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Looking at fire suppression systems as well. Not looking for anything fancy like ECU cutoff or anything like that. But a goof 5lb 3 spray system will make me feel much more comfortable..
Does it make sense to add a separate, automatically activated system in the trunk in case the fuel tank catches fire? That's one area you can't see at all.
Does it make sense to add a separate, automatically activated system in the trunk in case the fuel tank catches fire? That's one area you can't see at all.
Good question. The answer is that the fuel tank should ALWAYS be isolated from the passenger compartment by the panel that screws down above it (oem required to be separated from passenger compartment by law) and fuel lines should never pass through the cabin. Builders of fuel cell equipped cars sometimes remove this factory designed protection at greater risk to themselves, but that's their risk to take.
If you look at the Miata with the cabin fire video, there is fuel spraying throughout the cabin from behind the driver prior to him getting the car stopped (it's why he was stopping). The barrier paneling was likely removed for the sake of access or weight at great peril to the driver and it cost them the whole car and very nearly a life.
So, if the fuel tank and lines are separated from the cabin there should be less priority to have a nozzle pointed at it directly. Buying time for the occupant who may be on fire is priority one.
If I get a set of arm restraints (like GForce 4087) to use with my stock seat belts, should I have a set for the instructor as well?
First HPDE coming up in August.
How would you use these with stock seat belts? They are intended to loop through the metal piece in a 5/6-point, at the persons pelvis.
This is the same debate as the dozens of others about instructor safety. If you are going to protect yourself with arm restraints, why wouldn't you protect your instructor? Why would the passenger need them any less than the driver? They may have their own, but there are good chances that they don't track a roadster and don't need them in their personal racecar.
How would you use these with stock seat belts? ......
They may have their own, but there are good chances that they don't track a roadster and don't need them in their personal racecar.
It looks to me that some of the brands have large D or loops that would allow attachment to the center section of stock belts via passing the strap around belt and through itself. Anyone know which brands will work as I have described? If not, I'll call OG.
It looks to me that some of the brands have large D or loops that would allow attachment to the center section of stock belts via passing the strap around belt and through itself. Anyone know which brands will work as I have described? If not, I'll call OG.
Do you have any links to these? The restraint needs to break away with no possibility of getting caught when you undo the seatbelt.
This is a great thread, thanks everyone for the kick in the pants to upgrade my safety gear. I'm starting to pick up my pace on the track and am ready for an upgrade. I hadn't been thinking about fire at all, other than to have a hand held at the base of my seat. Time for a fire suit!
Kind of unrelated, but I thought asking this here is better than creating a new thread - my helmet doesn't have the HANS button things, and also HANS is a big investment. Does anyone use a helmet support like this as an interim step before investing in a full HANS setup?
This is a great thread, thanks everyone for the kick in the pants to upgrade my safety gear. I'm starting to pick up my pace on the track and am ready for an upgrade. I hadn't been thinking about fire at all, other than to have a hand held at the base of my seat. Time for a fire suit!
Kind of unrelated, but I thought asking this here is better than creating a new thread - my helmet doesn't have the HANS button things, and also HANS is a big investment. Does anyone use a helmet support like this as an interim step before investing in a full HANS setup?
A neck collar is only useful for preventing neck fatigue. There are anecdotal stories that they may actually cause neck injuries in certain types of accidents.
The interim step before investing in a HNRS device is skipping every single trackday you had planned to do until you can afford one.
The anchors are a non-issue. Every helmet worth wearing is designed to have anchors installed, and the race shop you buy your HNRS from will gladly install the anchors for you for free or very little money. Wine Country does mine for me whenever I buy a new helmet, and they also recertified my device in 2016 for an amount of money that was small enough for me to forget about by now (far less than the original cost of the HANS).
I would never wear a 5/6-point belt without a HANS device or equivalent.
Looks like the Z-Tech Series 1A is $270 on amazon. I've been using one of these for a couple of years. It is bulky, but once strapped in, I don't notice it at all.
I think the unit came with backing plates and posts to retrofit a helmet without anchor provisions.
If you already have harnesses and whatnot, what's another $270? :P
Thanks everyone! I've been on the 3-point + airbag program until now and am stepping it up. $300 much easier than $800+ for a new helmet and Hans. I'm adding a harness bar, 5-point harnesses and now apparently a fire suit and neck restraint.
When I started this thread I had installed a Kirkey race seat with back brace, but was still running stock 3 point seatbelt. At the encouragement of this thread, I bought another seat and harness so I could go full safety on both sides, driver and instructor. Before I could install it I ran one more HPDE weekend with the stock 3 point belts. During this weekend, I was moved up to HPDE 2 (solo). The other track groups I run with have also kicked me out of the instructed groups, as my skills have improved a bunch and my lap times are a solid Intermediate+. So... no more need for the full gear on the passenger side. I might eventually install the extra seat and harness, or I might sell it off. I guess it would be good to have it there for future check rides.
I've since installed the six point harness on the drivers side and gotten a HANS Sport 2. I actually have two of them, which is a long story, and will probably be posting the size Medium in the classifieds soon. My Conquest helmet was $169 off of Amazon. It has holes for the HANS anchors, is SA2015 certified, and is totally fine for the job. After 15+ track days, I've never felt like I needed anything better. The anchors came with the HANS device, it took 15 minutes and some blue Loctite to install them on the helmet. Super easy.
I still need to install an extinguisher. I use FIA certified shoes, socks, gloves, underwear, balaclava, etc. I always wear the fire suit pants, and more often than not I wear the jacket. I will admit that some of the mid afternoon sessions I still go in a t-shirt, it's just too damned hot. I back off a bit in those sessions. I know a cool suit would solve the problem, but it's more **** I don't want to deal with on track days. I'll probably just keep suffering through it.
The unanticipated affect of all this has been big improvements in my driving. I'm much better connected to the car and have better fine driving skills because I'm not sliding all over the seat. The harness and HANS give me a little more confidence to approach the car's limits (and my own), which has really improved my progress.
Just because you're solo, doesn't mean you won't want someone to hop in sometime for some extra coaching. So keep the extra safety gear on the passenger side.
Just because you're solo, doesn't mean you won't want someone to hop in sometime for some extra coaching. So keep the extra safety gear on the passenger side.
06-08-2018, 06:15 PM
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