S1 135 sport - Harnesses

[Alex Wong]

Hi,

We've just bought a 135 Sport ('99) Elise and I was hoping to fit it with some harnesses for trackdays (and everyday use as well). I understand that we're better off losing the inertia belts which is fine. I also understand I need to fit a rail for the belts but looking at the Corbeau seats, there are no holes for the belts.

Has anybody else fitted harnesses with these seats?

Assuming the rail is for the shoulder harnesss, where do the lap and crutch straps fit to?

Thanks - I know a bit about my Seven but this is very new teritory for me.

Alex Wong

>>> Edited by Alex Wong on Thursday 27th May 13:22

[Arno]

People usually fit 4-point belts to the Elise with standard seats.

Use a harness belt with bolt-on belts to keep them in place and attach the lap belts to the current attachment points on the seats.

Look at this for an explanation:

www.lotus-elise.nl/Mods/Rims___tyres/Harnesses/body_harnesses.html

If you want to use a 6-point belt then you need something like a Motorsport seat or an aftermarket one like the Carbon-Fiber seats from Reverie or EliseParts.

Bye, Arno.

[Alex Wong]

Thanks - V useful page. I would like to fit 6 points though. I've never felt that 4 points were very secure. The Seats in the car are lovely and I don't want to change them, especially as they're part of the 135 Sport package. Do I really have to lose these to fit a 6 point?

[Quixotic]

I think, although I may not be correct, that you will need to keep the original seatbelts in the car for it to pass it's MOT. Annoying I know, I have both harness and the normal seatbelts still fitted.

[adrianr]

Doing it properly is tricky - if you talk to a proper harness manufacturer or a racer they will tell you using 4, 5 or 6 point belts with the std seats is a no-no as they *could* slip off your shoulders, and recommend you get some seats with slots it. They will also tell you that the standard side, floor and for that matter seat mountings aren't up to the load so need reinforcing with through bolts and plates.

That said, Silverstone Race school used to cut neat slots in the standard seats, which Lotus say is a no-no, and there are plently of people who *do* run bolt-on 4 point harnesses with no other reinforcement. Whether any of them have had a proper accident using this set-up is another matter.

A sensible compromise might be to use a 5-point setup, peel the front of the squab cushion off the seat and cut a hole to pass a crotch strap through, then figure out some way to fix it to the floor; I believe 340Rs had this sort of set-up ?

You have to make your own decisions on this one.
AdrianR

p.s. I was told that the MOT reqt was only that the belts had to be fastenable and releasable using one hard, and if you demonstrated that to the tester you could get through

[Alex Wong]

Proof if ever it was needed that the law is an ass - fortunately, my MOT man has passed my Caterham with it's 6 point harness before - most will in my experience. You'd have to be mad to not see harnesses as a safer setup.

The 5 point idea is a good one - I did consider this before. On the Seven, I just sit on the crutch strap. As it's main purpose is to prevent submarining into the footwell (ala Rindt), it still functions very well like this - I wonder if that is a possibility with the Elise and the seats I have?

>> Edited by Alex Wong on Thursday 27th May 15:17

[adrianr]

Yeah, I've had a westie with 4 points MOTd with no problems, although that was the type with the shoulder straps permanently attached to the lap belt on either side. Probably all a lot of urban myths; have a read here: www.motuk.co.uk/manual_510.htm

The problem with fixed belts (4/5/6 points) is that they have to be adjusted properly each time you get in the car to ensure the lap belt is across your thighs; many people just pull the shoulder straps tight, end up with the lap belt across their stomach and if they ever hit anything their insides would either be turned to squidge or they'd submarine out the bottom.

Somewhere I have a good account of what happened to a single seater driver in a head-on collision with badly adjusted belts - not nice!

AdrianR

[bernie_eccle]

Sorry I do not know an awful lot about harnesses but do have a S1 135 Sport. Have you taken out the seat padding? - It's just velcroed in. I am pretty certain that there are two slots under the @rse cushions. Not sure if this would give you the slots that you require for a 6 point harness or not.
Cheers
Bernie

[DanH]

The fundamental issue is that lotus say you need to remove the inertias when you put in harnesses (unless you fit spreader plates and cut into the floor pan - non trivial work and very few places have the competence/confidence to do it). You then get that whole badly adjusted harness thing mentioned above, and you can't see out at junctions either.

The shoulder strap spreading thing is a legit concern too imho.

So basically, if you want to do this properly you need to :

- buy new seats.
- buy a harness bar.
- fit spreader plates for the anti submarine straps.
- (optiona) fit spreader plates so you can keep the inertias for normal road usage.
- fit the harnesses.

All a huge pain. Which is why I havne't done it. Lotus Sport & Performance can probably do the spreader plate work for you though. I enquired about having inertia and harness in an S2 Exige before I decided not to buy one, and was told that they could sort it out. No price info though.

Frankly it would be nice if they supplied seats and mounting points with the car that didn't make it such a huge expense to sort out later.

[sport160hp]

I got 4 point harnesses fitted, works great. You don't need the 5/6 points harnesses because there is no way u can slide into the footwell. IF your strapped up you cannot move in any direction. Go for the 4 points harness and dont cut a hole in the seats, its a no-no You would be the first to cut a hole in your seat!
4 points willans or other make is the one to go for

[DanH]

I'd also tend to agree that 6 points is overkill, and a complete shag to do up just to go to the shops.

Its just not very practical to have to rely on properly adjusting the harnesses though. For me its even worse as I share the car with the gf. Given that we have the seat at different positions but the harnesses are fixed mounting, each time we swap who drives we have to adjust the damned things again. Its not like harnesses are easy to adjust either =/

[Rich135]

Alex, I sold my Sport135 recently to a dealer, and it has now gone off their forecourt. Your reg doesn't start S476... does it?

I really miss that car.....

Rich

[jvaughan]

Quixotic said:

I think, although I may not be correct, that you will need to keep the original seatbelts in the car for it to pass it's MOT. Annoying I know, I have both harness and the normal seatbelts still fitted.

Sorry wrong .. as long as the new belts have a standard locking mechanism (ie not an aero style twist lock one) they are legal. I had the standard belts frmoved from my car when I fitted the 4 point harnesses. (and its just passed its MOT no questions asked)

[Alex Wong]

DanH,

Thanks - I think I'll look to Lotus sport to get the job done properly. I do prefer 6 points. In my Seven, I feel very nowhere near as securely strapped in without the crutch straps on.

Bernie,

I did find the hole for the crutch straps when I lifted the padding. Thanks!

Rich,

No... Not your old car. Number starts T135

Alex



>> Edited by Alex Wong on Friday 11th June 09:37

[Rich135]

Great car though Alex, I envy you...

Have a look at http://uk.geocities.com/sprok135s/ for some more Sport135 pics, including a pic of my old car (

I will return to lotus ownership once my new daughter is old enough to get our of her baby seat...

Rich

>> Edited by Rich135 on Monday 14th June 08:51