Road Course Safety Devices

[drivemusicnow]

I wanted to start this thread as I've been doing a lot of research recently on safety. I'm going to try and keep all the politics out of it (regarding SFI and FIA etc) and provide a brief guide to what is required at what levels.

I'd also like to make the distinction between road racing, and time trials/HPDE/OT.

For TimeTrials/HPDE/OT you can use stock seats, stock belts, and stock pretty much everything else too. At some point, this becomes dangerous and in reality that point is different for different people. If your car is significantly faster than stock, you should take the proper safety precautions necessary to insure that you can survive a crash.

Seats, Harnesses and Cages/rollbars all go together. You can't put a cage in without a proper racing seat and harness, or put a racing seat in with out harnesses and a cage, etc.

For racing there are a few rules that are mandatory, such as head and neck restraints (new as of this last year), Right side lateral impact protection, roll bar padding etc.

I'm not familiar with all of the club rules, but here are some general rules of thumb. (Consult your sanctioning bodies before doing any purchasing)


Helmets: SA2000 or sa2005 rating is required. Helmets are good for 10 years from the rating, so if you buy a helmet with a 2005 rating, it should be good until 2015. This is something you do not want to go cheap on. I would much prefer spending minimal amounts on a suit, gloves and shoes, and spending a bit more on a helmet. Get something that is comfortable to wear, and provides enough vision to not be an issue.

Head and neck restraint: NASA requires that you have an SFI 38.1 legal head and neck restraint system. This would be a HANS, R3, Hybrid, leatt brace, or defNder TID. SCCA and others have not required this yet.

Harnesses: SFI rated harnesses are only good for 2 years. FIA rated belts are good for 5 years. Any 5-6-7 point race harness is typically legal, cheaper side of things would be the G-force belts, for about 150$. These can range up to about 350$ or so.

Seats: FIA legal seats don't require back braces and can be mounted to sliders. I think that a non FIA seat with a back brace, or an FIA with a back brace is really the way to go. Lots of companies make these and they're fairly easy to find.

Lateral protection: Every organization requires a window net. These are cheap, but have to be mounted in a "quick release" manner and typically require adding brackets on to the cage. The two styles available are the mesh type, and the ribbon type. The mesh type offers significantly better visibility. For the passanger side protection, you typically need either a full containment seat, or a small triangular right side net. These are easy to install if you have a full roll cage as they attach to the main hoop, your harness bar, and your dash bar. This also must be quick release.

Clothing: This one is pretty self explanatory as you just buy the suit, gloves, and shoes that fit your rule book and budget. Again, G-Force racing will probably be your cheapest legal option, and prices will go up significantly from there. Again, NASA requires a 1 piece suit, versus others that allow two piece suits.

Fire extinguisher: You are required to have a fire extinguisher on board. It has to have a metal mount and be a quick release type. I would recommend have a fire system, however different budgets allow different things.

Roll bar padding: It needs to be SFI legal anywhere that your head might hit. I'd also suggest having said padding on the dash bar of your cage. Without it, that bar becomes the shin breaking bar.

Those are all of the basics for "safety stuff" to buy. I'd love to hear personal accounts of quality and non quality gear that people have experience with. I personally think that G-Force makes decent legal stuff for the inexpensive cost involved. Not necessarily the most comfortable, but at half the price, I'm typically okay with it. I'm picking up a new schroth harness though as I like them a lot better.

[tsiboosted]

Greg - That is a really good post and very helpful I am sure to many racers interested in stepping it up from HPDE to actual road racing. I think allot of poeple dont estimate in the costs of saftey equipment before they want to go road racing. Its not just all about the car, it is also about you the driver and the overall saftey of the driver. I know each year I take my car to the anual tech day where not only is my car tech'ed, but all my safety gear as well. Personally my safety equipment is:

AutoPower full roll cage w/padding where needed
G-Force 5 point cam lock harnesess (not that uncomfortable to me)
Corbeau FX1 Seat w/back brace
HANS Device Pro
Firecharger fire supression system
Master cut off switch
G-Force ribbon style window net
Simpson helmet SA2005
G-Force 5 layer suit
Puma driving boots
Puma gloves

[Elvenhome21]

The R3 for hanr seems to be the better choice overall, because it doesnt have to attach to you. you can leave it in the seat and be able to get off the car quicker and safer in an emerg, pop the helmet tethers and its off. I have a Dcel which is identical to a hutchens and I had a fire (2) actually) in my limited late model and I got hung up on one of the sternum belts getting hooked on my shoulder belt. Not something you want to have happen, especially if someone sets off an extinguisher and you cant see or breath after that point.

As far as seat, Helmet supports should be mandatory, shoulder supports next in line (shoulders can take a hell of of impact without relying on you ribs for all the support; which break really easy in a side impact of a conventional kirkey double wrap seat. Full containment seat should be a priority buy, HANR should be #1, containment seat can be further down the list but is very important for safety and even comfort from your neck not getting sore in longer races.

[lethal_vr4]

Originally Posted by drivemusicnow

Helmets: SA2000 or sa2005 rating is required. Helmets are good for 10 years from the rating, so if you buy a helmet with a 2005 rating, it should be good until 2015. This is something you do not want to go cheap on.

One thing I would like to mention that can help those on a tight budget (a group I myself definately fall into): Often times one can pick up a new high end helmet with a heavy discount if one is willing to use the older rated SA2000 helmet.

I replace my helmet every three years even if it looks virgin. As the SA2000 helmuts are good until 2010 (and I throw it away every three), I can litereally buy a normally $900 helmut for the same price I would pay for the very low end of the spectrum for a SA2005 helmet.

My SA2000 Sparco helmet will be discarded at the same time as if I bought a SA2005 helmet (as I bought it in 2007).


Same theory goes for suits, belts, seats or any other FIA rated items.

[Elvenhome21]

Originally Posted by lethal_vr4

One thing I would like to mention that can help those on a tight budget (a group I myself definately fall into): Often times one can pick up a new high end helmet with a heavy discount if one is willing to use the older rated SA2000 helmet.

I replace my helmet every three years even if it looks virgin. As the SA2000 helmuts are good until 2010 (and I throw it away every three), I can litereally buy a normally $900 helmut for the same price I would pay for the very low end of the spectrum for a SA2005 helmet.

My SA2000 Sparco helmet will be discarded at the same time as if I bought a SA2005 helmet (as I bought it in 2007).


Same theory goes for suits, belts, seats or any other FIA rated items.

With the 09 season coming up in just a few months DO NOT buy a SA2000 anymore unless you find one for under $200. Some places I have raced at (circle track) Try to cycle out older helmets, such as in 2004 when they no longer allowed snell 95 and forced everybody with a 95 to buy a 2000 even though SA2005 were coming out in less than 8 months. Which is what happened with me.

G-force helmets are very good helmets I recommend them with one/two exception/s.

1 being they dont have a removable liner that you can wash (febreeze is your only option).

2 If your going to run forced air helmet, get a IMPACT helmet with the air feed on the very top of the helmet. I have a side air inlet and its a PITA to run the air hose with helmet supports on the seat, If you have a containment seat top inlet is mandatory being that a hose cant fit around the supports.

[lethal_vr4]

Originally Posted by Elvenhome21

With the 09 season coming up in ust a few months DO NOT but a SA2000 anymore unless you find one for under $200.

With a little looking around this should be very possible. My Sparco helmet was over 1k new, on clearance I picked it up for a little less then $300 shipped, if memory serves it was ~$260. One thing to consider is that this was a year ago when a SA2000 helmet had more life left in it (over three years until outdated) and with a very expensive high end helmet. Picked a less expensive base helmet, one should be able to find a really good deal. This savings allowed me to purchase other saftey equipment I might not otherwise had a racing budget for.

Please keep in mind however that a SA2000 helmet will only be allowed by most trackes for a 2 1/3 years, which is close but a little short of the recommended discard time of three years for a helmet.

[drivemusicnow]

If you take care of a helmet, (ie, don't leave it in the sun, don't drop it and abuse it etc) and buy a nice enough one that you can take out and wash the inner lining, you shouldn't have a problem keeping a helmet for more than three years. I'm not saying to use one helmet for all 10 years, but I don't really think throwing them away after 3 is necessary.

Any impact however, and I'd go buy a new helmet. even if the outer shell doesn't crack, it's possible that you put stress cracks in that would make it unsafe in the event of another accident.