Seat belt question

[ddavidv]

That Schroth system pictured above is garbage, sorry.

Back when we were younger and dumber my brother-in-law had a similar setup in his Miata. We thought it was the bee's knees because HARNESS. One thing I remember about that idiotic 4 point was that you'd yank on the shoulder belts to tighten them up. Each time you did that the lap belt and buckle would climb higher on your body. Without the sub belt to keep the lap belt and buckle in place they just don't work properly.

I'll also toss out the opinion that if you are struggling or bracing yourself in a stock seat then a harness isn't the right answer anyway. You need a proper race seat, and one that truly fits you correctly. I had a good Sparco seat in my BMW race car and after running it for awhile I realized I was still bracing my leg against the cage or tunnel. I found a Cobra seat that was a much tighter fit and could just drive. A properly fitting seat (combined with harness, etc) will really change how you drive.

I understand for the autocrosser and occasional track junkie changing all of this stuff may be impractical as well as prohibitively expensive. That old adage applies though: speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?

 

[Sky Render]

"Feeling safe" doesn't mean Jack shit. There's a reason I only use the Schroth harness for Autocross and stick with the OEM belts for track days.

 

[AndrewNagle]

That Schroth system pictured above is garbage, sorry.

Back when we were younger and dumber my brother-in-law had a similar setup in his Miata. We thought it was the bee's knees because HARNESS. One thing I remember about that idiotic 4 point was that you'd yank on the shoulder belts to tighten them up. Each time you did that the lap belt and buckle would climb higher on your body. Without the sub belt to keep the lap belt and buckle in place they just don't work properly.

I'll also toss out the opinion that if you are struggling or bracing yourself in a stock seat then a harness isn't the right answer anyway. You need a proper race seat, and one that truly fits you correctly. I had a good Sparco seat in my BMW race car and after running it for awhile I realized I was still bracing my leg against the cage or tunnel. I found a Cobra seat that was a much tighter fit and could just drive. A properly fitting seat (combined with harness, etc) will really change how you drive.

I understand for the autocrosser and occasional track junkie changing all of this stuff may be impractical as well as prohibitively expensive. That old adage applies though: speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?

Time to rethink the schroth

Appreciate everyone’s comments

 

[Norm Peterson]

Needle so deep in the vein..nice analogy.



I'm a little guy. 5'8" 155lbs. I found my neck tilting with the body of the car around turns at Roebling Road and my forearms were getting tired from holding my body weight with my hands/arms. No issues with legs or ankles getting tired. For the first 15 minutes or so I was fighting to keep my neck upright but after that I gave up and let my body slide with the current. And this is on a car with 300 UTQG Nittos and lowering springs/Konis. Nothing special here. I can't imagine pushing the envelope on a faster car with better tires and suspension with stock interior.

If your forearms are getting tired, you're grabbing the wheel too hard for too long. At least once a lap it ought to help to flex all your fingers as you're going down some straight. Not just for the movement, but to reset how tightly you're grabbing the wheel. Skip ahead to 1:30 or so.

Norm

 

[JJ427R]

This is a great discussion and has me seriously considering changing my system. I currently have a Corbeau Harness bar with the Corbeau 4 point harness. I am paraplegic and was having issues on track holding myself in the seat. Was using a lot of right arm strength against the steering wheel just trying to hold myself in place. I got the 4 point to try to resolve that. The issue I am having with the 4 point is because I have no stomach muscles, once I pull the shoulder straps tight it pulls up the lap belt up over my belly button. I have a piece of foam I place between my lap belt and me to help hold it in place. They also don't hold me that well sliding from side to side, better than not having them, but they work for holding me from going forward in braking.

Because of lack of stomach muscles to help hold any type of lap belts in place, not sure what to try????

Also I have to bungie strap my feet in place so they don't slide under my pedals....

 

[Sky Render]

This is a great discussion and has me seriously considering changing my system. I currently have a Corbeau Harness bar with the Corbeau 4 point harness. I am paraplegic and was having issues on track holding myself in the seat. Was using a lot of right arm strength against the steering wheel just trying to hold myself in place. I got the 4 point to try to resolve that. The issue I am having with the 4 point is because I have no stomach muscles, once I pull the shoulder straps tight it pulls up the lap belt up over my belly button. I have a piece of foam I place between my lap belt and me to help hold it in place. They also don't hold me that well sliding from side to side, better than not having them, but they work for holding me from going forward in braking.

Because of lack of stomach muscles to help hold any type of lap belts in place, not sure what to try????

Also I have to bungie strap my feet in place so they don't slide under my pedals....

I firmly believe that you should be running an aftermarket seat, 6-point harness, and a cage or at least a roll bar.

 

[13v6]

I have found this all to be very interesting and informative. I have 2 points of input:

1. Any race belt is not street legal. That is true here in Texas and I might think that seat belt laws are pretty much universal in all states. Just keep the OEM 3 point installed.

2. Question: how many of you sliding around have leather seats? Those puppies are slippery.

 

[syberspace]

I run a Schroth quick fit pro and a HANS (2009 GT with Recaro seats). The ASM (Anti Submarine Technology) in the 4 point makes them act like a 3 point in a crash. They are also DOT approved.
I love mine. Ran them in my E36 M3 as well. As you get faster, a cage and proper 6 points are the way to go. I am at the point with my car.