08-30-2006, 04:14 PM
my take on this is that in HPDE1 or 2, the likeliness of a severe accident is small. its happened, and i've seen it happen, but any instructor worth a damn will be able to keep his or her student in check and move him along in a slow manner to understand the dynamics of the car at speed. now that being said, accidents do happen and if the unfortunate should occur, i think a lot of safety considerations have gone into the R&D of stock setups by car manufacturers to keep people safe. and i know there's a difference between getting t-boned at 30 mph at a stop light and hitting a tirewall at 90 mph, but either way, its not gonna be pretty.
rollbars - if a convertible does not have a roll bar, i would be very hesitant to get in. if a regular car doesnt, it would only scare me if the driver didnt know what the hell they were doing.
harnesses - i'm not putting it on if there's no roll bar. if there is, then i'm using them. for the street, i never use harnesses. i still have my 3pt belts properly mounted in both driver and passenger seat
racing seats - i dont think having or not having a racing seat is a problem for lower hpde groups. i had just my sparco pro2k with no harnesses and no roll bar in my integra and i feel like it was as safe as a stock seat. the force required to break away a reclinable seat will probably be as much, if not more than the force required to break a fixed back fiberglass seat when hitting it from the top. but a fixed back seat like my sparco has much more side support for hpde that half my energy on track wasnt used to support myself from lateral g-forces around turns thus making concentrating on driving easier. as far as comfort, although the pro2k is small on a lot of people, i find it very comfortable. the only thing it sucks for is trying to get your wallet out of your back pocket or something out of your side pockets. i drove from cville to atlanta in the sparco and it was alright except that 8 hour drive made my nuts sweaty and uncomfortable, but by the time that happened, i'd pull over for gas or a quick bite to eat.
rollbars - if a convertible does not have a roll bar, i would be very hesitant to get in. if a regular car doesnt, it would only scare me if the driver didnt know what the hell they were doing.
harnesses - i'm not putting it on if there's no roll bar. if there is, then i'm using them. for the street, i never use harnesses. i still have my 3pt belts properly mounted in both driver and passenger seat
racing seats - i dont think having or not having a racing seat is a problem for lower hpde groups. i had just my sparco pro2k with no harnesses and no roll bar in my integra and i feel like it was as safe as a stock seat. the force required to break away a reclinable seat will probably be as much, if not more than the force required to break a fixed back fiberglass seat when hitting it from the top. but a fixed back seat like my sparco has much more side support for hpde that half my energy on track wasnt used to support myself from lateral g-forces around turns thus making concentrating on driving easier. as far as comfort, although the pro2k is small on a lot of people, i find it very comfortable. the only thing it sucks for is trying to get your wallet out of your back pocket or something out of your side pockets. i drove from cville to atlanta in the sparco and it was alright except that 8 hour drive made my nuts sweaty and uncomfortable, but by the time that happened, i'd pull over for gas or a quick bite to eat.
1994 Ford Ranger
2004 Honda S2000
2007 BMW X3
2004 Honda S2000
2007 BMW X3