Steve J Posted September 23, 2004 Posted September 23, 2004 Been wanting better belts for the car as the nornal seat belt doesn't fill me with confidence for it's ability to keep me restrained in a crash. Have seen bits about it and cars with them in, but read recently that they are for track use only and are not road legal. I would like to have both the 3 point belt and the 4/6 point ones for when pressing on. Any advice? I could just sell the car and buy the Chrome Orange Exige on Pistonheads though
chris_h Posted September 23, 2004 Posted September 23, 2004 I have both on my S2 Exige. The normal belt is much easier when just popping to the shops, but i feel i can drive the car much harder with the 4 point on. I'm going to the Notts/ Derby pub meet on thursday 30th if you want to have a look. Chris
Steve J Posted September 23, 2004 Author Posted September 23, 2004 Cheers Chris. Must be the only person who's not been in the car from the Nott meets
Mark H Posted September 23, 2004 Posted September 23, 2004 My car only has harnesses in it, the normal buckle belt was removed. I'm pretty sure I remember reading that Lotus dont recommend having both harnesses and belts fitted due to the them being fitted to the same bolt and causing extra stress. If you bolt the harnesses to the chassis you would be ok though.
Steve J Posted September 23, 2004 Author Posted September 23, 2004 I assumed they fixed to the harness bar that was fixed to the chassis
Scott_Mac Posted September 23, 2004 Posted September 23, 2004 I thiunk he means the other end Steve... as in not bolting the other end of the harness to the seat, but to the actualy chassis. It is a sketchy area as i have looked into too... I asked Nick Whale and their MOT tester said he wouldn't fail a car for just having harnesses... the vague bit is about the buckle system... in order for a harness to be MOT compliant you must be able to do it up and undo it with one hand... hence the cheap nasty designs you can buy are road legal as they have a red push button (similar to a std car seat belt) to undo them. The better looking (and more comfortable IMO) harness has what is known as the aircraft style buckle, where you twist it to undo it. I will be doing this at some stage and am tempted to keep both seat belt and harness in place, but if recommended, shall just have harnesses. To get a better idea of the clips i am on about... look at hangar111 http://www.hangar111.com/Shop/Limited/Prod...stHarnesses.htm The top ones are the legal ones, click on the bigger picture and see the buckle.... the others look nicer IMO. Best suggestion is to get some with a "quick release" so that you can pull a buckle near the shoulder to be able to look forwards at junctions etc... then you can see much easier. I am most probably going for the 2nd ones down on that site... mmm Interest Free Credit Worth noting is that as you don't have harness slots in your seats, you will need bolt in type harnesses and corresponding bar.
Steve J Posted September 23, 2004 Author Posted September 23, 2004 Agree, the clip-in one looks crap. Would be looking for the bolt-on ones as don't intend changing the seats. However could save the money to put towards an Exige, so we can have a Lotus each
Jonathan E Posted September 23, 2004 Posted September 23, 2004 I've got both in my car now,I bought a fredy kumshik(sp?) bar from Switzerland,they will supply to the UK but be warned these bars are not cheap(also available from Sinclaires).The main difference is that the harness bar bolts into the 3 point seatbelt top fixing and saves having to cut the rear panel(S2). In Switzerland it is illegal to not have three point belts,so if you fit harnesses you have to retain the original belts,and this is the Swiss Lotus dealers solution to the problem.I had a spyder bar and willans Silverstone harnesses in my last Liz and took out the 3 point belts,if I'm honest I only use the harnesses when pushing on or long trips.To use them all the time does become a bit of a pain ie, for a quick trip to the shop etc.Passengers seem to get a bit miffed with them especially if your gf is 8 stone and your brother is 14 lots of adjusting,I'm lucky nobody else drives my car so the drivers side is less hassle. I like having the choice and 3 point belts don't feel anywhere near as safe as harnesses. Fwiw I spoke to Neil Turner regarding leaving the belts in situ and his answer was that Lotus wouldn't do this just in case there was any comeback after any accident,and that they had to be careful regarding the cars meeting EU standards etc,but then he went on to compare it to the 135r and similar projects where the cars are built on the line and registered to comply with certain issues and then put through the motorsport division for upgrades. All down to your own choice really but I'd certainly say the harnesses feel safer. Hope this helps Regards Jon
simon_prickett Posted September 23, 2004 Posted September 23, 2004 I passed MoT last year with no seatbelts and Willans 4 point harnesses that are FIA certified until 2007. Next MoT next Wednesday...
Bramble111s Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 Chris, Boy your exige seats look fine, any chance of a full seat pic! Also are they S2 exige black leather seats? if not then whats the full name, I would really like to get some of those! thanks
Mark H Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 Chris, Boy your exige seats look fine, any chance of a full seat pic!Also are they S2 exige black leather seats? if not then whats the full name, I would really like to get some of those! thanks Pictures of the seats in this thread: http://www.midlandslotus.co.uk/forum/index...?showtopic=2338
JohnnyM Posted September 24, 2004 Posted September 24, 2004 i have willans 4 pointers in the 160, no reel belts fitted since the mountings are used by the A frame. had it MOT'd at NW without issue. Also been scrutinised by a policeman who was "inspecting the car for defects" and he didnt bring it up. i feel insecure pushing on in any car with just reel belts now, strange feeling indeed. Johnny M
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