Anyone have a take on driving suits. Requirements would put Safety/Quality highest and "looks mad tizite" lowest. Don't want a shiny Nomex suit and want SFI 5 two-piece.

I am looking at the RaceQuip Nomex Series III Tripple Layer and G-FORCE GF525 Multi-Layer Suit (from RacerWholesale). Anyone have any other options in this neighborhood or know of anything particularly bad about eitehr of these?

 

Just stay away from the really cheap ones ($189 or so). There is no decent suit on the planet in that price range.

The cheaper ones offer about the same protection, but are thicker and heavier in order to get there. These suits are fine for a Solo I, but in any application that has you in the car for 15 minutes or more, during the summer, these suits will be brutal.

As Adam knows, I have a Sparco 2 suit that I really like. It's a 1 piece quilted two layer and is lightweight and half as thick as my old Solo I Racer Wholesale suit.

I have never tried it personally, but a couple of friends of mine swear by the G-Force 535 Kevlar suit. It's ugly as sin, but they swear it is the most comfy, lightweight suit available. $399, which is reasonable for a good suit.

 

The OMP Trend suit seems to be a pretty popular choice as well. It too is in the $400 range.

 

the G force suit is good for the $$ but hot and bulky as heck

 

My "race" suit is one of the OMP 3 layer shiny types. Tons of cash but I could probably stand in flames with that. For DEs I use a generic single layer G-Force that also serves as my coveralls. It's cheap and serves the purpose for not-so-intense speeds. The expensive one only sees the light of day for PCA Club Races or the upcoming 944Cup... other than that I can't see the purpose of getting a heavy duty 3 layer.

 

I also use a Sparco2 suit. Very comfortable, reasonable lightweight. Buy the lightest, most comfortable suit you can afford. You will as soon as summer hits, so may as well get it now.

 

Ok, so if I jump up a price point, what are the thoughts of the OMP Master vs. the Sparco 2? Any thoughts if the prices were equal?

 

I'd agree with the "pay extra for the lightweight suits". I bought a used two layer suit for $100 and it fits, but it's pretty bulky. I can already tell the summer events will be brutal. But hey, it's my first suit.



[Modified by johng, 12:47 PM 1/4/2002]

 

Until the moment I part with the money everything is tentative, so tentatively then I've settled on a Bell/Pyrotech NASA-I 2-layer suit. I've got a friend who wears one, and has survived in it after discontinuing use of a cool suit in the interest of having less screwing around to do every time he jumps in the car. All things being equal though who wouldn't choose the stylishness of the Sparco-2 and other high end Sparco suits.

Scott, who want's to look really fast in pre-grid at VIR....making the regular ECHC guys tremble with an.......ticipation......

 

I'm going with a OMP Master ... still waiting for UPS to bring it

 

Sparco suits are the best and only way to go. You get what you pay for!!!

http://www.subesports.com

 

I ordered my suit from:

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/ ... the prices are about 1/2 the cost you will pay in the US. Shipping cost isn't that bad also.

 

My suit came from the UK as well. You're right, the prices are fantastic, but you have to plan WAYYYY ahead. Mine took almost 7 weeks to arrive.
Not an option for Adam with two race schools coming up shortly.

Also check http://www.primmracing.com But again, long shipping lead times can be expected.

Primm Prices...
Sparco Sprint 5 (replaces Sprint 2 for 2002) - $350
Sparco 5 (replaces the 2 for 2002) - $550
OMP Trend 2 - $400

GREAT prices, but again, be careful if you NEED a suit by mid February.

 

Corey smacks head and wishes he didn't procrastinate!

 

RR98ITR: You're going to be at VIR? Did I miss something, or are you just busting their chops?

-Mike

 

First of all, I am not making this up. Seriously.
Something about the Sparco Suits makes the ladies a tad... uhhh... frisky. I think it's the Italian styling that squares off the shoulders and narrows the waist. But in the end, who really cares why?
Seriously. I wouldn't lie about such a thing.

 

Andy and I are looking 9 months into the future to early October and the NASA/ECHC race at VIR - and we're both excited. It's crazy bordering on stupid, but it could be alot of fun. I was talking at lunch with a friend who used to run SCCA and IMSA and I described what we were doing as driving to the other end of the country to run a conference race - he rolled his eyes and laughed at me. Let him laugh. You can all laugh. If we do make it, and you absolutely kick our asses then you can really laugh. But dammit - VIR looks really good, the guys (and gals) from this board are as we all know great - how could we not want to come see them on their best track. I usually don't like the phrase "no-brainer", but it works really good here.

Scott, who wouldn't just bust chops without some real intent behind it.....Andy Map-Quested it at 49 hours non-stop....yaaawwwwnnnnn.........I hope this doesn't subconciously influence me into holding back all year to save the car.......nah.........

 

If you really do drive all the way over here, I promise that Karl will buy the beer.

Come to think of it, if you can manage to beat Starnes, Corey and Warren in H2, I'd bet they'd buy the beer. Hell... we'll all buy the beer.

Scott, who never shys away from volunteering Karl for things, and who thinks he needs to make sure Grumpy schedules the Sunday VIR ECHC stuff pretty late in the day.

 

You might also want to consider the Momo Racer. It was right about $400. You are refering to a 1-piece suit, right? I don't believe that any roadracing body sanctions "jacket/pants" type suits.

 

I have to confess that the current plan calls for towing with a two-car trailer. And on top of that I don't like beer.

Scott, who thinks it's so nice that RoadRacer offered to loan me his bitch.......

 

 

Two-car? Does this mean you'll have room for a little teal Civic?

John -- who loves a good road trip as long as the gas stations sell Starbucks chilled Mocha's.



[Modified by johng, 4:23 PM 1/4/2002]

 

Okay, I'll get really crazy now. What if John, Victor, Glen, and other west coast guys decide that while crazy this seems like something they'd like to do. We could probably rent a transporter and have a giant H-T National Showdown. And Karl will have to buy beer for everybody (except me).

Scott, who as a child fantasized about leading large armies to glorious victories...now imagines organizing a small group of mental candidates on a ridiculuous expenditure..... ...... ......can't wait to meet this Skills Master guy on track....


[Modified by RR98ITR, 4:31 PM 1/4/2002]

 

If you drive all the way over here, my bitch is yours for the weekend.

And for clarification sake, The sKiLLz mAsta isn't a competitor, he's just some stalker type that really digs Shultz for some insane reason.
We're all actually pretty frightened about this development.

Scott - Who will likely be bringing fresh tires to the October VIR "Civil War."

 

We'll need T-shirts to commemorate the "event".