havent seen anything here about this in a while. so i thought i would let everyone know so they dont get caught with thier pants down.


April 22, 2010 - Yesterday, SFI advised the racing community that Impact Racing suits bearing 3.2A/5 certifications “made prior to 2009 have been constructed with non-compliant materials that, in SFI’s judgment, pose a safety risk to users of those suits.” Impact responded by attacking SFI certification programs (although Impact and the other major equipment manufacturers have agreed to and participated in the development of these well-established programs); by claiming it could not get a fair hearing of the decertification appeal (although Impact asked for and received an expedited appeal procedure); and by claiming that “SFI’s actions have caused racers unnecessarily to question their safety.” It is this last point that requires a very specific response.
Scientific testing just conducted on 2008 Impact 3.2A/5 suits has determined that the thread melts away in a fire. This causes the fabric to come apart since there is no longer thread to hold the suit together. SFI believes this poses a significant safety risk to the racer involved in a fire. Rather than being constructed with Nomex (heat resistant) thread, the suits were constructed with some sort of unknown non-compliant thread that melts during heat testing. This thread failure is contrary to the SFI specifications that Impact agreed to follow.
The reason that this failure was not discovered sooner is that Impact provided SFI with Nomex thread samples in order to get their products tested and certified initially. Manufacturers are only supposed to provide samples of the actual materials to be used in their products. It appears that Impact failed to comply with this procedure regarding thread. Finally, one suit tested failed to have the proper thermal protective properties in the material itself. Again, such a failure poses a significant safety risk. This safety failure by Impact is consistent with a pattern of non-compliance:
1. Last year, SFI discovered that Impact SFI 3.2A/15 and SFI 3.2A/20 rated fire suits produced in 2007 and 2008 were also made with thread that melted during testing. In addition, these suits were often poorly constructed, without sufficient protective layers of Nomex material. SFI ordered the immediate decertification and recall of these potentially dangerous products.
2. Last year, SFI discovered that Impact SFI 3.3/15 and SFI 3.3/20 boots produced in 2008 were defective. Their materials failed heat resistant testing. SFI ordered the immediate decertification and recall of these potentially dangerous products.
3. Hans Performance Products discovered last year that Impact deliberately manufactured and sold counterfeit Hans helmet clips and attached them into the helmets of unsuspecting customers. These foreign made knock-offs were inscribed with the “SFI 38.1” inscription. Impact has never participated in this program. These counterfeiting activities were occurring at the same time that Impact was manufacturing counterfeit SFI conformance labels and patches. Hans filed suit against Impact in federal court last year in Atlanta. SFI intervened and joined in the suit against Impact. That suit is pending.
4. In 2004, SFI discovered that Impact gloves bearing SFI 3.3/20 specifications were made of material that was too light and failed heat resistance testing. SFI ordered their decertification and recall.
Impact’s press release claims that there “have been no burns or other injuries reported to Impact by any racer wearing Impact Race Products since its inception.” If this is true, the avoidance of injuries is due in large part to the policing of Impact products by SFI.
SFI was heartened when Impact finally admitted its own fault for previously making non-compliant gloves, boots, suits and helmet clips and acted to address those problems. SFI holds out the hope of a similar outcome regarding its pre-2009 3.2A, 3.3, 16.1 and 16.5 products, and that it will act in the best interests of the racing community without further prodding by SFI. However, admission of their fault will not change the fact that these products remain decertified and that Impact’s participation in all SFI programs will end June 22, 2010.
For a downloadable .pdf of this press release, please click on the following link: SFI Press Release 04-22-10.

basically what that means is if you have any of thier products with an SFI tag (jackets, pants, suits, gloves, boots/shoes, collar, head sock or belts) that was produced prior to 2009 its NO LONGER LEGAL. most people here probably have 3.2A/1 and 5 jackets, pants and suits, etc that dont normally dont carry a production date on them but you can contact impact for verification. if its still legal they will supply a document to show a tech inspector, if it is not they are offering discounts on new products.
http://impactraceproducts.com/

i have heard but not confirmed it myself that if you made your purchase from jegs or summit and it is not legal they will give you a full exchange.

pass this info along and if you have these products dont wait for someone to tell you you cant race with it, get rid of it ASAP for your own saftey.
-Roger

 

Damn! Another $600 in the garbage! What a bunch of idiots!

 

Gotta give props to Jegs! I just got off the phone with them. Mine was purchased in April of 08, so it is decertified. I am sending it back tommorow and they are swapping it out with something else. I thought that was pretty cool! Jegs FTW!

 

I guess i need to call summit to check on mine!

 

Yeah. The only thing is, I don't really like anything else they have! I guess Ill take what I can get! LOL

 

good to hear that worked out for you danny! everyone make sure you start checking your equipment immediately. i gave a few warnings at the last event but none of this gear will be accepted anymore.
-Roger

 

i bought mine directly from Impact, since they are local, and they weren't interested in swapping anything out after 2 different visits there. All they did was get a silver sharpie out, and right some bullshit date on the inside of the suit and said it's ok now.

What sucks is I really like the design of their suits. The gusseted sleeves, pants, etc. Sparco has a similar design 2 piece suit that I'm probably going to end up with now.

That last divisional race here in Indy they were already booting people.

 

The Impact stuff from 2009 & 2010 is SFI and NHRA approved.

 

I thought this whole issue got worked out?

 

thanks dan, thats already in the original post. i was referring to the decertified gear.
-Roger

 

good god, im glad i just use the typical brands like Gforce and Simpson lol.

 

Sorry. I just wanted o make sure that was clear. I think I am gonna swap mine for the newer Impact stuff. Maybe not a good idea, but I really don't like anything else they sell.

 

Bump. Hope everyone this applies to is taking care of this.
-Roger

 

I called Impact and they wanted me to email them my proof of purchase form summit. I bought mine in May 09 so all they did was send me a date of manufacture email back. She said that's all i needed because 09-10 equipment was good!

 

Damn, a leading company can't even comply to simple standards.

 

got mine originally from jegs, but have since been updated through impact. getting close to recert AGAIN even though i have only used them like 10 times. and my lic is up and my membership is up.

**** my daughter needs diapers more than i need to go racing.

 

should this be stickied?

 

this is the second thread about this. im not so sure it hasnt been handled. the forum doesnt move like g.d.d. so it will remain on the front page for a bit.