clark17357, on Jan 1 2009, 09:44 PM, said:
I have always wondered why some cannot express themselves in a debate in a fashion that fosters the debate (which helps all of us learn a little something) rather than setting forth a position (theirs) as the only reasonable position. To each their own, I guess.
Jim
Jim I put that stuff up with a cavait (I thought anyway)
GT-350 said:
I was thinking about a harness bar but I looked at the following and now I only believe a 4-point roll bar is the minimum for taking a car to the track.
Please read this before anyone else goes with a harness bar or any of the "DOT" harness systems.
Also note the link to CC.com takes you to a site that run by racers and don't suffer fools......
If you took the time to read all the info you might be inclined to think about a roll over, hitting a wall at 100 mph plus or a side impact.
Please review the following and make up your own mind............
ROLL OVER
If the driver/passenger were wearing a harness without rollover protection the guys would probably be dead now because the harness would have kept them "bolt upright"....
The instructors then broke the news about a roll-over incident on Sat which sent two people to the hospital (the instructor and the student). Apparently a group 1 (novice group with instructor assigned) student early apexed and put two wheels off the track coming out of turn two. Instead of driving off the track straight he tried to yank the car back on track, the car skid across the track and rolled over twice before resting on its roof, on the other side of the track. This is the classic mistake that new (and sometimes even experienced) drivers make. The rule of thumb is, if you put two or four wheels off the track you should drive straight (where the car is pointed) and gradually come to a stop, specially at a track like Willow Springs where there is so much run off room there is no reason why one shouldn't. The driver and the instructor were both treated for injuries and released from the hospital.
The instructor came back to the track but he was in a lot of pain. I talked to him briefly about the incident. He said that that the student wasn't driving bad or doing anything stupid but coming out of turn 2 he put two tires off the track. The instructor grabbed the steering wheel and tried to hold it straight as soon as the wheels went off the track but it was too late, the student had already crancked it to get back on the track. As the car rolled the first time, the top came down half way, since the car didn't have a roll-cage the instructor grabbed the lever and reclined the seat all the way back which he said was a good thing because the second time the car rolled the roof just collapsed. The pictures tell it all. Try explaining that one to the insurance company, at least no one was seriously hurt.
Frontal Impacts/Side Impacts
Using the OEM seats with the harness draped over the seat and no way to prevent the harness from moving is a no go........that's why the FIA seats have the holes in the top of the seat so the harness can't slip off the seat.
In an accident the harness can spread open allowing the body fly about the interior. Or slip off the side with the same end results
Also if you are using a reclining seat even if it is FIA you have to have a seat brace, this is a bar/pad that is attached to the roll bar/cage. So if the reclining mechanism were to break the seat back can't go back.
Now for HPDE days you might be better served by using the safety stuff Ford put into the cars, in lieu of installing something that might increase your chance of injury or death.
If you want to step up to the next level a roll bar (four point) with a harness bar attached to the roll bar and a race seat is the safe way to go just do a search for SCCA/NASA/PBOC/FIA safety regulations and look at how they install the equipment.
You might say well they say (pick a manufacturer of a harness bar or DOT/FIA harness) it’s OK.
Just please look at how the SCCA/NASA/PBOC/FIA install the safety equipment.