Grabbed_Crow_Mobe

I’m in the market for my first racing suit. I've read multiple posts on the subject and it seems that the general consensus is that this is something that you don’t want to go low end on as you eventually regret it and buy a higher end suit due to heat and/or comfort.

I’m curious to know where the “high end” suits start? Browsing around, I found the Alpine Stars GP race suit for $800. Seems to get decent reviews:

http://www.saferacer.com/alpine-stars-gp-race-suit

Is this still in the “low end”? Will I be unhappy with anything under $1,000? I know this is a subjective question but would love any feedback. All of my tracking is done in the Southern California deserts so I’m very concerned about heat. It’s bad enough in jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt so I can’t imagine what wearing something like this will be like.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
Kevin

skxf430

The higher the cost the better the suit will breath. I think any suit is better than jeans and a t-shirt in a fire.

All the suit manufactures fit differently so you are best off to try them out locally if possible. If you are a real baller, you can get a custom suit made by Stand 21 but that will set you back over $3k.

LateBreak

That's a very nice suit actually, the ones to steer clear of are the ones for around $300 and under made of sketchy stuff like Proban. In the $300-500 range there are some better Nomex suits, but they tend to be triple layer which gets awful warm in a racecar.

Me personally, I bought a nice, clean, used Sparco custom suit from a guy on ebay for $300. Was $1400 new, but really no safer than the suit you linked. You can also watch the 'Garage Sale' section on Speedway Motors for closeout/clearance deals on great suits that were simply a discontinued style.

I'm not exactly sure what you have in terms of harness or cage in your car, but I would try to save some money on the suit if possible and buy a HANS or Necksgen of some kind. I don't know how frequent they are compared to burns on the track, but neck injuries are nothing to mess around with, especially when you're likely doing 120+ regularly on the track. They were mandated for us a few years ago and I've seen several hits hard enough that they likely saved a life or paralysis for the driver.

Nowanker

Heat is an issue... But I've never had an expensive suit to see if it was any cooler. The protection rating also makes a big difference. How big a blanket do you want to wear?
Fit is also an issue, and the brands are cut differently enough to be significant. I gauged mine OK off the size charts, and wound up with a Simpson, ~$500. Their L fits tall, but is tailored slimmer than most.
Coolshirt makes some track-day friendly stuff? Money there will keep you cooler than a more expensive suit.

StreetSpeed

I've gone though this process. Bought a Sparco Jade suit two years ago for lemons racing. Next year I'm getting my comp license for NASA racing in the Vette as well as more endurance stuff so I'm about to order that GP suit you mentioned. The Sparco is like wearing an over stuffed snowmobile suit. I'll let you know in a week if that GP suit is worth another $500.

Supercharged111

Nothing like putting on more clothes in the dead of summer! Mine is usually quite wet by the end of a weekend, likely adding to its protection. When you try it on don't forget to raise your arms above your head. You'll likely decide then that you want a taller size.

63Corvette

I wear a three layer WITH nomex underwear. I saw the video of several drivers involved in fires, and I do not want to be included in that number.
(I have several suits to wear in case I wet one)

Supercharged111

I'm gonna need a near death experience to decide to go that route. For now, I'll just make sure I can get out of the car in under 10 seconds and pray if I biff it I stay conscious.

crimlwC6

I had the Jade. Don't do it. I got a Simpson with the diamond 3 layer nomex, at least I think that was what it was called. Amazing difference, very breathable. I run in Phx mostly. 100% worth the extra money, I spent about 600 iirc.

crimlwC6

Get a cool suit as well.

Grabbed_Crow_Mobe

Thanks for the input everyone!

Great advice and I completely agree. Safety has become a huge concern of mine recently. So much so that I just bought a fully caged C5 and will be selling my (non-caged) C6. I always wear a HANS and make any passenger wear one too. Getting this suit is my last step in the safety area.

(BTW - LOVE your build thread)

The car came with a Coolsuit setup. Used it for the first time at the last track day. Made a big difference! I can only assume these are mandatory with a suit on in the heat.

Looking at the sizing charts, there isn't anything that fits me in all the measurement dimensions (I'm sure this is true with everyone). I'll probably order a little big and hope for the best. Not many places near me to try a bunch on so I plan on playing the shipping back and forth game.

Thanks again for all the input!

ratt_finkel

While I've never been on fire. I have been in a serious motorsports wreck. I was in the "cheap" sparco jade suit. The very next year. I bought another.

Just make sure you try on as many as you can. Even within the same brand, different sizes will fluctuate.

Supercharged111

Couldn't get the poo stains out of the old one, could you?

ratt_finkel

LOL, actually they had to cut it off me.

carcrazyandbroke

Now that's funny right there!

Oh, just ordered mine also. Can't be too safe. Thanks for the thread.

Black89Z51

I wound up ordering a SFI approved 3-layer Sparco from saferacer that was a last year's model. It was discounted a few hundred. I think I paid around $700 for it. Something worth checking into.

brkntrxn

I have owned three suits and worn many more. Like everything else, you get what you pay for. Years ago, I was fine with the heavy,snowsuit -like Simpson that someone gave me. It was roomy and felt great at 1am during a cold Enduro in a car with no roof.m sucked in the summer. Then I bought a G-Force as I started doing more racing... And got a Cool Suit to help with the heat. The G-Force never fit me very well.

At the 2012 Nationals at Mid-Ohio, my wife beat up the OG Racing guys on the price of a Sparco X-Light EVO4 suit. By far, it is the most comfortable, breathable suit I have ever worn. With all of my other suits, I would take them off as soon as I got out of the car. Not this one. Very comfortable and light and it has plenty of stretch panels so there is never any binding.

Not everyone will fork over $1500+ on a suit, but you will be glad you did when you do. As much racing as we have done since 2012, it was money well spent when you do the costs per event.

tytek

Check this out:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Garage...uit,93484.html

ImHuntingWabbits

I bought that suit (as my first one) back in July. Used for 2 track days in the vette + lemons at Thunderhill. Its a bit heavy (I wear it half off out of the car because its warm) but stands up to abuse like a champ (shielded me from bits of other lemons cars that would occasionally fly in the window, like a wing mirror ).

I run it with nomex socks, a sparco balaclava and a coolshirt. Covers all my exposed areas and kept me cool in 100+ degree heat at Thunderhill.

I think the whole setup cost me ~$800, Wine Country Motorsports occasionally has 20% off sales and I happened to time it right.

In all definitely worth the money, but if you can find a higher end suit, like the GP Tech linked above I wouldn't hesitate to get that for the same price.

2 GTOs

I had a cheap suit, it was like wearing a blanket. Many days I did not wear it because it was to uncomfortable. I then bought an OMP EVO suit. Extremely light and comfortable, but most important, I now wear it because it is comfortable! I wear a very thin t shirt and running shorts and toss the suit on over them just before the session starts.

Bottom line here is to buy something you know you will use and don't compromise. We all have no problem dropping 1k plus on tires that may only last a few track days, but hesitate to spend that much on an important piece of safety equipment that will last a lifetime if you can manage your weight.

I believe it is important to take care of the suit. Oil and grease on the suit can make it worthless in a fire, which is why I take it off between sessions. Lots of suggestions around on how to properly clean them.

I was fortunate to have a local place to try on suits. I found OMP seemed to have a bit more breathing room in the tummy area, and going up one size in suit allows a little extra room for a cool shirt.

P.S. I watched Rush last night so fire is on top of my mind. Great movie.