Miaugi

I have a '06 with the 3LT seats, what are my options to upgrade to a 4, 5 or 6 point harness to use with these seats?

gkmccready

Well, a 5 point won't work unless you want to cut your seat open. I've been using a TeamTech Jet Pilot. Expensive, but the most comfortable harness I've ever been in. The stock seats are certainly not ideal, but with the Hardbar and the Hardbar lap belt bar everything works together really well. You will still move around a bit, but nowhere near as much as with the stock belts. At my height and seat position I need a volleyball knee pad on my left leg to keep from cheesegratoring my knee on the speaker grill. (I never remember the pad, of course.)

Miaugi

What about something like this?

gkmccready

Where would you anchor the 5th & 6th points?

http://www.teamtechmotorsports.com/r.../jetpilot.html

Notice how with the Jet Pilot you kind of sit on the harness... you just anchor the lap belts and the shoulder belts.

Bill Dearborn

Does the 06 seat have a hole in the seat back like the C5 sport seat? If not you will need to get some shoulder belt grommets that let the belts pass through the seat back. A lot of clubs that run HPDEs are not letting any car run that has the shoulder harnesses pass around the seat back due to poor harness performance during a crash. Until you solve that problem the stock seat belt is the best option.

Here is where you can find the grommets.

http://www.hmsmotorsport.com/store/s...c/seat-grommet

I have seen them installed in several C6 Z06 seats and they look good.

Bill

kentz06

Best solution is to install a race seat. Otherwise have shoulder strap grommets professionally installed. Use 5 or 6 point harness only. Pay close attention to specific harness installation instructions particularly shoulder strap angle and harness bar height.

Even with my 6 point I still wear the stock 3 point over the top so I don't have any dings or dash light warnings. When I am driving hard I don't want ANY extraneous distractions!

TommyBoy72

That is what I am using with stock C5Z seats. Hardbar crossbar and hardbar lower mount.

beerkat

B-K harness bar with B-K lap belt mounts work great for me with the stock C5 ZO6 seats.

Chalky

Bill:

Would these grommets work with a C5 Z06 seat as well? My seats are out now with an upholsterer and we were trying to figure out a way to modify my seats for the shoulder harnesses.

AU N EGL

Starting in Jan 08 most if not all PCA clubs and BMW clubs will follow, many others as well, will required harness to be mounted as the manufacture recommends though harness holes in seat backs and bottoms.

Harness that wrap around the seat back may not be allowed.

ghoffman

The seat back holes/grommets are a really good idea. However, the Teamtech Jet Pilot does not require any side holes at all. It is the Jet pilot, then everything else out there. The Jet pilot is like a rock climbing harness and has tremendous side support (unlike a 6 point) in addition to fore-aft support. I use it personally and it is the only harness for stock seats that is correct. In addition, it is great for race seats as well. The only downside of the Jet Pilot over a 6 point (even the Teamtech Rampac 6 point) is that it is custom made for each customer, so if you have a co-driver that is significantly different in size, it wont work well since it has limited adjustability in the thigh area. The other is that it is expensive at $435, but you get what you pay for. The other point is that all Teamtech harnesses are rebuildable (factory only), so if your racing organization wants to see a new date tag every other year, Teamtech will re-cert your harness for about 40 cents on the dollar. It is very hard to fully describe, so in the very likely case I did not articulate this fully, please call and I will do my best to explain it further. The bottom line is: If you need to stay put in your seat, and not slide under the lap belt, the Jet Pilot Harness is designed especially for you. The Jet Pilot harness is only available with pull-up lap belt adjustments. Please specify colors and clip-in or bolt in lap belts.
Gary Hoffman
Hardbarusa.com
603-682-8073
http://hardbarusa.com/hardbar/produc...products_id=59

beerkat

Thanks you for the information. Race seats are in my future so I hope that it will not be an issue much longer.

george J

It's dangerous to use race seats without a roll bar/cage. Many lives have been saved by stock seats collapsing (per their design) in rollovers which flattened the roof. I have seen this a couple of times at the track -- people walking away from rolled street cars. You don't want a rigid seat on those situations.

Also, you don't want a roll bar/cage in a street car -- bad head injuries in an accident if you're not wearing a helmet!

The rule I've been told is to have a race setup, or a street setup, but don't mix them.

beerkat

There are threads in many forums on this subject.

I have been told that the vette coupes, FRC and ZO6 have a very substantial B pillars that act like a roll bar more so that most other car.

I do not agree with the all or none philosophy.

AU N EGL

Yes george you are correct. However, ppl will do what they want and since it is not racing with a set of specific tech rules, sometimes providing strong guild lines helps.

I have only seen two cars ever kicked out of tech at HPDEs. At a PCA event one older Porsche had torn belts in the engine, so they said Go to a auto parts shop, get new belts.

The other was a BMW event. The poor guy had R compounds in the novice group, they told did you not read the tech info pages, and for him to change to his street tires, which he did not bring, so they told him to go home. It was a Nissan Sentra too.

FasterIsBetter

Two big problems with using a racing harness with the stock Z06 seats. First of all, the shoulder harnesses do not fit properly. They are too far to the side and in a crash can slip off the shoulders or cause a broken collar bone IMHO. The second problem is that you cannot use a Hans device with the stock seat. You must have a properly fitted racing seat for the Hans to be used.

Again, IMHO, if you are going out on the track and intend to run at race speed or near-race speeds, you need to have the proper safety gear. That includes a good harness bar, a high quality harness, a proper racing seat, a good quality Snell SA rated helmet, and a Hans device. Too many guys worry about spending money on wheels and tires and extra HP. For me, it is safety first -- get the gear to protect you inside the car, and get the best brakes you can so you can stop the car. Then worry about the rest of the stuff.

george J

Wouldn't want to be in a racing seat in this car:
http://www.wreckedexotics.com/corvet...1113_001.shtml(Although maybe this a convertible?)