Hi All,
I’m trying to track down some parts info on the S1 Exige and can’t appear to find it in the Lotus Elise manual. did Lotus issue a separate parts manual for the S1 Exige or at least an appendix addendum to include the Exige and its options?
I’m just doing my ground research for getting mine and Huskydog’s cars road-legal over here and we’ve been told that we’ll have to install retractable lap/sash seatbelts to get the car road legal. The only way that we can register the car as road legal with harnesses only is to register it as a motorsport car which means joining a motorsport club and having the car run under an MSNZ log-book and authority card (continually having it scrutineered etc).
Now, both Huskydog’s car and mine have the Schroth / Safety Devices harnesses only, and it’s going to be a pain in the butt if we have to register them as LVV-certed vehicles (motorsport).
Now, just reading through the Land Transport New Zealand’s regulations it states that:
Specialist seatbelts
2.4(13) A specialist seatbelt, > other than one that is the manufacturer�s original equipment specification> , may not be fitted in any seating position in a motor vehicle, unless the seatbelt:
- (a) is fitted under 3.3 or 3.4; or
- (b) is a specialist type approved by the Director.
(3.3 and 3.4 applying to motorsport-registered vehicles and home-built kit cars)
Where:
Specialist seatbelt
means a seatbelt that is designed for specialist purposes; and includes a full harness seatbelt used for motor sport activities.
Now, the bit that interests me is the bit I’ve put in italics in the first quote. As near as I can tell, if we can argue that the harnesses are OEM Lotus gear made for the Exige then we have a case to argue for them being passed as road legal on their own.
What I’m after is a scan of a Lotus Manual or something that lists the option of the harnesses as an OEM fitment and ideally anything that makes it legal for road use in the UK.
I’ve read a bit about Schroth doing a lot of work to make these harnesses to a standard that they’d BE road legal for the Exige as well as FIA-accredited. If I can get something in writing that explains that this is a 4-point harness system designed for road and competition use and was an acceptable OEM solution for Lotus in the S1 Exige then I should be able to get us to sail through no worries.
Anyone got any info they can help with?
Thanks a million.
George.