Safety Mods for HPDE
Hey all,
Like many of you, I have been bitten by the HPDE bug. I own a 2006 C6 coupe with the Z51 package which is street/track. Having been a few times, I am now wanting to upgrade the safety and seats for better control. I was sliding and holding my legs to the tunnel and door to brace for the corners. I upgraded the calipers with DRM pistons, Stainless lines, KNS rotors, Carbotech pads, and ATE fluid. The brakes feel pretty good now at my level. I am running 320 TW Hankook Ventus which seem to be working well and letting me know their limits. Eventually I will move to 200 TW or R compound but that will be a ways off. Right now I am contemplating the next upgrades and safety and seats seem to be a no brainer. Eventual goal would be SCCA time trials in the stock category.
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For now I would go better seats, harness bar and harness......but once you go harness you must incorporate a HANS device to protect your neck. I would hold off on the full roll cage and get some track time under your belt. There are a ton of other safety mods such as fire suppression, driver suit, etc. Personally, I would never drive in shorts and no gloves.....at least full body coverage in cotton based clothing (nomex type racing suit & underwear would be even better), racing gloves and shoes.
Do not wear polyester type garments (like Under Armour shirts) because even in a flash fire, they melt to your skin in an instant. We found this out the hard way with our soldiers: https://www.military.com/defensetech...n-under-armour Welcome to your new sickness!! |
I would skip the ATE brake fluid and go straight for the Castrol SRF. Also, you can get some titanium backing plates for the brake pads. I run the XP-10s up front with the XP-8s for the rear, but others on here go even more aggressive than that.
Full face helmet: the lighter the better. In a wreck, your head gets jostled around worse than a pumpkin on Halloween. Ask me how I know. HANS! Yes! Probably the best idea said already. Harness bar is a great idea along with some good REAL race seats, five or six point harness and seat rails that are heavy duty like the AMT ones. You at least want to tie yourself down tight. You will be amazed at how much faster you can go when your not trying to hold yourself in by bracing one knee on the door panel and the other on the transmission tunnel. Good question. Spaggs:steering: |
Agree with everyone else and appreciate your thoughts going into safety first as everyone should in this hobby. I would get rid of the ATE fluid and go with Castrol SRF or another product personally because you won't reach the limit of the fluid on 300TW tires, but will as the tires become stickier. Corvettes and Harness bars are a solid start to learn the car and get more seat time, but would only go that route with a proper seat, harnesses, and HANS device. I know I have used an OMP HTE seat in a crash and know of one other person. Both of us walked away and were not sore by having those in our cars.
Welcome to the never ending hobby! |
Safety Upgrades HPDE
FWIW I use ATE 200 and never had a problem with it boiling. However, I bleed the brakes after every event and fip the Carbotech pads to even out the taper. Never tried Castrol because it is 3.5 times the cost of ATE200. The TI backing plates will keep heat out of the caliper but they will put more heat into the rotors. You have the stainless pistons and they have a lower transfer rate than aluminum or titanium. If you plan to use the car for track and street you might look at the Corbeau FX1 seats, you can use 5-6 point belts and they are cut low enough that you can still use stock seat belts on the street.
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SRF makes everyone else look bad.
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You might want to consider Angel Pads from Angelwings Tech before going to the expense of a racing seat, especially if you're not creating a dedicated track car. They're not as effective as a full race seat, but they work well and they're a hell of a lot less expensive. You can use them with either a harness or a stock 3-point seatbelt. No more bruised knees and you can concentrate on the course and not how you're going to brace yourself.
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