation SIPS was introduced incorporating more high strength steel, structural changes, more bracing and dual chamber sips-bags.^[27][28]

Notably, under Volvo's 1999-2006 tenure with Ford's Premier Automotive Group, Ford adapted the SIPS system to numerous of its vehicles, including the Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego, Freestyle, Taurus X, Flex and fifth generation Explorer as well as the Lincoln MKS, MKT. Ford marketed its system as SPACE (Side Protection and Cabin Enhancement) Architecture, incorporating at floor level a bolt-in hydroformed cross-car steel beam between the B-pillars directly below an identical reinforced cross-roof beam above the B-pillars^[29][30] to channel impact forces around rather than through the passenger cabin.^[31]

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  Volvo S80 cutaway showing part of the SIPS system components
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  Volvo S80 cutaway showing part of the SIPS system components
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  Volvo S80 cutaway showing part of the SIPS system components
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  SIPS airbag

• WHIPS (Whiplash Protection System)