Let's talk about seats for the Track

[Burg Boxster]

And yes, seats DEFINITELY matter - do not skimp on safety.

There are only 4 bolts holding your seat (holding you) to the car. What if the bolts are strong but the metal frame is made of crap steel and aluminum from who knows where? You put two wheels off on a back straight of track XYZ doing 200' per second... Slight lift and bang a little snap over-steer shoots your car back across track into an armco. Want steel/alum of unknown quality and origin making up your seat frame body and rails?

Learn from Ryan Newman at Daytona two weeks ago... He walked out of the hospital 2 days later. Dale Sr. 19 years prior had a much less severe incident (to say the least) at same track which tragically took his life (he wouldn't wear a HANS...).

Do not skimp on safety.

Good luck

[Quadcammer]

Originally Posted by Burg Boxster

And yes, seats DEFINITELY matter - do not skimp on safety.

There are only 4 bolts holding your seat (holding you) to the car. What if the bolts are strong but the metal frame is made of crap steel and aluminum from who knows where? You put two wheels off on a back straight of track XYZ doing 200' per second... Slight lift and bang a little snap over-steer shoots your car back across track into an armco. Want steel/alum of unknown quality and origin making up your seat frame body and rails?

Learn from Ryan Newman at Daytona two weeks ago... He walked out of the hospital 2 days later. Dale Sr. 19 years prior had a much less severe incident (to say the least) at same track which tragically took his life (he wouldn't wear a HANS...).

Do not skimp on safety.

Good luck

Good reason to have your harnesses hard mounted to the car/body/roll bar.

[MaxD]

If you are buying a fixed back racing seat get one from a manufacture that meets FIA regs. That means Recaro, Sparco, OMP, Racetech to name a few.

You only need an "in" date seat if you are racing with an organization that requires it. NASA, for instance, will let you use an expired composite seat with a seat back brace and that brace doesn't even have to be mounted correctly, just present.

For your local interests in TT or DE, You just need to meet or exceed stock/OEM Seat/harness. If you upgrade, NASA is good with expired equipment as long as it is in good condition. PCA is getting much pickier. They now seem to think expired 6 point harnesses are less safe that 40 year old 3 point belts. Also if you use a multi point harness you must have a fixed back seat, roll bar and a HANS, actually good policy.

The rollbar on the Boxster is just fine to attach the shoulder harness to with 6 point belts (don't even bother with 5 point). You can use the stock lap belt mounting points, just get proper mounting hardware for the new belts. You need to drill two holes for the sub mounts. Get backing plates or big washer to reinforce the mounting points.

To echo again- Don't skimp on safety

[maytag]

Originally Posted by MaxD

Also if you use a multi point harness you must have a fixed back seat, roll bar and a HANS, actually good policy.

Max, what are ya, some kind of "super- lurker"? "You don't (post) much, but when ya do, it's straight and to the point and I salute you for it" (movie reference)
https://youtu.be/IZocpwWLsyE

That right there cut some meat off the bone for me.
The only reason I'd change seats is to be able to use a multi-point harness. So this answers most of what I needed to know.


Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[jmitro]

Originally Posted by MaxD

Also if you use a multi point harness you must have a fixed back seat, roll bar and a HANS, actually good policy.

good point.

Originally Posted by MaxD

You need to drill two holes for the sub mounts. Get backing plates or big washer to reinforce the mounting points.

Brey-Krause makes an adapter that allows the sub belts to be wrapped under the seat so you don't have to drill through the body, if that bothers you

https://www.bkauto.com/R_9044_Seat_Floor_Mount_Adapter_p/r-9044.htm

[MaxD]

Originally Posted by jmitro

Brey-Krause makes an adapter that allows the sub belts to be wrapped under the seat so you don't have to drill through the body, if that bothers you

https://www.bkauto.com/R_9044_Seat_Floor_Mount_Adapter_p/r-9044.htm

Sub mounts like that are great for those with street cars wanting to run multi point belts.

If you are actually racing PCA Club Race rules state: "Harnesses cannot be mounted to the seat or seat rail. Mounting must be to the chassis backed by large diameter washers (if stock mounts are not used) or to the roll bar."

NASA doesn't seem to have that particular requirement on harness mounting, but they do reiterate: "Large diameter mounting washers should be used to spread the load. Bolting through floor panels etc. is not acceptable without required washers."

[trygve]

Originally Posted by jmitro

good point.



Brey-Krause makes an adapter that allows the sub belts to be wrapped under the seat so you don't have to drill through the body, if that bothers you

https://www.bkauto.com/R_9044_Seat_Floor_Mount_Adapter_p/r-9044.htm

You just reminded me of something: I have one of these Brey-Krause 9044 sub belt bars to sell for super cheap. Someone please ping me if interested. We're moving soon, and the less stuff to move, the better. This one has been barely used. For someone in the San Francisco Bay Area, even better if we can avoid shipping cost.