Vauxhall Astra TwinTop - Technical glossary

Need some help translating some technical gubbins? Here are all of Astra TwinTop's features explained.

Active Head Restraints
This safety feature reduces the risk of whiplash in the event of rear-end collisions. Upon impact the upper part of the body presses against the lever system in the seat back, which triggers both the head restraint and the upper section of the seat back to move up and forward. It thereby cushions the head earlier in its backward movement.

Active Roll-Over Protection System
In the event of a roll-over, the active roll-over protection system in the Astra TwinTop ensures occupant safety, especially for rear-seat passengers. A special yaw rate sensor in the airbag control system recognizes sudden vehicle turning motions along the longitudinal or transversal axis. In the event of an impending roll-over, the control system activates the seat-belt tensioners. On cars equipped with the pop-up bars, two solid aluminum safety roll hoops behind the rear seats deploy upwards and lock tight within 0.2 seconds. The system is also activated if the airbag sensors for front, rear or side impacts report a collision. This means the roll bars are in place even if the collision causes a power failure and then a roll-over occurs. The mechanism also works with the roof closed, offering even greater protection.

Adaptive Brake Lights
If the ABS is activated, drivers behind are warned by rapid blinking of the rear brake lights at four pulses per second. This visual warning signal can reduce reaction time by a valuable few fractions of a second, and thereby help prevent rear-end collisions.

AFL (Adaptive Forward Lighting)
Steering-linked bi-Xenon headlamp system. In the Astra TwinTop, AFL consists of "dynamic curve light" and "adaptive motorway light" functions. Depending on the steering wheel position and speed of travel, the headlamps swivel in the direction of the curve the car is travelling through. At higher speeds along a straight path, the low beam automatically raises its lighting angle to project longer beam distance, while a beam width regulator prevents the light from blinding oncoming traffic.

Automatic Lighting Control (ALC) / Automatic low beam headlamps
In response to the readings received from two sensors in the front windscreen, ALC automatically activates or deactivates the low beam headlamps. One sensor measures ambient brightness, while the other takes into account lighting conditions on the road ahead of the car, thus recognizing tunnels or bridges. Should both sensors register darkness (e.g. at night), the low beam headlamps are automatically switched on. If darkness is registered ahead of the car and brightness in the surrounding area (e.g. in a tunnel), the low beams are also activated. When both sensors detect brightness, the headlamps are switched off following a brief time lag. If the forward light sensor measures brightness and the ambient area sensor darkness, this indicates a bridge or underpass and the headlamps remain deactivated.

Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a radio technology in the license-free Industrial Scientific Medicine (ISM) band. With a frequency of 2.4 GHz, a maximum range of ten metres, and data rate of one megabit per second, Bluetooth supports many applications, especially wireless connections between mobile phones and hands-free kits. The Astra TwinTop's Mobile Phone Console features a Bluetooth interface.

Brake Assist
This sub-function of the brake booster progressively generates maximum braking pressure when the brake pedal is pressed particularly quickly, thus reducing braking distance.

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