[ulao]

I bought this portable seat for my son that I use in my mr2, very handy. I tried it in my Elise and it does not fit. It need it to be 2 inches thinner to fit right on those small occasions or emergencies where I may need it. Going to look around a bit but figured it cant hurt to ask on here. Anyone know of a nice easy in and out child seat that fits.

few people here use one
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f3/baby-seat-elise-exige-105171/

but Looking for brands and what not. Also, yes I know about the warning ( this is not going to be common thing, but I'm always prepared )

 

[93viperrt10]

The reason they no longer make Federal Elise/Exige is because they do no have smart airbags. This means their is no airbag sensor under the seat, if you wreck it they both blow regardless of whether anyone is in the passenger side (or more importantly how much they weigh) Therefore putting a small child in a Elise is a really bad idea unless you disable the airbag.

 

[ulao]

There is a air bag switch option. Currently its a bit pricy but I started a thread on a group buy. There is not enough interest in that though.

 

[Gunpilot]

Just unplug it.

 

[Almighty]

Maybe I'm overly paranoid, but I wouldn't feel right about putting an infant in one of these cars.

 

[ulao]

The thing our missing is not everyone on this board can afford the lotus as there once a month toy. There are plenty of reasons one may have to run there child somewhere. ITs just called being prepared. Also I didnt say infant.

 

[Almighty]

Fair enough, there's nothing wrong with being prepared and kudos to you for thinking ahead. I also am confident that these cars will keep you safe in a reasonable accident scenario. I still wouldn't put a small kid in the car though. Again, I'm overly paranoid.

 

[ulao]

I do agree with you, but in many case it could be better then the alternative.

 

[komiko]

He looks pretty happy in that seat..I'm not sure you could keep him out of there if you wanted to. He's thinkin'..."11 more years, and it will be mine!!"

 

[ulao]

Komiko, more then you know. After putting him in for the picture I had to lock the door because he wanted back in. The bad part is when a kid thinks something is theirs they put there belongings near or on it. So I kept finding random things sitting on the trunk. Thankfully nothing coarse. So I had to limit his garage privileges to supervised. Currently he can't walk by it without rubber necking. My son is a huge car nut like most young boys.

What is is about these cars? My wife very non materiel loves the car, always want to look at it. You can't take it around the block without everyone, no mater what sex and age, staring at it. My very low taste modest friend that would never get anything near this fancy just gawked at it will I offered him a ride. My sister almost crapped herself when she saw it and that was not even in person? My neighbor came over for a question and saw it out of the corner of his eye. The dude jump backwards... "When did you get a lotus." Getting him to give me eye contact after that was futile at best.

 

[rwbronco]

It's just different and very radically designed - so it's going to be stared at. Plus your yellow isn't exactly an inconspicuous color

 

[komiko]

it's a cross-culture shock imo. So many different emotions and behaviors get triggered.
First and foremost - it is a thing of beauty, legitimate art. It's not an American box, clearly not American culture . It's roots are European, Dino Ferrari. I's outside the box. The "American Box". BUT - we love cars here - and that is part of our box, as a culture.
Then there is our economic caste system - that comes into play - the assumption that they cost a zillion dollars.. yields the following spectrum of comments.. all based on incorrect assumptions
a) "you are crazy to spend that kind of money on a car that will be unreliable, and prohibitively costly to fix" ( the Elise is the most reliable car i own)
b) "you should not justify being this different - people will think you are a dick - Who thell do you think you are" ( actually - i think i am me, and right now .. YOU are being a dick)
c) a girl will come up and lick my headlights...in the grocery store's parking lot, give me a look and walk off..(when i'm really thinking..."damn bitch.. did you really just lay your saliva over those $1100 to replace lenses? Gee thanks.. Not.")
d) People will get angry with you. Really pissed. You haven't said a word. You are just going into the store to purchase some non-gmo Marshmallow Fluff ( made from free range marshmallows) for your health diet of Fluffernutters. But somebody will get all bent out of shape and stomp around being all pissy about your Elise. Like you are rubbing it in their face. When all you really wanted was some Fluff.
etc...etc...etc..
Then there are the nice, interested, positive people too.

Some owners have SOLD the car - just because of the reactions. You will appear to be an azz hole if you are not prepared to talk about the car everywhere you go. Sort of the price of ownership i guess. I really don't mind usually. But sometimes I avoid this scenario by never stopping anywhere. haha

 

[ulao]

a) you forgot to mention many toyota parts, known to be reliable and not expensive.

But really, thx for the heads up. I work for a place that exploits ECU data. We are full of gear heads here but mainly all muscle cars. I'm sure I'm going to get plenty of looks. "damn the car is sweet but I can't let him know because its a 4 banger."

 

[Mr.C]

There is a lot of good information on here about child seats.
Just google "site:lotustalk.com child seat" or just start with this thread and click thru the links:
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f3/final-word-kids-passenger-side-airbag-25994/

 

[xxxotic]

My 6 yr old twin niece and nephew from NJ came to visit and wanted to go for a ride, but their mother said no, because I didnt have a car seat and didnt want me to get a ticket.

Told her that they dont need them in FL at that age so she let me take them out one at a time. Went to a dead end cul de sac in the development and went around in circles and they kept yelling a me to go faster. Told them OK, but dont tell your mom but the one kid came back and said to the other one, did he go really fast in circles with you too? My sister in law is cool and said that they always yell at her to drive faster around turns in her SUV. And she takes then out on jetskis and they have little ATCs that they ride around with at home, and they just got a go-cart from a neighborhood kid that had outgrown it.

Better to teach them at an early age than have them try to learn stuff later. Like my mom said to me and my brothers before she died, You kids are still alive after all the crazy stuff you did so enjoy your life and have fun.

 

[ulao]

I agree with that philosophy. My dad had us learning to drive at 6 by sitting on his lap an steering. Can't do that any more...

 

[mister2dood]

This is what I found when doing my own research...I think mostly on this board. Anyhow, I have the Recaro Young Sport, and with the knob cut off the left side, it fits.

Britax Bodyguard – need to remove cup holders – full seat (not booster), fits well
Took my child out today and she had a blast. I also figured out how to take the back portion out. It's not mentioned in the manual. You basically have to expand the seat fully and then pull one end of the attached back portion and slide it out of the rod. All in all I'm pretty happy with the seat.

Recaro Young Sport
The only incompatibility is with the Recaro's left side seat height adjustment knob with the Lotus handbrake however the knob is plastic and easily hacked off (See lower photo below). The knob is molded to a shaft that also has a knob on the right side so there is no loss of functionality after the removal.

Compass B500 booster seat

Britax Monarch Booster Car Seat – need to remove cup holders

 

[ulao]

this knob?

 

[JamesAllen]

Hi ulao,

I use this booster seat (or one that looks remarkably similar) for my 6 and 10 year old girls:

Two Evenflo No Back Car Seat Booster Nice in EX Cond | eBay

It fits so perfectly you would think it was designed by Lotus. It must be an older style, however, as I couldn't find it 'new' anywhere on the net.

 

[ulao]

My son is not 4 yet but will be soon. I may get that one.

I just ran in to this interesting link.
Children - TechWiki