Can you get the nippers in the back?

[NorthernRed]

Hi Folks,

Apologies if this is a duplicated question, I've been reading some of the earlier blogs but, now that hopefully plenty of you owners have got quite a bit of experience with the car, can anyone give me an update on the practicality of having kids in the back?. I am 5'11 and have two little'uns aged 2 + 4. I currently have a Ferrari 456 but find that when I have the youngest behind me my driving position is uncomfortable and suitable only for short journeys. Is the Evora likely to be any better?

Thanks in advance!,,

[alex-mayer]

Hello,

my Evora is due to be delivered in June.

One important aspect in choosing the Evora over other sports cars was the possibility to accomodate one or two children on the +2 rear seats.

My boy is 7 an about 1.25 m tall and sits comfortably in the back of the Evora.

And I have all the space I need on the driver´s seat (and I am 1.85 m tall).

I would say that children up to 1.55 m should fit on the +2 rear seats without any problems and comfortably for everybody.

Greetings from Germany,

Alexander

[Al]

Not first hand with kids and so not entirely relevant. Hopefully you will have read this in other posts. My wife is 5'3" and gets in being only slightly uncomfortable and her mate is 5' 1" and is fine so that gives the height answer. I am 5' 8" and was having to drive with seat only slightly forward of where I might like to accommodate wife's legs behind. In the case of kids I believe the biggest issue seems to be the differing child seats. Booster seat age kids possibly fitting best as tall enough to see out and legs bend at correct place to be out of the way. Any older & they are basically smaller adults. Younger childern in large kids seats seem to have a problem with feet sticking straight forward meaning you have to move maybe more than you wish especially being taller. I'd probably be okay in front of a child in one of those.

There has been quite a few posts since late 08 on the subject and a few photos of children in the cars so hopefully you will have seen them all, but at least one owner I think with similar sized kids to yours gave up and didn't buy. Have you seen his posts?

There are a couple better placed than me to comment (my kids are driving it!) so hopefully they will post.

[anubis1]

My kid is 14 now, and loves to seat in the back of the Evora... but sideways (legs up). So it is always a fight with him if I do not want to use the Evora a day when he could come with us. I think the solution Lotus did is absolutely usefull in practice. There is enough space for a daily use. A.

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I am 5'11 too and have a 1.5 year old and a 3 year old so not too far from your child ages and probably their size too.

I went to buy an Evora with cash in hand... unfortunately the other hand had a group 1 car seat.

I have the smallest group 1 seats you can get in order to fit in a Mini (which they do nicely).

However in the evora fitting one seat comfortably ment that it extended over the half way line of the back seat - this means there is no way you'd get two seats in.

Also with the drivers seat as far forward as possible whilst still being to able to just about control the pedals (uncomfortably so) there was zero leg room for the rear occupants. Their leg is effectively trapped between the child car seat and the drivers seat - not unduly so with any pressure but such that it would only allow 2"-3" of foot movement. My 1.5 year old doesn't have long enough legs for the knee to reach the end of the car seat so their legs stick out even more. The evora would reqiure them to almost sit crossed legged or have the legs sticking out at an uncomfortable angle.

Also this is with the car seats set fully upright... as soon as you recline the seats to allow better sleeping the child seat will hit the back of the seat.

You *may* get two group 2 seats in as they have less side protection so are narrower however this will be very marginal for the 2 year old as it is recommended that children are 4 years or 18kg before moving to a group 2 seat.

I think the "sweetspot" age is the group 3 booster seats - once your kids are at this age I think the evora works very well.

If only Lotus made the rear seat padding removeable so the child seats could sit 3"-5" further back in the car alot of these problems would be solved.

I would strongly advise that you take your current car seats and test it to be sure and don't forget kids have this annoying tendancy to get bigger so what may fit now may not work in the future!

I don't think this is specific to the evora - all sporty 2+2's really suffer from this (GTR, 911, Evora, etc) and some are frankly laughable (DB9, Jag XK8). I think the rules on car seats effectively killed off using these cars for small children for anything other than a short trip.

Edited May 14, 2010 by ads_green

[S7 EXG]

Agree. My 18mth old does not fit properly in the seat lotus recommend in the manual. Recaro youngsport or something. Front passenger seat fully fed and his feet foul the backrest so have to go either side which is neither omfy nor safe. Older kids fine on a booster cushion only.

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

I have a 13 % 16 year old, I think the Evora arrived a few years too late to help, however if I go down the Evora route they say they're happy to take turns in the back for the school run!

[oastbloke]

As other have said - it's best to try, but if it helps my 2.5 and 6yo just about fit. I wouldn't want to go cross continent with them in the back, but I guess an hour would be fine. A week in and so far they love it!

It may sound odd, but there is something nice about being so close togehter in a sporty car (I'm sure that will wear off!) and the kids seem to be more involved. I thought that they might get agitated at mot being able to see out very well, but so far, so good.

In fact the 6yo fits best as she can sit in the back comfortably without a booster (don't tell anyone!) as the mounting points for the rear belts are quite low so there's no problem with her neck.

The main problem as Ads said is that when on a booster it stops smaller legs from bending in the right place so their legs stick out which means the front seats have to be further forward.

By the looks of it your small people may be slightly on the young side for everyday use, but at least this could be something they grow in to rather than out of! (If all else fails the front airbag can be turned off)

I haven't investigated, but I suspect the rear seat bolster may be held on with velcro (I'm pretty sure the bottom is) so there may be the option of removing it to get more space for kids in car seats.

Hope that helps.

Peter.

[Al]

I can confirm having removed it that only velcro holds the seat bottom in the car as it has to be removed to access the emergency tailgate release cord. I also think but cannot confirm that is all that holds the seat back in which when released gives a flat surface. This would not affect the Isofix points as far as I can remember when they were all out.

[NorthernRed]

thanks for all of your comments folks, really appreciated. As you have suggested, I think the only real answer is to take the tribe to the dealer, bash in my Recaro Young Sports (these appear to be the only child seats in the entire world that fit in the back of my Fez...it took me about 6 months to discover that too!) and see how it goes. The dealer has suggested that too to be fair. It sounds like having my four yr old behind me rather than my two yr old might actually work better (never tried this with the Fez, maybe I should!) because of the 'bendy leggy' thing. If all of this doesn't work out then it would be a great shame, I like the Evora a lot and it's a beauty and drives really well (no need to tell you guys that of course)...surely the concept of the 2+2 is to accomodate the sports car enthusiast with a family...but if Evoras, GTR's, XKR's etc are all the same on this, then it kind of defeats the object!.

[NorthernRed]

Hi all,

I posted a couple of says ago to see what everyone's experiences have been getting kids in the back of the Evora. Today I followed your advice and visited the dealership again to try it out. Unfortunately after much bending, hefting and head scratching we never even got the engine going because to get both kids secure in the back required the drivers seat being pushed forward as far as it could go, meaning that I couldn't physically fit in the car (bit of a problem!). My child seats are Recaro Youngsports. I think that somebody mentioned that Lotus actually recommend these for the Evora although if that's the case I'm not sure how because Recaro Youngsports aren't even Isofix and when you fit two in the back together (which is a major challenge in itself), you can barely see out of the rear window, rendering your rear-view mirror pretty useless in theprocess. I'm led to believe that level two child seat can be used as base only, in which case I might havce a better chance getting my 4 yr old in behind me, but even then I think I'd nead a slimmer seat than the Recaro. Does anyone use anything that fits better at all?

Sorry to labour the point, only it looks like this is my last throw of the dice before I have to give up on the Evora and get something else.

[oastbloke]

Sorry to hear that Lee. I use a car seat which I had in my Smart Roadster (shamed to admit it!) some years ago. It fits nicely, it's branded Smart Airseat, but made by Storchenmuhle I think.

I can't remember which groups it covers, but I'd guess at 2 and 3. It is relatively slim so fits nicely in the Elise too.

Another thought would be to have a look at 911 forums as I don't imagine the back seats in those are much bigger.

[ads_green]

It's not the neck you should be most worried about - for a small child in an adult seat the lap belt will tend to ride up over the pelvis to the stomache area causing serious internal and spinal injuries in relatively slow speed accidents.

this is why booster seats help by raising the body up and latching the lap belt in place.

Edited May 17, 2010 by ads_green

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if your 4 year old is over 15kgs (which most should be) then you could go for a booster seat.

Definately worth asking about removing the vertical rear seat cushion to give a precious few extra inches.

[chandrew]

I took the little lad (4 now, though similar size to the average 6 year old) to the dealer recently and he got in fine, though with a booster. 18 months ago on my car search we struggled with a 911 and at the time (2009 GVA motorshow) I took the view that he wouldn't fit in the Evora, they're very similar in size. It seems that when they're small they have more problems - their thighs aren't long enough to extend over the seat base so sit with a legs-out-straight style. I took the view we could manage now.

With experience of a 456 I'd say that you'll find the Evora legroom much worse, with the only advantage being the flat bench rather than sculpted seats. When I ruled out the Evora & 911 it seemed that only the 456 (+612) and Maserati GranTurismo were the only relatively recent 2+2s with and decent rear legroom. Realistically we were down to getting a nice 456 and using it with the family or buying a toy for early morning solitary runs. The Lotus won.

My parents asked me last weekend how we'd manage when we have a second child. 'A second Lotus' was the reply.

[Hegg]

If it helps any, here's a picture of my almost 3-year-old in the back seat, no booster, with the seat belt clipped in. He's rather tall for his age (95th percentile) at about 43 inches I think. He'll definitely need a booster seat for a year or two, but the seats and seat belts definitely looked to be made for smaller folk.

As you can see, he is very happy and I'm a very poor photographer.

Edited May 20, 2010 by Hegg

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Definately need a booster seat based on that pic.

- Seat belt too uch on the neck and importantly the lap belt is over the stomache not the pelvis. You'd be surprised how little incident it would take to cause serious internal and spinal injuries.

Then you need to be able to see a pic with the drivers seat in position

[Hegg]

Yes, absolutely a booster is needed. I was just providing the picture for reference to those curious since nobody has yet to post one.

When I do get my Evora, my kid will be sitting there behind the passenger seat, not the driver seat (with an appropriate booster of course).

[NorthernRed]

Looks like I'm down to two options: 1) I take out the rear cushion panel, use booster only and see if that buys me enough space to fit in & drive comfortably (OK, even semi-comfortably would do!). I've asked the dealer to tell me exactly how much additional space this offers. Anything less than 6 inches and it's probably a non-starter. Have also asked if Lotus recommend any particular booster seats, maybe they are aware of a slimline model?

2) I disengage the passenger airbag and have my 4 yr old in her child-seat in the front. Again, I've asked the dealer if it's possible and legal to do this (anyone else know out there?)

If (1) and (2) don't work then I will have to accept defeat with great regret!

[ads_green]

6 inches is asking alot but you never know - might be a fair amount.

Should be nothing wrong with the child in the front seat. IIRC you only have to disable the airbag for rear facing seats.

Does the evora have multi mode airbags? Some cars adjust the inflation speed based on the weight of the passenger occupant with a much lower inflation speed for lighter/child passengers.

Have to say though, if you have the belts fitted correctly and all straped in properly then there shouldn't be any real need for a passenger airbag.

[S7 EXG]

you can disarm the passenger airbag using the key - switch is in the corner on the side of the dash by the hinges.