Is there a child seat for use with a 4 point race harness ?

U

Unregistered

Guest

• Feb 24, 2009

• #1

Hi I am about to take delivery of a Lotus Exige which comes with 4 point harness and no diagonal 3 point belt.

Is there a child seat on the market which can be secured into the car using the 4 point harness ? My son is 4 years old.

I don't need to take him out in the car as we have a family sedan too, but it would be good to take him out in it ocassionally.

Thanks in advance.

Bill.

 

Mama Jo

New member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #2

The best answer I can give would be to check your owners manual when you get the car. I doubt there are any seats that would work with a 4 pt harness, and since it's only a 2-seater, I doubt there's LATCH in the passenger seat - that's usually only in the back seats. Cars like that aren't exactly built with the intent of toting around kiddos... But check your owners manual and see what it says about restraining children.

 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician

• Feb 24, 2009

• #3

I can't think of a single child restraint that would allow installation with anything other than a standard 2- or 3-point belt or LATCH.

 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

Staff member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #4

There may be an option to have a lap belt retrofitted for use with a child restraint. I agree, check your manual when you get it.

 

Qarin

New member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #5

Does it have LATCH?

 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants

• Feb 24, 2009

• #6

It's not listed in either the 2007 or 2009 LATCH Manuals.

 

Mama Jo

New member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #7

ketchupqueen said:

There may be an option to have a lap belt retrofitted for use with a child restraint. I agree, check your manual when you get it.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the more I think about it, you probably can do that. I've seen kits with anti-submarining bars that can work with an anti-submarining belt also... I might get yelled at for this here, but depending on the size and weight of the child and if your laws allow it, if he was mine, I might be inclined to let him ride in the converted 5 pt restraint of the vehicle for an occasional ride. If it is able to fit him properly. Racing cars are usually designed to be pretty safe, and I don't imagine you'll be max'ing out the speed with your 4 year old in the car. Now, if he doesn't fit well in the straps, then I certainly wouldn't do it... it's possible the shoulder strap portion is entirely too high, but maybe a backless booster could possibly remedy an imperfect harness fit?? (ok, everyone can start yelling at me now...)

 

Last edited: Feb 25, 2009

Mama Jo

New member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #8

Qarin said:

Does it have LATCH?

Click to expand...

Its a 2-seater. Wouldn't likely.

 

G

Guest

New member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #9

I haven't looked at the Exige closely, but here are my thoughts:

Don't use the shoulder straps. Just use the bottom part so it becomes a lap belt. Most seats have directions on how to install using a lap belt. It'd be similar to how an airplane seatbelt looks.

If the seat is still rear facing, make sure you can turn off the air bag. In any case, move the seat as far back as possible. In all honesty, I'd avoid using it to transport your kid. However, if there's no airbag switch and the kid is still rear facing, and it's an emergency with no other car, you often can pull a fuse that will disable the passenger air bag.

 

christineka

New member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #10

What about using a booster seat? I've seen that the 86y harness (which is a 4 point) can be used with a booster. Why not a built in 4 point used with a booster? It would be more protection than a booster with only a 3 point belt.

 

TXAggieTech

Active member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #11

No advice but I'm totally drooling over the car! That's the kind of car you get a tad light headed just looking at.

I would take the family car with DS, better safe than sorry. Plus, that kinda car isn't meant to go slow or have cheerios any where near it!

 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

Staff member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #12

christineka said:

What about using a booster seat? I've seen that the 86y harness (which is a 4 point) can be used with a booster. Why not a built in 4 point used with a booster? It would be more protection than a booster with only a 3 point belt.

Click to expand...

The 86 Y is designed to fit a child and the booster is used for 1) head support where none exists/side impact protection and 2) to appropriately position the lap belt on a smaller child. With a built-in harness I'm not sure a booster could be appropriately used. The 86 Y doesn't attach to the back of the seat (other than the tether.) Again, you'd have to see if that is approved by the car maker before saying it could be done...

 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter

• Feb 24, 2009

• #13

Guess I should have looked at the one in the mall parking lot a little closer. hmmm

 

Blondie87

New member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #14

Judi said:

Guess I should have looked at the one in the mall parking lot a little closer. hmmm

Click to expand...

Ha ha! I shoulda taken some more pics. lol.

 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter

• Feb 24, 2009

• #15

Yeah, of the inside, rather than just the outside!

 

BW1426

Well-known member

• Feb 24, 2009

• #16

The seats are really contoured, this could be an issue.

Also, it is not possible to deactivate the airbag according to the Lotus's site.

 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

Staff member

• Feb 25, 2009

• #17

Mama Jo said:

Its a 2-seater. Wouldn't likely.

Click to expand...

True, 2-seaters are exempt from having LATCH, although some 2-seater models do have LATCH in the front passenger seat, such as certain model year Cadillac XLRs, because the manufacturer opted to include LATCH voluntarily. That said, there isn't even a Lotus section in the 2009 LATCH manual to do a lookup of the OP's Exige.

The owner's manual for the OP's Exige would be the best bet for clarifying child restraint installation options, if the car allows for child restraint usage at all. :twocents:

On a side note, I wish I had paid more attention to the Lotus display last month at the Detroit Auto Show. I was in a big hurry to ogle and drool over the electric Tesla roadster around the corner from the Lotus booth. The Tesla has a lot in common with the Lotus Elise due to shared platform/body construction, but I didn't think to check the Tesla for LATCH in the front passenger seat, either. The car enthusiast in me totally took over my CPST mindset around the Tesla, lol.