lets talk harnesses

[kishg]

+1 for cg-lock. works well.

[!kid]

i have this same seat. easy to get in and out of for daily use, holds me in place well, although i wish I'd bought the suzuka-pro. i plan to upgrade to the suzuka-pro later down the road.

also how big are you? i fit like a glove in it, my waist is about a 30 ish if your a bigger guy you may want to get the Imola gt.

[RangerGress]

Re. harness bars being unsafe during rollover. How often do you actually see roof intrusion in a BMW rollover vs. a general need for harness restraint? Sure, roof intrusion occasionally occurs, but I've seen a helova lot of crashes at the track and there wasn't a single case. Go with the odds. I would submit that a properly installed system consisting of harness (or harness guide) bars, with a race seat and 5-6pt harness are a helova lot safer then OEM restraint. OEM restraints suck.

Having been an instructor for 4yrs, I call BS on the claim that 80% of instructors won't get into a car with a harness or harness guide bar. But probably 50% won't get into a car with a 4pt, and we don't care what ASM marketing gimmick it might have.

The difference between a harness bar and a harness guide bar is that the former is much more solid and anchors the shoulder straps. A harness guide bar merely sets the horiz angle of the shoulder straps that than anchor down below.

[NigelStu]

+11111 on the CG-lock until you can afford a proper roll-bar with 6-pt harness and fixed bucket seat and H&N restraint. Combine the CG-lock with some fresh/new stock seatbelts and you are good to go.

Someone hit it right on the head earlier. The lap belt needs to be located firmly over the pelvic bone. Too high (or if it moves up/you move down) and you'll get all squishy inside...



Those CG-locks work great, and hold what needs to be held in place. Your PELVIS.

It doesn't really matter what your shoulders are doing as long as your core is in one constant spot. With you pelvis held in place, you'll be free to move your feet and hands where they need to be without trying to hold yourself in place. And your upper body will be free to move out of the way in the unlikely (and hopefully non-existent) event of a roll-over. And since the CG-lock takes up any slack, the locking mechanism in the stock seat belt works sooner. Nearly as safe as a proper 6-pt harness in most track-day type incidents. Much easier to use on the street. And cheap. Heck, I think I have a few spares hanging around I could let go for cheap.




One comment about FIA seats. My understanding is that the FIA certification is given to a seat with tests completed as per manufacturers mounting. In most cases, those seats are side mount (some bottom mount), but do not include a seat-back brace to get the cert. At least in SCCA, FIA seats (when properly mounted, do not need the back brace. All non-FIA seats (and FIA seats not mounter per manuf instructions) must have a seat-back brace added. If you want easy adjustability, and have a legal seat for race events, go FIA. If you're never gonna move it, then any race seat will do.

[RangerGress]

The CGLock does work pretty well. An imperfect alternative is to move your seat back, put a few twists in your seatbelt strap near the buckle, buckle it in, then move the seat back forward.

One of the charms of a real harness is that it holds you in your seat so you don't have to keep a death grip on the steering wheel. Folks usually realize pretty quickly after a few track events that keeping themselves in place by holding on to the steering wheel sucks.

Once FIA seats expire they require a back brace. No big deal.

[!kid]

Folks usually realize pretty quickly after a few track events that keeping themselves in place by holding on to the steering wheel sucks.

agreed, had this happen to me in a civic Si once owned. race buckets FTW!