Race Seats - To Halo or Not?

Simple question: Do you prefer a race seat with or without the upper "Halo" aka full containment....and why?

for my application, it will be in a fully caged race car. It's an NA Miata and was already a little claustrophobic, so this might make it worse lol

In stage rally halo seats are generally considered the only safe option at this point- keeps your head where the hans device can do its' job when a bunch of weird off-axis impacts are happening, as they tend to do if you enter the trees at speed.  When I first switched over I thought the halo would bother me, but I got used to it pretty quickly and at this point it feels weirder to have a helmet on without a halo around it than with.

My car also has limited space for the halo, I found the Momo Daytona to have a narrow enough one to still fit nicely.

If you go halo, which I would, make sure it's the right height. In my limited experience, looks like a fair number of people at track events I've attended have the head restraint too low (or they're too tall for the seat. However you'd prefer to say it). 

Snip from FIA:

Yes, for the reasons noted above.  An OMP HTE-R400 is a good fit for an NA Miata and that's what I have in ours.

In reply to Rodan :

Maybe it is driven by optimism, but I am guessing the halo bits are less noticeable once you have a helmet on? Or do they partially limit your peripheral vision?

I wasn't thinking about it, but the times I have ridden in a passenger halo seat, I didn't notice, but I also wasn't tasked with trying to watch mirrors/blind spots. 

In reply to cyow5 :

You won't see them- even on transits without the helmet, they're only in the way slightly if you have to look fully perpendicular before pulling into an intersection, etc.  Zero issues seeing mirrors or side windows.

In reply to cyow5 :

What he said... you get used to having them there, and honestly the HANS is more of a restriction than the halo pads.  On-track, you're not going to be moving your head very much to see, it's more of an issue in the paddock and grid.   Having some kind of enhanced review mirror helps a lot.  I have one of the big Longacre rearviews, and it provides a near 180* view to the rear.  It does help to have someone to back you out of your pit spot, especially if your fellow racers have a habit of speeding in the paddock.

I occasionally drive mine on the street to C&C, and the halo pads are even less of a restriction without a helmet/HANS.  

I drove my friends NB years ago. Full cage, HANS, window net, halo seat, etc. It was setup for WRL at the time. It was just an HPDE, not racing. 

I felt incredibly claustrophic. Probably because the only two things I had tracked before was a sport bike and my NA that just had a hard dog roll bar, fixed backs, and harnesses. 

Are you endurance racing or just tracking?  If endurance racing, make sure the halo doesn't interfere with driver changes.

I've driven a lot of different cars in WRL and Champcar.  Miatas with a halo are the ones that getting in and out of  are the most difficult.  Small opening and a tall driver with all gear on doesn't mix well, but it certainly not impossible.

Every car I've driven with the halo, I've never noticed any problems with vision or head movement once I'm racing.  In fact, when I drive a car without it, I feel more exposed.

I just installed one in my caged NA Miata. It does make it a little harder to get in and out of the car, but not significantly so.

When I'm in the car, I don't notice the wings at all. It could be because I've had a HANS for a long time and have gotten used to not being able to turn my head to the sides. But even without the HANS, I don't notice wings.

I don't feel any more claustrophobic than I do in my  other caged Miata with a non-halo seat.

For the record, this a dedicated race care that will never be driven on the street.  The seat I have came from Kirkey. I'm 5'10, 220 pounds.

For a dedicated race car I would definitely go with the halo seats, for a dual-duty car that also gets driven on the street I would not.

I put a Momo halo seat in my Audi. I haven't been on the track yet with that seat, but it doesn't seem to interfere with my vision at all. I built the cage around it, so it was planned from the get-go and it works well in there. I don't know how easy it would be to retrofit a halo seat into a car with an existing cage.

My Miata didn't have a containment seat, and I still remember sitting in that thing on the grid wondering how horrible it would be to land it upside-down and then have to get out or hang there and wait for rescue. But, I still think I'd put a containment seat in there if I did Spec Miata again. Rodan's OMP looks like a nice fit.

I go round and round on this; I've had a non Halo seat in my car for 35 years. 

I started using a HANS before they were mandatory yet I've not really warmed up to using the Halo seat. I have not real argument for or against it despite knowing that the Halo seat offers more protection in some circumstances. 

I've done endurance racing without a halo years ago, and recently with a halo. I never noticed it during racing.  I'm a big guy, it took some rather humbling shoves from the team captain to get my XXL helmet past the halo and cage on driver changes.   

For some cars halos can really impact being able to get out of the car if the door is crushed shut. It's something I'd consider at least.

I have an NB Miata race car, Rodan is correct in pointing you towards the HTE-R. Comfy(ish), and fits well relative to most. Get the Jerfspeed brackets and you're good to go... Assuming fully caged car.

I never notice the halo at all once in the car, other than that it makes hooking up the drink hose on the helmet a bit harder. With a MiataCage cage and no front wing window, getting out is relatively easy with or without the door opened.

Given some crash videos I've seen and how much people move around even with properly installed gear, there's no reason not to go halo in an NA/NB track-only car, IMO.

I've seen LMP type cars with the left side of the halo portion mounted to the gullwing door for faster driver changes.  That was cool!

I appreciate all the advice! After seeing the news that the front running spec Miata cars had a big incident and had to go to the hospital, I think a full containment seat is a good idea......

I really like that OMP seat, so I may have to go to AMP to sit my butt in one!