Emiras still being built with twisted seatbelts?

[eriegz]

A lot of new Emira video reviews have come out over the past couple days, and while watching them I couldn't help but notice that the cars in these videos STILL have twisted seatbelts (see below).

I don't understand — why are Emiras still being produced with the seatbelts installed in this way? Wasn't it agreed that this is wrong, and that it should be corrected? I remember a bunch of discussion on this specific topic a few months ago, but now I can't find it.

Sources:

• Jay Leno's review
• Harry's Garage review

 

[Joel]

I thought it was concluded that the twisted seatbelts are the correct orientation according to HQ?

 

[kitkat]

Twisted is correct -- seatbelt recall is completely different and has to do with locking mechanism.

 

[Wonza]

Twisted seatbelt is indeed the correct orientation. Lotus recently confirmed this on my seatbelt recall. However, we don’t know why?

 

[TomE]

Seatbelt twist was a discussion on one of the seatbelt jamming threads:

Seatbelts jammed

Seatbelts! Both have failed one after another on my car in the 24 hours after collection. The passenger belt failed pretty much on first use, not wanting to pull out more than a few cm after being taken off, which was pretty inconvenient when in the middle of the nowhere with a passenger who...

www.emiraforum.com

Lotus insist the twist is correct.

 

[EMIRADILEMMA]

The real twist is that we'll probably never find out why Lotus decided to design it this way.

 

[Cachaco131]

Dare to be different!

 

[GlobalPilot777]

The only thing I can think off is safety if it were placed in the correct way.. i guess depending on where this hinge hangs in combination with seat hight or orientation that it (might) cut your neck when its twisted inwards.. whereas now the belt twists outwards.. im just second guessing that this might be the reason as in some cars I did had this irritating cutting feeling especially wearing something that doesn't cover your neck

 

[KJD]

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a comfort thing.

The B-pillar mount is too high (it was in the Evora too) and non-adjustable.
Maybe for regulatory reasons??

I had untwisted my belts because they looked “wrong”, but after experimenting with twisted/untwisted both for me and Mrs KJD, who is a good bit shorter, we decided it was better with the twist which lifts the inside edge of the belt off the neck.
You can see in the pictures above of Harry and Jay that the belt lifts off the neck.

So I re-twisted mine back to “stock”. Definitely makes the belt less noticeable at the neck.

Maybe Lotus know what they’re doing after all?

 

[eriegz]

I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a comfort thing.

The B-pillar mount is too high (it was in the Evora too) and non-adjustable.
Maybe for regulatory reasons??

I had untwisted my belts because they looked “wrong”, but after experimenting with twisted/untwisted both for me and Mrs KJD, who is a good bit shorter, we decided it was better with the twist which lifts the inside edge of the belt off the neck.
You can see in the pictures above of Harry and Jay that the belt lifts off the neck.

So I re-twisted mine back to “stock”. Definitely makes the belt less noticeable at the neck.

Maybe Lotus know what they’re doing after all?

Ok, interesting! Thanks so much for the real-world data. Knowing that you've actually tried out both orientations and actually prefer it "stock" is all the convincing I need.

 

[vroomvroom]

Flew into Boston this morning, hopped into a rented 2019 Aston Martin Vantage, reached over my shoulder for the seatbelt and...HA! Twisted just like the Emira. Literally the only other car I've driven to have an (intentionally) twisted belt.

 

[action_turtle]

Took my car in yesterday to have some bits done, alignments etc, I brought up the twist, they say its supposed to be like that. strange.

 

[digilotus]

Mine are "twisted" too, but they don't dig into my neck so they're comfortable. As long as they're safe and comfortable then I really don't mind.

 

[CHEESE]

For improved aerodynamics with open windows, obviously