Planning out phase 1 of my drift e28.
I know there is no replacement for a cage, but a cage is going to be a little farther out.
I'd like to have 2 seats with ASM 4-point harnesses in the car by May. I will not have a cage by May. So... Learn Me some harness bars. If I make my own to mount to the B pillars do I need a triangulation brace on each side? Should I skip it and run with stock 3 points in the racing seats until I get a cage in?
You're planning to take a 30-year-old car and start sliding it around a racetrack. If there ever was a time to worry about (a) rolling a car into a ball or (b) backing into a wall at high speeds ... this would pretty much be it. Personally, I wouldn't be comfortable getting into drifting without a cage built to rally/hillclimb standards.
The way I see it, the combination of harness bar, 4-point harnesses, and race seats might give you a slight edge in straight-ahead frontal impacts. Though I personally wouldn't trust my life to the Schroth ASM system (which I'm convinced is largely bullE36 M3), I can see the argument that this might be better than stock 3-point inertia-reel belts. But in every other type of impact, I don't see how you'd be any better off.
I guess I land on the side of: either go all the way, or keep it stock.
In reply to LanEvo :
Well, I am just starting out, so I won't be terribly high speed or doing any tandem rides till I definitely have more skill and a full cage. I did a little bit last year in my miata street car with no roll bar and regular 3-point seat belts. Not going crazy yet.
As for the ASM belts, it seems like it'd keep you in your seat better during regular racing, but have about the same results as a stock belt in the event of an impact. Seems like a decent option until you go all out with HANS and everything. I'm hesitant to use a 5-point harness due to whiplash, I did get a neck donut, but it's not a HANS.
I have never heard anything good about having just a harness bar. Your mileage may vary.
In reply to pinchvalve :
That's kinda what I was afraid of.
Try and find a bolt in rollbar maybe? Still not as good as a cage but better than a harness bar. I really dislike harness bars and would only use them in an auto-x environment, maybe...
I'd leave it stock until you can afford a cage - running a 4pt+ harness without a cage is bad for rollover safety anyway.
The more skill you have the less likely you will probably need a cadge but with more skill the more you will realize that you should have one.
If you are going with the Schroth ASM why not just bolt them to the stock C-piller location like they are designed to do?
I was in the same boat with my track oriented E28 and that is what I have done. It's not ideal but a cage (or rollbar) with fixed back seats and 5/6 point harnesses isn't an option at this point (but hopefully in the future). I understand that I am only getting equal protection to the stock 3-points provided they are working as new (stock belts are 34 years old with 400,000 km of use) but they do hold you in nicely. The Rallye 3 is what you want for the E28.
Adam
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