HPDE Safety Stuff: School me.

In reply to Blaise:

In grid, all i could think was "if i get busted up, my wife and daughter lose the house. " my daughter was 6 weeks old at the time. I called that session early, loaded up, went home, and ain't been back out since. Shes almost 9 now, and our challenge car has been built with an eye for hpde on the safety side. Full cage, fixed seats, fire suppression, the works. Much higher likelihood of walking away when it all goes pear shaped.

Dusterbd13 wrote: In reply to Blaise: In grid, all i could think was "if i get busted up, my wife and daughter lose the house. " my daughter was 6 weeks old at the time. I called that session early, loaded up, went home, and ain't been back out since. Shes almost 9 now, and our challenge car has been built with an eye for hpde on the safety side. Full cage, fixed seats, fire suppression, the works. Much higher likelihood of walking away when it all goes pear shaped.

Yeah, no family/kids here but I did get the shivers when I was pushing it on the bike on the track. That's why I switched.

steronz wrote: At 6'2" I personally wouldn't do another track day in the stock seats, but YMMV. Problem is head clearance and the dreaded broomstick test. Here's my setup, Kirkey Intermediates basically sitting on the floor with some custom brackets, clip-in submarine belt to make it easier to get the seat in and out at the expense of ideal mounting location. I leave the other 4 points of the harness in the car at all times, along with the stock 3 point belt, and swap the seats out for track days. I'm only 6' and I barely clear the broomstick test test this way. The Kirkeys are reasonably affordable, easy to work with, and fit just fine with some slight massaging of the outward shoulder supports.

Good looking seats. Can you relink the 2nd photo? It's the same one.

Yeah, I'd rather not track the car with the stock seats any more, which is why I posted the thread :)

Whoops, let's try again. Codrus reminded me, I did have to cut out the transmission tunnel and put in a kick-out panel to give the front of the seat clearance. It would have fit without doing that, but then I would have needed a 2nd knee in order to heel-toe. Some people get away with just massaging the trans tunnel with a BFH. Once I put that panel in, I had someone weld the seat mounts back in and reinforce the whole area.

Miatas and tall people. Blech.

I assume that's the narrowest seat? Wow. Stupid small cars.

Yeah, narrowest seat. I've got the 15" for the driver and a 16" for the passenger.

I have a MOMO Corsa seat (drivers side only) and a recently expired Schroth 5 point harness in my Miata. I had to mod the left shoulder of the seat to clear the door card. Hard Dog Sport roll bar and a 2010 DotM Racequip helmet.

It doesn't feel unsafe on the track but if I do more events I'll probably feel the need to get a HANS device.

My other safety device was Hoosiers, the extra grip is nice.

A few thoughts worth what you're paying for them:

I wouldn't be concerned about expired belts. Sun-damaged or otherwise compromised/damaged yes but expired, no. I know plenty of stunt guys who use old belts (10, 15 or even 20 years old) with many crashes already in them when setting up cars to crash and have never heard of a belt failing.

Helmets - different requirements for snell for motorcycle and car. As I recall, car helmets have to be able to take repeated hits to the same spot (like if you're sitting next to, say, a roll bar). Fire might be another difference.

Race seats - I have a sparco circuit in my race car and it is super comfy. I guess I haven't been in it for longer than an hour but it fits like a glove and I bet I would love it in a daily except for in- and egress. High bolsters take a little more effort.

Being held in place securely (seat and belts) and comfortable can easily translate into lower lap times besides being safer.

^ yeah, I actually swapped out my driver's 3 point belt as it had a pretty decent amount of sun damage.

SNELL standard is same for the bike impactwise... my understanding is the added fire resistance.

At one point (I think it was the 2000 standards), the Snell standard for auto helmets included a single simulated roll bar impact that was not on the motorcycle test in addition to the fire requirements. I dunno if that's still true or not, the standards change.

I have 10-year-old FIA seats in my car right now, and I can definitely tell that they aren't as rigid as they were when new. Lots more creaking/etc as they flex. They've reached the point where I'm about to age them out (parts are on order).

If you're going to use a 5 or 6 point harness use some form of head and neck restraint. There are a couple of clubs that are now mandating if you use a race harness you need to have a HANS or something similar.

HANS compatible full face helmets are as low as $200. A HANS is $500 now (the cheapest model used to be $700) and there are other devices for less money than that.

As an ex motorcycle road racer I understand where you're coming from as motorcycle racers tend to be more aggressive. The key to track day safety is the nut behind the wheel. I don't have an issue with running a car with just a roll bar and a standard 3 point belt. I'm going to likely get flack about this next comment but again track days are not for driving 100%, it's not racing and this is why all the safety gear isn't a requirement. I also tell people if you are going to do this regular and with a dedicated track car (street driven or trailered) then get all of the gear.

Sadly I can't offer up any advice on seat mounting as I'm pretty much a jockey size guy (rode 125cc GP bikes), my wife's cooking has caused me to ballon out to 140lbs..........soaking wet.

I did exactly what you have in mind for several seasons. Did the seat/hardtop/brake swap before & after every event. After seeing what a flipped Miata with a roll bar/hard top looks like, I went to a full cage. That's when all street activity besides driving to the track stopped.

I'm 6' tall and headroom was pretty tight (~1.5") with the rear seat mounts removed/seat (Racetech 4009W) mounted to the floor. At 6'2" you should go with the floor drop.

Seat/roll bar/door bars:

If you're interested I have a Necksgen HNR system laying around doing nothing. I sold the car & most safety equipment a while ago so the HNR is no longer needed.

Does a rolled miata really look that bad with just a bar? The vids/pics obviously aren't enjoyable but look like they do their job.

In reply to Blaise:

If you want the roof form fitted around your helmet they do. The A pillars collapse like spaghetti, so your broomstick test goes from the front fender to the top of the roll bar. Depends on how lucky you feel. Here's the same car caged with low door bars: