Oh man, that's too bad Jon. It was a great event. Perry set up an awesome course and we had loads of fun testing.

 

anyone besides me notice the wierd angle of the upper control arms at ride height? the bottom one are "level" but the tops are at a 30-45 degree angle. Thiers nothing we can really do about it but I don't think it ideal is it?

 

So after a time trial today I am starting to feel I really need seats. However, I don't want to add a bucket seat unless I can do it properly which means a roll bar and harness. Now I know hard dog makes their bar with a high harness bar that let's you keep the stock interior, but it is not really at an optimal angle to mount the harness. Do you think I would be able to appeal a protest for stripping just enough interior to fit the proper lower roll bar as long as I can prove that the roll bar is still adding more weight than the removed interior pieces? I would only be removing as little as possible to fit it.


I am thinking something like this.

 

Why do you need a harness and roll bar if you use an aftermarket seat? Surely there must be seats available that are compatible with the stock safety belt.

 

Well the seats can work with the belt, but most the stuff I have been able to read shows that there is a risk that the 3 point will not be as safe because depending on the specific seat it may not have the proper geometry. So I don't think it would be a good idea to possibly rising safety in a car that does get driven daily.

 

I bet you can find one that allows the proper geometry of the stock belts. Just make sure that's one of the things you check when choosing. Wearing a harness on the street isn't ideal for safety; being able to turn your head all the way around and lean your torso gives you better ability to see what's going on around you. And the roll bar, even if it's properly padded, is just one more thing to hit your head on. You're not planning on wearing your helmet on the street, are you? That's what the roll bar padding is designed to work with.

Rules wise: currently in the Stock/ST/SP classes, you can't remove the factory roll hoops to install a roll bar. There is a published proposal to allow replacing the factory roll structure with a roll bar that's compliant with Appendix C of the Solo rules. If it is approved, the rule change will take effect in January 2012.

If you do find a seat that works with the stock belts, that won't prevent you from installing a harness and roll bar as well, but you will still be able to use the stock belts on the street.

 

Yeah, I knew the rule change was in the works but after this weekend being all over the transmission tunnel while cornering even in the cg lock made me re-prioritize getting some seats.

 

I've had a race seat in the car before and now I'm back to stock running on r-comps in BS. The car is making more g's and the stock seat is working fine. If I go to STR, I probably won't change the seat. I really enjoy reclining.

 

I have a recaro spg on taitec seat rails. the main reason for the steet to me is holding me in place, lowering the seat 3 inches (I'm 6' 1") and it's a little lighter then the oem. I'm using the stock seat belt ran through the top left hole and down through the bottom left hole and bolted in the factory location. I can take pics if you want.

 

This might be a cheaper solution. It locks the shoulder strap as well as the lap belt so it should be more effective than just a CG lock.

http://modifry.com/products/sbl/index.htm