HELP - Harnesses and airbag question

General General Lotus Talk
1

Having spec’d 4-point harnesses for my Exige I was informed it deleted the seatbelts.

My car is due for delivery in the morning and I have just had a call from the supplying dealer telling me they need consent from me to fit them as Lotus do not warrant the harness and airbags working together.

Their concern is if I don’t fasten the belts fully and the bags go off the bags could injure me. They say the bags are only designed in conjunction with the seatbelt as its tensioner would guarantee I am in a certain designed distance from the airbag.

I cannot believe they would allow you to spec them at point-of-sale and then come back with this at delivery!

I am going to take delivery of the car without the harnesses and lodge a open customer services call with Lotus.

I am wrong to think this is a crazy situation? Why provide an optional extra that then prevents them delivering the car to me

2

This is the world of product liability we now live in.
Do what you think is right…for me I.d always rely on the belts , never the airbags…but my S1 does not have airbags anyway…too heavy!

3

PS keep the inertia ones on the car as 4 pointers are a PITA on the road and you really only need 4 points on track…where you should go anyway.
Cheers and have fun.

4

I am thinking of taking with the belts in place.

Then I can assess if I could mount the harness without removing the seatbelt.

I am concerned about resale of the car if this is the case. And by having the belts I can always put them back in before resale.

5

I didn’t know about the Airbags being dangerous.

I’ve took my seatbelts out and now have an airbag warning light as the pretensioners aren;t connected. The official Lotus position on this I’m told is you can’t take them out, but I haven’t given up yet. It’s dead easy to take them out BTW.

If you want both Harnesses and Std Belts you really need new bolts for the seats. MSAR sell a kit for �25. This gives more space and allows both belts to move.

6

I didn’t know about the Airbags being dangerous.

I’ve took my seatbelts out and now have an airbag warning light as the pretensioners aren;t connected. The official Lotus position on this I’m told is you can’t take them out, but I haven’t given up yet. It’s dead easy to take them out BTW.

If you want both Harnesses and Std Belts you really need new bolts for the seats. MSAR sell a kit for �25. This gives more space and allows both belts to move.

So how is it my supplier is saying they have to be removed on Lotus’ instruction?

I have asked them to clarify if they take them out they have to intervene with any sensors for pretensioners/airbag.

7

Kev

Just this got back from my Lotus dealer about your situation…


He will leave the inertia reel/pretensioner fitted to the vehicle and
connected. This would prevent the warning lamp from illuminating.If you
wanted it disconnecting it would still leave the warning light on, you
cannot switch off individual components.

8

You need some of these to be able to mount the harnesses and the 3 point belt at the same time, using the existing subframes.

MSAR Safety - S111 Harness Hardware

[image]http://www.msar-safety.com/images/medium/accessories/hardware_MED.jpg[/image]

Alternatively you could look at mounting them to the chassis rail behind the seat, thats what I’ve done.

9

Damon,

I spoke to Rowland Leftley in the Lotus Motorsport Division and was told they have to be left in on an airbag car.

Cheers

10

Damon,

I spoke to Rowland Leftley in the Lotus Motorsport Division and was told they have to be left in on an airbag car.

Cheers

The tensioner/reel? That is what the dealership tech told me.

I am disappointed it wasn’t pointed out at point-of-sale rather than the day before delivery.

I am taking the car with just the belts fitted and will review the situation once I have the car to look at.

Thanks for responses

Damon