procon-ten

procon-ten (lower case initial "p") (an acronym for Programmed Contraction-Tension) is a proprietary Safety Restraint System (SRS), used by German car manufacturer Audi from 1986 until the mid-1990s.

Audi was one of the last German manufacturers to employ airbags in their cars, mainly due to the high reliability and cost-effectiveness of the technology they trademarked as "procon-ten".

When the cable was pulled tight by the engine, the cables would pull the steering wheel towards the front of the car, clear of the driver, and also remove any slack in the seat belts, holding the occupants more firmly in their seats until the accident had finished.

One advantage of this technique is that the engine is one of the first things to be struck in a frontal impact, taking much of the force, and allowing for high responsiveness of the procon-ten system.

One key disadvantage however, is that the system is relatively ineffective in an offset impact (rather than directly head-on) since the engine can only absorb part of the collision energy.