[drburton]

I think your needs change between a DE event and Autocross. Keep in mind for most DE events you are going at high speeds, in my case 130mph+. A closed face helmet is much safer. At the event I went to I don't recall seeing a single driver with an open face helmet.

The important part is 'fit'. When I went to the store my head fit in different sizes based on manufacturer, large for Bell, extra large for Simpson. Also, the overall fit of the helmets was very different. Dependent on the size of your head you could be a perfect fit for a helmet or you could fall right in between two sizes etc..

The guy I purchased from sells many of the helmets to local PCA members and has an example of a guy who bought a 'G Force' helmet on the internet to save money. Ended up going off the track at over 100mph and the helmet flew off his head b/c it didn't fit right. He escaped major injury but fit is really important.

Maybe I'm a bit over the top about this but I'll pay an extra $100 to make sure if the unlikely accident does occur my head will be safe.