Product Feedback requested

[shinoo]

Driving an Emira on track is something that is a joy. But for some of us, a harness to hold us in the seat, becomes an important upgrade to really feel in control.

We have begun designing a new harness bar for the Emira and would like feedback from you. We know we are late to this party but we have been designing proper harness bars since 2004 for Lotus cars. We were the first to offer a solution for the S2 Elise/Exige in the US.

We created one for the S1 Evora and have created them for other cars like the Alfa 4C.

We understand the safety requirements for this type of product as we work closely with Schroth USA owner, Joe Marko. Joe has guided us over the years to advise us of the latest safety practices. This helps when we are unable to crash test our products!

We all understand that anything less than a full cage, 6pt harnesses and race seat is a compromise but if it is done well, a safe solution can be created. We know most weekend warriors need a solution that still allows them to enjoy their cars on the street.

Our bar will be quite innovative vs the others on the market. Ours will be safe but also light and bolt-in with NO modifications needed. Our bar will offer more shelf space behind the seats than other options.

I am looking for feedback from any of you seriously looking for a solution for their cars. I am also looking for a couple of guys who have experience with harness bars on this car or other cars to be possible beta testers. Feel free to email me directly at shinoo@inokinetic.com.

I welcome all suggestions here. Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback!

 

[NJemira85]

Appreciate your work on the Emira.

I only track a few times a year, so I’m not the core target for this, but I’d be quite interested in anything (including a harness bar) that meaningfully increases the torsional rigidity of the car. I’d be happy to beta something but prob not be your best bet for harness use case.

(We’ve been emailing about nitron suspension stuff, we can discuss further there)

 

[shinoo]

Appreciate your work on the Emira.

I only track a few times a year, so I’m not the core target for this, but I’d be quite interested in anything (including a harness bar) that meaningfully increases the torsional rigidity of the car. I’d be happy to beta something but prob not be your best bet for harness use case.

(We’ve been emailing about nitron suspension stuff, we can discuss further there)

Cool, the bar is not designed to add any meaningful rigidity - just safely position the 4pt harness for track use.

We should be building the proto next week...

 

[shinoo]

We have a proto in the car to confirm our ideas...hope to have a completed bar in place next week.

 

[Tomwa]

Seems like with the two bolt points (the seatbelts) there is a possibility under some kind of load (hardnesses yanking forward) that the bar would rotate, possibly up or down. I appreciate that the bar is tucked behind the seats far enough not to interfere, and also without any interference with the parcel shelf. Any thoughts about that limitation, or possible safety concern regarding only a 2-bolt pivot?

Unless I am missing something and there is actually a sort of 'locating' hole/tab or some other mechanism which inhibits the bar rotating.

 

[shinoo]

...Unless I am missing something and there is actually a sort of 'locating' hole/tab or some other mechanism which inhibits the bar rotating.

Anti-rotation has been engineered in. We actually have two redundant mechanisms that will prevent rotation. You just can't see it in this picture. We should have a 'final' design into the car next week.

The secondary anti-rotation idea is fairly novel - I don't believe it has ever been done before.

 

[Tomwa]

Very curious to see! I understand if you are going to be tight lipped about it until product release, but good to know it was a consideration.

 

[shinoo]

Very curious to see! I understand if you are going to be tight lipped about it until product release, but good to know it was a consideration.

Yes, we learned about anti-rotation back in 2005 on the Elise. Our first bar lacked it and Joe Marko, Schroth USA, pointed out the potential problem. We immediately redesigned the bar and created the 4tress Harness Bar - see below. Those additional brackets kept the main bar from rotating.

We created the V-Force Harness Bar in 2006 when we learned the 4tress was too high for shorter people. Joe pointed this out as well! See below:

The center section is impeded by the shelf as shown below and won't allow the main bar to rotate.

Unlike the Elise, the Emira has a shelf that many owners want to utilize. Our Emira harness bar allows full use of the shelf and we think will make many owners happy!

Another advantage of our new bar design is that it should install much easier - we will reveal that soon enough.