Poll: Favorite Safety Mods

[jmesh]

Beyond regular maintenance, what are your favorite safety modifications?

I drive my Elan regularly, and am thinking of some ways to make the car safer from cell-phone chatting teenage SUV "drivers."

I'm considering installing a roll-bar/cage, secondary (high mounted) brake light and a yellow stripe to my green car.

What are your favorites? I'm thinking bolt-on, but it certainly doesn't have to be.

Jason

[chicagojeff]

i did get a roll bar put in...and was also thinking of the brake light. actively, i drive with the lights on and beep the horn all the time. basically, i drive it as I did my motorcycle of so many years ago...pretend no one can see you.

what do people feel about swapping the gas tank for a fuel cell?

[rgh0]

I think a fuel cell for the Elan is a very worthwhile investment in a road car given the proximity to the rear bumper and vulnerability in a rear end collission. I had a 5 mph collision into the tail of my Elan many years ago which destroyed much of the rear section and put a big bend in the rear of the tank. Fortunately it did not rupture but it could easily have been much worse.

In my race car I sit the cell on the left hand side where the spare tyre went to help balance the car. The cell is smaller than the standard tank and has about 200mm clearance with the rear of the car.

In a road car i would make something to site between the rear towers like in the Plus 2 so you still have space for a spare and luggage.

cheers
Rohan

[garyeanderson]

More power is always a good thing. When taking a left turn and waiting for on-coming traffic to clear you are a sitting duck, I always have the Elan in first gear and the wheel pointed straight ahead with one eye in the rear view mirror. If and when some one doesn't see you when driving up from behind(and its happend to me), you need to decide to abort the left turn and flee the seen of the accident that you don't want to be involved in.
I also drive with the headlamps up and power on in the day light.
On-coming traffic turning left in front of you have a better chance of seeing you (this ones happened too).

Gary

[elansprint71]

Flashing blue lights front and rear seem to work well in any country.

[steveww]

The roll hoop and sill bars are a good idea. Tyres are also the other area that many over look. On limited mileage cars like ours the tyres do not expire due to no tread but the rubber goes off with age. After three years you should keep a close eye on the condition of the rubber.

Generally speaking I avoid main highways in the Elan as the this is not the environment it excels in and it keeps me away from the idiots in the SUV who are not looking where they are going.

[ppnelan]

I would have thought the 'sill bars' were too low to provide much protection in a collision with another vehicle, except perhaps another Elan...

Best to drive 'defensively' like a slow/classic motorbiker, NOT like modern motor-suicidal-ists...

Or if it worries you that much, the best safety 'modification' is to drive a modern 'tank' like everyone else

Matthew

[peterako]

Bull Bars? (Kangaroo Bars?) front and rear??

Peter (tongue firmly in cheek)

[garyeanderson]

I would have thought the 'sill bars' were too low to provide much protection in a collision with another vehicle, except perhaps another Elan...

Matthew

They are pretty effective when you have taken advantage of the roll bar and your elan is up-side-down in the middle of the road...
I guess the best advice is to be aware of what is going on around you and as others have said drive like the other drivers are all out to kill you because they are.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

As previously mentioned, I've fitted a roll over bar in order to get a high positioned 3rd brake light.
Also paint the car a noticable colour.
One thing I learned driving a Lotus 7, when an articulated lorry pulled in over me & I had to keep my position between the rear tractor wheels & the front trailer wheels also making sure that my head was far enough away from the trailer chassis. First thing I fitted after that was a loud horn
I've also fitted a pair of small diameter driving lights behind the radiator grill. The idea was to connect them up to the hedlight flasher on the left hand stalk. That didn't work because there is no +12V there.
How did they do it onthe Triumph's then?

Always drive as though you are invisible to everybody.
How come the speed cameras ALWAYS see me coming?

All of my stories are true, it's just that some are truer than the others

Cheers
John

[ppnelan]

I understood that the main purpose of the 'sill bars' was to prevent the front wheel coming back into the footwell in a front corner impact.

Matthew

[types26/36]

The idea was to connect them up to the hedlight flasher on the left hand stalk. That didn't work because there is no +12V there. How did they do it onthe Triumph's then?
John

When I had my Europa it was possible to flash the lights, as far as I know its the same switch but with an extra wire (4 instead of 3 ?)
I have also seen it mentioned that the later Elans had that switch but just not connected up, I have never checked my Sprint for the extra wire but will sometime.

[twincamman]

WTH -- nobody lives forever ---drive it like you stole it --safety is for other more mundane cars -ed

[zarelan]

I recently fitted a high level led brake light to my roll-over bar. I had thought about it ever since I had a rear end shunt 2 years ago. Like Rohan's, it was a slow speed one 10mph at most, but it destroyed the back bumper, the back panel and it bent the fuel tank ! I feel safe when I drive mine. It's only on the rare occasions that I see another Elan on the road that I notice how small and fragile they look.

The roll-over bar gives you the perfect location for a high level brake light, anybody with a bar should really consider fitting one.

The other safety mod that I fitted to the roll bar is the padded head restraints. The keep your head straight and reduce the risk of whiplash. You don't want your head to hit the hard bar behind you either.

--Antonio

[Foxie]

I have modified the Plus 2 to comply with FIA competition regulations, but consider the mods well worth having for normal driving also.

Mods for racing are :

Roll hoop
4 point harness
Race seat (high back + some side impact protection)
Fabricated seat base tied into seat belt mounting bolts (stops seat tearing out thru floor !)
2.5 l hand held fire extinguisher mounted in front of driver seat
Battery isolator switch in cabin & outside on front wing
Firewall (Aluminium) between cabin and fuel tank

General safety mods:

High level brake light centre rear parcel shelf
High level rear fog lamps rear parcel shelf
Spotlamps wired to work off standard dip/flasher switch so they can be used either as warning flash or headlamp back-up
Hella Variwipe

Most of the above were fitted as a result of scary experiences on European motorways in bad weather.

I agree that very good advice is to think "motorcycle" when driving a Lotus car !

Sean Murray