I recently picked up on an awsome deal for seats with rails and a sparco 4pnt harness.

I want to use the harness for autocross use, but do not have a roll bar/cage.

how can i safely mount the harness?
Also are roll bars/cages aloowed in STS STX?

 

When I used my 4pt sabelts with my Sparco Atlas, I used the rear stock seat belt mounting holes. On the left side of the driver's seat, there is also another place to mount that side of the belt.

Now for the right side of the drivers side, I used the rear seat mounting bolt hole. I share it with my Sparco bracket.

Are these places strong to hold you in case of a crash? I sure hope so because thats where most of the vital safety instruments were mounted in the beginning.

Does it qualify for organized racing, that Minty Dip I dont know.

BTW, nice seats, looks like my seats when they were stolen with my EG in Dallas, TX. Too bad I didnt get insurance money for it.

 

Hehehe . . .

*shakes head*

 

I ahve tried this(picture below taking from another post), But my harness is not long enough.

 

Anchor the left shoulder belt to the the left rear passenger buckle anchor. It's under the rear seat.

Anchor the right shoulder belt to the left rear passenger belt anchor. It's behind the side paneling, but you can get to it without removing the panel.

 

Harness bar if they make one for your car. Only use the harness for autox and some people think even that can be asking for trouble.

 

On a saftey note
1. 4 & 5 point harnesses are designed to be used in union with a cage, if you roll a car with no cage and a harness, the harness will hold you in place as the roof collapes you will be crushed. DOT belts are design to let you move a little, and out of the way of the roof.

2. The above posted pic is a very unsafe way to mount the belts, belts will stretch 10-15 % in a crash. The longer the belt, the larger that 10-15 % will become.

A widspread opion is belts should in CAGED CARS and as SHORT AS POSSIBLE.

 

I get tired to but its a safety issue

 

I hope this isn't taken as a stupid question but is it ok if I was to install a small cage in my sometimes street driven Nissan so that I can install a 4-point harness?

I would also pad the cage because I have read many warnings about using a roll cage in the street.

 

What is a "small cage" and how is it different than a "large cage"? Are you referring to a rollbar as an alternative to a rollcage? If so the bar is perfectly acceptable and in fact preferred over a cage in a street driven car. A cage has lots of pipes around your bare head that become added things to bust your skull open in a crash. Rollbar padding will do nothing for you without a helmet on. A rollbar is all behind you and unless your seat breaks you probably won't whack your head on it.

 

Out of curiosity, wouldn't one expect the factory roll structure of most current production cars to be adequate if in fact one did manage to roll their car at an autocross, where speeds are typically at or below common roadway speeds?

BTW, you can do a bolt-in or weld-in rollbar for STS/STX since you can do that in Stock.


[Modified by WRXRacer111, 7:37 PM 7/10/2002]

 

Maybe adequate if you're also using the factory seatbelts...

 

Probably so. I was astonished at just how strong my tinny feeling Civic took a nice blow to the passenger side from an Olds 98 Regency a couple years ago. These late model unibodies are fairly strong, and should be adequate for a slow rollover. I will add that at some of my most recent autocrosses, I've seen speeds of 85mph!

Mike-who enjoys NASA's VMP autocross events very much.

 

get one of these if you are just gona autoX http://www.racerwholesale.com/Mercha...ode=Restraints

 

If im going to do anything,I wanna do it right the first time.

Any recommendation on roll bars?

Autopower 4 pt?

what was that site? iopracing.com???


[Modified by MintyDip, 9:13 PM 7/10/2002]

 

There is a contingent on this board that believes you should not use any restraint system other than stock unless it is a track only, full cage vehicle.. this belief is based on the "head crushed in a rollover" factor... This would logically extend to include racing seats.. since the key to stock belt rollover protection is that the belt allows your body to move down and towards the center of the car, while a race seat with good shoulder support would prevent that..

roll cages on the street are out of the picture because your unhelmeted head would get popped even with padding.. (according to others, I have no basis to support or refute this)

I'm of the (not professional!) opinion that 5 points are probably fine for my use for autocross.. but not for street or track.. but stories of 85 mph autocrosses may force me to change my mind-- I've never been out of second gear at any autocrosses I've been to..

as for the torso strap, other than the "spinal compression" issue of slanted harness straps, how is it any different safety-wise than a harness? in a rollover, you are still locked upright...

 

This is an exageration. All we have ever said is if you are going to use harnesses use them in conjunction with some form of rollover protection. A rollbar is perfectly acceptable and is fine in a street driven vehicle.

 

Ahh.. good point.. I'm sorry I missed that. But am I safe in assuming that a roll bar would still render the rear seats unsafe to helmet-less passengers? (not trying to be an ***.. just trying to make sure I understand the position..)

Again, sorry for missing that point..

 

Yes it would. No one ever said safety and convenience could peacefully coexist.

 

Drew, don't you drive your Integra on the street? How do you manage that?

 

Not any more. I recently aquired a Bronco which I drive now. I used to however and it was far from the wisest choice I have made. The only saving grace is that with the race seat I sat low enough that my head cleared under all the pipes. The stock seat stuck me up high enough that I would hit it however.

If the car is not being built into a track car there really is no reason to go with a cage. If you are racing on a tight budget like me, Yack or Chad then a caged streetcar is a necessary evil but if all you do is auto-x and run occasional HPDE events then a bar is fine.

 

I agree 100%, that picture is trouble waiting to happen.

 

Another interesting perspective that I picked up from Mr. Unkenfor (sp.?) a couple weeks ago was how unsafe it is to be strapped against a seat when driving around town. You can no longer lean forward to peek around that bush/parked car, neither can you turn around to do a quick blind-spot check on the freeway.

 

I was wondering. I also have a Sparco seat (Pro2000) and I have a Sparco/Sabelt 4 pt. (came with the seat) that I use only at autocrosses. I would take out the harness and use one of those autocross chest straps along with the regular seatbelt if I thought it was safer. Don't really see how it would be though. Anyone want to clue me in?

BTW, I am very carefull about the height and adjustment of the lapbelt while using the 4 pt. I don't want to damage my liver in an accident, I need it to metabolize


[Modified by 91SiKen, 8:47 PM 7/11/2002]

 

Ohhhhh this is a very big no no.