Official "my latest HPDE experience" thread.

[Traum]

The purpose of a HANS device is to keep the head from whipping in a crash, and that mostly only happens when you are held down in the seat by a race harness. A 3-point belt already allows for a gradual deceleration of your body / neck / head, so the protection offered by a HANS device isn't strictly necessary if you are using a 3-point belt.

[Vancouver240sx]

I believe IF you have harnesses it should be required to wear a HANS. I believe not wearing a HANS with a 6 point is more dangerous than not wearing helmet with a 6 point.

Unless you plan to use a HANS, stick with the stock 3 point. Through the grapevine this was the cause of the deaths at A27 this year.

Rich

[bcrdukes]

The reason I'm asking is I'm on the fence of getting bucket seats and a harness. My home track is fast enough and has concrete walls to cause serious injury, or even death.

My Boxster is still a dual-duty street and track car. I don't have a trailer to haul the vehicle and don't plan on getting one anytime soon, and I need to make a decision on how competitive or serious I want to get with this vehicle.

My other first world problem is if I get bucket seats, what do I do with my stock seats? I'm not looking to selling them, and space/storage is a serious premium.

I noticed some people run a Simpson Hybrid and and have said they can use it in a car that's got a harness, and a 3-point seat belt.

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

The reason I'm asking is I'm on the fence of getting bucket seats and a harness. My home track is fast enough and has concrete walls to cause serious injury, or even death.

My Boxster is still a dual-duty street and track car. I don't have a trailer to haul the vehicle and don't plan on getting one anytime soon, and I need to make a decision on how competitive or serious I want to get with this vehicle.

My other first world problem is if I get bucket seats, what do I do with my stock seats? I'm not looking to selling them, and space/storage is a serious premium.

I noticed some people run a Simpson Hybrid and and have said they can use it in a car that's got a harness, and a 3-point seat belt.

It's the same question I have. How far do I want to take the M3. I would need some new track pads, new stickier tires, better coils.... but that takes it increasingly out of the street car range and into a dedicated track car, I still have two car seats in the back and I use it as a family car.....

[underscore]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

The reason I'm asking is I'm on the fence of getting bucket seats and a harness. My home track is fast enough and has concrete walls to cause serious injury, or even death.

Will you/do you also have at least a roll bar if not a full cage? The way I understand it you should really have one if you have a harness because if you find yourself upside down and the room comes in, a harness won't let your body move like a 3 point and you'll get crushed. So you kind of need to go all or nothing with the cage/seat/harness/HANS thing or you end up with something actually more dangerous than stock.

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

My other first world problem is if I get bucket seats, what do I do with my stock seats? I'm not looking to selling them, and space/storage is a serious premium.

Do they recline much? You might be able to get them fairly flat and then they'd be easier to store. Or unbolt the two halves and the mounting bracket, then worst case stash all the pieces under your bed or under your couch lol.

[bcrdukes]

So I have the factory roll bar (if you want to call it that) but if I want to run a full harness, some aftermarket goodies can be easily acquired. I would only run the harness for when on track, and not on the street. This is sort of the dilemma as well. I'm not doing 20+ events a year where it warrants a full on-roll cage. This is still a street car (for now) so I'm looking at the hybrid Simpson as the compromise.

Factory seats - To be honest I'm not sure how much they recline. I'll have to ask around on this.

[roastpuff]

Most harnesses will need an aftermarket roll bar to mount to as well. Factory roll bar will not work. IMO if you want a bucket you can run it with the 3 point stock belts - it's what I'm doing.

As per our discussion, if you're not sliding around in the stock seats I would not switch it out with a bucket unless you feel like you are not securely planted in place.

[Dbone]

I have the Schroth 4 point: www.schrothracing.com/item/lotus-ii-harness/fia-4-point-asm I don't wear this on the road since I have move around so much to get any kind of visibility with the side mirrors, but on the track it' a god send.

The seats are great in the lotus, I don't slide at all but not having to hold on for dear life while breaking or cornering makes driving much less of a chore.

I took the M2 out to VIMC was was getting a little pissed off with how much effort I had to put into just staying in the right place.

There was a guy at area 27 in July in an M2 who was wearing both a dodgy 4point, and his OEM belt at the same time.... he also said he heat soaked after 1 lap.. so I think we can agree that's probably the dumbest way to do things.

I thought HANS was not allowed at most track events outside of competition. Am I wrong there?

[bcrdukes]

Hmmm never heard of that. The track events I've been to (typically HPDE) encourage a HANS if/when you can use it, but never on the street. For competition, it's almost a requirement depending on the sanctioning body you're competing in.