MX5 & child seat

rascal · Postby **rascal** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:16 pm

In Vic its a similar story.

Rear facing is illegal with a pass airbag, and its illegal to disable the airbag which would make the rear facing one legal...

Front facing is legal with or without pass airbag, so long as a tether strap is used. However, if you don't have a mount point for the tether strap , then its illegal to have one fitted if you have a pass airbag, even if you only plan to use it forward facing...

My wife's dearly loved previous car (2seat convertible) had pass airbag, as well as electronics built into the car to disable the airbag if the seat weight wasn't reached, (you could even buy a transponder from the dealer to disable it as well) as well as a light built into the console to show when the bag was disabled.
However it didn't have the tether mount point that Aus law dictates so couldn't fit a baby seat without it, and couldn't get a mount point fitted as its illegal to fit one when an airbag is there ... sigh...
We ended up having to trade it for a sedan with rear seats. Much tears when she had to say goodbye to her beloved car..

RobH · Postby **RobH** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:59 pm

I take my son in the car regularly. Top tether strap goes onto the BD roll bar.

I have been through breathelisers and had no comment.

red63sprint · Postby **red63sprint** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 5:13 pm

I put a pst on this thread in 06. Was irresponsible tthe, so no change - just a different Clubman.

I put the 4 year old in a booster seat in the car, she loves to go fast...

RobH · Postby **RobH** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:56 am

I'll try to get a photo of it next weekend. My baby seat has a top tether that comes from each side of the top of the seat so therefore goes around the top of the mx5 seat, not over it.

CaptainNate · Postby **CaptainNate** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 6:37 pm

Thread Resurrection!

So the inevitable time has come, the missus wants the five gone for the fact that I can't drop/pick up the child from day-care if we're on dodgy shifts (I do a lot of night work, she works 3 days a week sometime starting at 5am...we have swapped cars in the past but we've been saved a few times simply because we're living with the parents at the moment so they've been able to do the run. We're moving out again soon, so that luxury won't be there anymore.)

Before people start throwing the 'don't be dumb' card at me - My daughters life comes first before anything, there is no way in hell I'd be a dick with her in the car and frankly i'd be insulted if you thought so. Secondly, the trip from home to the daycare is literally about 5 minutes, if that, all on quiet suburban streets. I wouldn't be carting her halfway across the country through twisty mountains and high-speed roads.

From what I understand, because my NA6 doesn't have airbags I can get a mounting point/clip installed, unless the law has changed since 2011 - the last post in this thread. The plan is to have a roll bar installed before installing the mounting point...any idea if you could install a mounting point ON the roll bar? The big issue for me is, I have a Sparco Sprint V as my passenger seat. Is anyone running a babyseat in their MX these days (Stock or Aftermarket seats)? Is anyone running a babyseat with a bucket seat, or have they in the past? If this isn't doable, I'm willing to get a second pair of rails so I can do quick swaps back to stock if it's needed.

Any info would be great, it would be sad to see the 5 go....but I won't be giving up without a fight, especially seeing as the baby seat will only be used a few times a month!

mazmad · Postby **mazmad** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 8:37 pm

Thought about giving up my daily for another mx5 and putting a child seat in, but didn't. I think Guran may have so he may know the details, pm him.

YanMa YatTai · Postby **YanMa YatTai** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 9:01 pm

How old is your kid? I only bought another mx5 this year six years after selling my much loved 10AE when my son was born.
He is now 6.5 and my daughter is 5. She only recently got to ride in the mx5 after her 5th birthday (she is incredibly short!).
I only put them in when they could use a booster seat, and one with a top tether. I didn't feel comfortable putting them in a child seat and in the car at a younger age. Buying another mx5 was a very considered purchase for this reason and only finally bought one when I thought they would be ok riding in it.
For me, The tether goes to an anchor point bolted through the rollbar harness mounting hole behind the passenger. Mine is an NA, so no airbags.
Like your intent, mine only go for short trips in the local area when absolutely required. Having said that, they love the car to bits and regularly join in playing the "spot the mx5" on car trips. They too have the obsession!

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meanmx · Postby **meanmx** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 9:06 pm

Is your daughter in a booster seat or a baby seat? Booster seat happily goes in my 5 and they don't always need a bolt down point in the back. The only problems in having a child in a 5 is making sure the bolt down point in the back is suitable and that the baby seat fits in the seat. Not sure any baby seat will fit in an aftermarket bucket.

CaptainNate · Postby **CaptainNate** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:26 am

The kidlet is 14 months old, put pretty big for her age. I'll be looking around and seeing if I can find a car-seat to fit the sprint V before going ahead and getting the mounting point installed.
I'll always find a way around the physical side of things like installing something....the mother on the other hand :shock:

Alas, you know how mothers can be! :roll:

I can't even breach the subject with her haha. Last night I tried - got cutoff halfway through my sentence with "SHE IS NOT GOING IN THAT BLOODY CAR!". I have a feeling she fears that the baby will grow attached to my beast as I have.

Oh well, I might prepare it all in the shadows for the day when its needed so I can be a superhero and save the day with the Mx5

I've started (shamefully and with sorrow) looking at a few other cars. I don't want to sell the 5 if I have too, but if I do i'll be on the hunt for an older (post 2000) EVO. *drools*

JBT · Postby **JBT** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:30 am

Happy wife = happy life. Get rid of the MX-5 or buy a third car. :wink:

CaptainNate · Postby **CaptainNate** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:16 am

I think the 3rd car option will be the end result. It won't be anything fancy though - Anyone selling anything for $500?

CaptainNate · Postby **CaptainNate** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:42 am

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/deta ... =5&sdmvc=1

:twisted:

Guran · Postby **Guran** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 12:12 pm

Personally, I'd not put a baby capsule in an NA. Yes I briefly used a top-tether forward-facing child restraint in my NA6 for emergency back-up when Alex was still small enough for it (4-5 years). That was for less than a year after I bought the NA6. I've got a Brown Davis rollbar, so it was a simple matter to bolt the mounting point to the horizontal plate at the back of the rollbar, using the harness threads. The top tether then clipped onto the mounting point. I probably only used it a few times, and this was with a stock passenger seat. Once he moved into a booster seat, I also used it briefly with a child harness but then I think the rules changed and I moved to the standard lap-sash seatbelt. Alex is now almost 9yo and has been out of the booster seat for a couple years. He still sits on a cushion in the NC every day for the school run (so he can see out!), but rarely goes in the NA6 as I prefer he is in a car that has a bit more crash protection. Would rather the risk of an airbag in his face than none at all.

CaptainNate · Postby **CaptainNate** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 12:45 pm

Cheers Guran! It would be for emergencies with me as well when the missus is doing an early or a late shift and I couldn't get home in time for us to swap cars. I plan on using of the roll bars Mx5Plus provide, all their bars (to my knowledge) have the harness points built in - so thanks for the tip!

Nark wrote:This year, we faced the possibility of needing two cars that could take both kids. I had a long think about it, thought of all the cars on the market and reached the conclusion that a second-hand RX-8 was perfect. You can get one for $12k. Absolute bargain, handles nearly as well as the MX-5 and takes the kiddies (I even trial fit my ISOFIX seats in one).

I've tossed this up with myself a lot. However for the price of a second hand 8 I'll need to still sell the 5 to be able to afford it (I hate finance.) If the 5 has to go, it will be replaced with either an Rx8 or an Evo. However the problem I face with an Rx8 is you can get the dodgy ones which haven't been loved (mind you, we can have this argument about evos as well), my fear is I'll get a non-loved rotary that would blow down the track. I'm more than happy to keep up the more regular maintenance on a nicely looked after rotary though

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 2:21 pm

if its not legal to carry a child in an MX5 then its a pretty simple solution- don't. The cars have their limitations and perhaps carrying an infant is one of them. Some cars simply do not meet lifestyle and or practical requirements. Children also grow up and 3 o 4 into an MX5 does not go. There are other more suitable cars.