Race Harness Question

[cabriodster87]

Do what it takes to get it right the first time.

[kts]

The way I see it, in a car with a roof, a cage does more for chassis rigidity rather then crash protection, if you are only doing auto-x type stuff with the car. Unless you hit something immovable at high speed, or land upside down after falling a distance, a cage won't do much more for protecting you then if it wasn't there. If you roll a car in auto-x on flat ground, you aren't going to cave in the roof and pancake the car.

That being said, you have to ask yourself if a cage would benefit you or if a roll bar would be enough for your needs.

Yea pretty hard to roll over at an autocross, or at least any autocross I have ever seen. autox are also are slower speeds where there is pretty little risk of a roll over and the roof being compromised.

At a track event that's totally different. I know way too many people who have rolled cars at track events unfortunately. In that case the roll bar or a cage does its job.

[FunfGan]

Yes, it really depends on the type of "tracking" you'll be doing. Just auto-x? You'd be fine with a harness bar. Actually tracking? Get a cage. Thats the reason I've only driven once on a track(drift event, low speed) without my cage. I know it sounds like its not an option in your case, but mine are bolted to the top of where the rear seat mounts, near the parcel shelf so its at the most reinforced point.

[Jafxod]

Update. Just got confirmation that my buddy and his brother that are opening up their own fab shop would be down to weld up a roll bar for me. I like this idea becuase I can supervise the contruction and details of it as well as it will be local and I wont have to wait. Plan is once the turbo motor is running the first thing I do is drive it over and drop it off. Stoked

[AndrewBird]

Yea pretty hard to roll over at an autocross, or at least any autocross I have ever seen. autox are also are slower speeds where there is pretty little risk of a roll over and the roof being compromised.

At a track event that's totally different. I know way too many people who have rolled cars at track events unfortunately. In that case the roll bar or a cage does its job.

I do actually know someone who rolled his MK1 Rabbit at Auto-X. Hit an s-curve too fast trying to get a good time, tire rolled over, wheel dug in and over he went. Still drove the car home. Car didn't have a cage either.

[KenC]

1. Don't run a fixed back seat with a harness in a car without a rollbar. PERIOD. Your body can't move in the case of a roll-over.

2. Most racing clubs/series won't let you run with a "Y" style harness.

3. You want the shoulder belt attachment point to be between 0 and -15 deg below the exit point on top of your shoulders.

4. Mount it with grade 10.9 or above hardware with 3" washers on the bottom of the car.

[TobyB]

Yah, you CAN roll at an autocross, but it's gonna take some pretty fantastic
circumstances to bring the roof down enough to hurt you.

Yah, you can roll on a track, and most of the rollovers don't bring the roof down
enough to worry about, cage or no cage.

Then there's the spectacular few that really DO use up your cage.

One very real benefit to a proper harness is location- you're positively retained in the car
under cornering and braking. It's a big help in both track and autocross events.

That said, I too put a roll bar in as soon as I got serious about a harness.

t

[Jafxod]

Thanks guys

[325ix]

Yah, you CAN roll at an autocross, but it's gonna take some pretty fantastic
circumstances to bring the roof down enough to hurt you.

Yah, you can roll on a track, and most of the rollovers don't bring the roof down
enough to worry about, cage or no cage.

Then there's the spectacular few that really DO use up your cage.

One very real benefit to a proper harness is location- you're positively retained in the car
under cornering and braking. It's a big help in both track and autocross events.

That said, I too put a roll bar in as soon as I got serious about a harness.

t

That is why you have a cage, for that freak accident because, you have no idea when that is going to happen.