Emira - Child/Baby seats rear facing. Does anyone have any that work well or recommendations?

[GTti]

Does anyone have any child/baby seat recommendations? Ideally rear facing for an 18month+ Does anyone have any that work well? Or ones that simply dont! Any recommendations would be great thanks.

 

[Davebeats]

Would you put the child sear on the back shelf? I didnt think we could fit a car seat in the Emira

 

[GTti]

Would you put the child sear on the back shelf? I didnt think we could fit a car seat in the Emira

I was hoping to just get one that fits in the front seat

 

[RoryBellows]

You are not supposed to put rear facing seats in the front seat of a car. The air bag will mess it up big time in a crash.

 

[netsinah]

Back in the day when I had young children...I was warned NOT to put their child seat in the front of a vehicle, due to the risk of injury when the front passenger airbag exploded open from a collision. You may be able to de-activate that airbag (?). See what your country says but this is from the Transport Canada website:

"If the vehicle has air bags, never place a rear-facing infant seat in the front passenger seat if the air bag is active. Always secure a rear-facing infant seat in the back seat. In fact, all children age 12 and under should ride in the back seat."

I found this about the force exerted by an airbag:

Multiple front and side airbags are often installed on newer models. However, airbags deploy with much force, inflating in 1/20th of a second. According to the Washington Post, airbags can deploy at rates of 200 mph. Drivers and passengers can be hit with up to 2,600 pounds of force, causing head and other injuries.

Many many years ago, I went to an accident reconstruction engineer seminar on airbags and vehicle "black boxes" (data collection repositories). They demonstated the deployment of a typical driver side (steering wheel) airbag, explaining it was actually a small amount of dynamite that activated it. The loud "bang" and ensuing "dust/powder" were most impressive. It sounded like a shotgun being fired.

 

[Beachbum]

I must admit to thinking all passenger air bags had to have the option to be disabled. But reading the above I assume thats wrong.

 

[GTti]

You are not supposed to put rear facing seats in the front seat of a car. The air bag will mess it up big time in a crash.

Pretty sure you'll just be able to deactivate it. I've never had a car in recent times that you couldn't do that on to the front passenger airbag. I'm not near the car to check it though currently.

 

[GTti]

I must admit to thinking all passenger air bags had to have the option to be disabled. But reading the above I assume thats wrong.

Im the same. I wonder if there is differences with that functionality between the UK and overseas cars? Mine is UK spec.

 

[Jinba ittai]

I could be wrong but I thought North America requires a weight sensor shut off. I thought the Euro spec cars had a shut off in the glove compartment. My Miata has a keyhole shut off in the dash which I prefer for peace of mind when driving with the kids.

 

[netsinah]

I'm not with my Emira but found an online copy of the manual/"main handbook" here (Canadian version; everyone should check their own country's manual):

Lotus Emira Handbook for Drivers | Lotus Cars

Get operating instructions, essential guidance, and tips to ensure safe and optimal performance of your Lotus Emira.

www.lotuscars.com

Within that, look at pages 34 - 37; and 40 to 43. This tells you a child seat (with certain restrictions) can be placed in the front passenger seat of the Emira, although statistically it's safer have a child seat in the rear seat area, which isn't possible for the Emira. Apparently the Emira can automatically sense the presence of a child-seat (with a BABY in it) and will disable the passenger airbag: see pages 35 and 40, in particular. The OP mentions an 18 month old. You have to consider both the weight of the child seat and the child, but I assume an 18 month old child won't activate the airbag. That said, I'd suggest carefully checking to ensure the airbag is truly disabled, once the baby/seat are in place. Better to be on the safe side, IMO. Good luck to the OP!

 

[RoryBellows]

If the only way to disable it is to rely on the car automatically doing it I wouldn't even try.

 

[Jinba ittai]

Agreed. I wouldn’t chance it with an 18 month old. If you have an actual shut off rather than a sensor that should be more reliable.