Captain Buddha

And that is precisely why I went from a '13 Z06 to an ASA/GTA car...full safety! Plus, I wanted to race!

Racer86

Great move, fun cars, full safety cage, not like some here looking to justify not having safety equipment that is proven and known to save life's and injuries. To those tracking cars,Today's street cars are fast, but the forces in a crash don't care if you have the correct equipment or are you just kidding yourself.

lobsterroboto

Says someone with an open cockpit car. There is an inherent risk in that too.

I've been dealing with the same question the OP has, harness bar+fixed back seats+5 point harness.

I got back and and forth on a properly installed rollbar, one day I'm thinking that the halo on the C7 is pretty stout and the next I ask "what if"

It's about acceptable risk. It's not about kidding yourself. Should I ultimately chose to go with a harness sans roll bar I'm not kidding myself at all, I know there is a risk. I'm saying that I'm acknowledging the risk and accepting it. It's up to each individual on how far they want to mitigate that risk.

A lot of these guys don't know that bolting in whatever bullshit roll bars from whoever isn't doing them any favors either.

I also know there is a risk that the A pillars collapse too in the event of a rollover. Just like you should be aware that a part could fall off a car and get shoved into your face at 150mph

I plan on racing this year and as such will be getting a completely different car for that. I'll probably chill out on the HPDE with the corvette but still want to do it. If I don't have a roll bar installed with my harnesses i'll probably be okay with the handful of times I'll do a track day this year.

If I drag my feet on the racecar that means I'll probably do as many if not more HPDE's as last year in my corvette so the risk is greater just due to the amount I go to the track.

Suns_PSD

Drive at 95%, not 100%, and the risk at the track is less than driving to the grocery store.

Besides a mechanical, I just don't see how people, especially considering how slowly most are going, get themselves in these massive crashes.

FASTFATBOY

Why do people think a car thats tracked and goes off track somehow disintegrates when it touches a guardrail at the racetrack????

I've seen pictures of cars ripped to shreds on the street and people walked away, but somehow you bump a guardrail on track and you die or crippled??!!?

If you're scared, stay home.....the wingsuit guys will send you some diapers.

There is risk in everything.

All men die, very few live.

Quickshift_C5

Only crashes I've seen on any of my track days in the past 3 years are at Road America. It's always at the kink, every single time. Someone goes plowing through there and plays ping pong off the walls. The car is always destroyed, and the driver is always perfectly fine.

Otherwise, just a handful of brake failures or people going off the track, usually at the ends of the big straights (T1 and Canada Corner), or the carousel/double apex. Only damage is from rocks/gravel and to their pride.

I feel the risk of crashing is very minor, but still smart to go with additional safety. My personal balance would be a proper harness bar, harnesses, Hans, and FIA seats.

Captain Buddha

Other drivers make mistakes and cause the contact....at times....depending on the track even a street car will be doing well over 100, , 120, 140, 150, etc...think of Daytona....during the Runoffs in my GTA/GT2 I was hitting 173 or so across the stripe (radar guy said he clocked me at 180, but "official" trap was 173 something)...the fastest GT1 car was 196 something...surround by walls...

carefulnow

v10climber

Have you considered just running a lap belt in addition to the factory 3-point? It's kind of like cinching down the lap belt on the factory 3-point but they're typically wider and can be tightened down more so you're much more secure. Keeps the typical factory crash protection stuff working as intended but keeps you from sliding around so much in the seat.

Racer86

6 or 5 point beats include a crotch strap, so you don't slide under and out of the seat.
There is a reason for roll bars, 6 or 5 point belts, developed over the years with crash information .
I wish all you guys the best with your opinions on why you don't use the known and best safety gear in your racing. Just seems stupid to me. But it's your neck. I survived 35 years of real racing,, had enough bad stuff happen to know how you can really mess yourself up. Lost 7 close friends in racing. It can and does happen.

Bossdog

For me, I've decided to prep my HPDE vehicle like my son would be driving it. ( as he may well being 24 years old ). I know what I would want for him and I'm guessing the people that love me would want the same for me.

That being said a full cage is not an option. So, next best, a 4-point roll bar, HANS device and 5-point harness with a fixed back FIA approved seat.

However, this season will be new helmet and Simpson hybrid head & neck restraint with the factory restraint in the sinch-mode. This car is new to me and I've already had this address several expensive maintenance/repair items. I feel I need to put it through its paces 1 or 2 weekends to see what I have, then dump the next $3K into her for seats, 4-point roll bar, 5-point harness.

As said many times here, each has to decide for themselves, but, safety is like insurance, you hope you never need it, ( and most never do ) but when you do, you're damn glad you had it.

I call my self the less than 1 percenter. I have a disease that is ultra rare, I had a home burn down, and a kid crash into my new Boss on the track. If there is a less than 1% chance of something happening, its likely it will happen to me. Odds are I've had all the highly unlikely things that will ever happen to me already happen, but I'm not betting on it!

Racer86

Great attitude , good thinking and plan. I hope this thread helped you in your decision to think about your safety equipment, and a 4 point roll bar is great.

FASTFATBOY

Most guys in here don't wheel to wheel race, they do HPDE weekends, this reduces risk a bunch.

HPDE deaths over the last 10 years have been minimal, even bad injury has been minimal in the HPDE world.

Racing is a whole different deal, like touch vs full contact football.

FASTFATBOY

I would suggest getting the seats in the car now with a harness bar to go along with your HANS. You can sell the harness bar later when you put the roll bar car in the car.

Seats, harness bar and belts are THE best money you will spend on a track car period. They lower fatigue, give your body a connection with the car and makes the car much safer than the factory seat.

Bossdog

I was thinking the same thing.

Bossdog

I'll give it some more thought

RDnomorecobra

Get fixed back seats.

lobsterroboto

I now plan on getting a roll bar welded in, in the meantime a few events with just the harness bar is a risk I'm okay with. Then I can sell my harness bar. Though considering I'm not going back to the track until March I may have it installed by then anyway.

That has more to do with waiting on fab shop schedules than anything else though.

Problem solved.

Racer86

Yea, cuz it always happens to the "other guy "
If I can get one guy to think about the correct safety equipment on his car, my work here is done. To the others that think they are ok with sub standard safety equipment, send me your address, so I can send flowers to the furneral home.

wtb-z

Sounds like avoiding "real racing" is the key ingredient to safety on the track.