NoDelta

BYS rails are the worst thing that I ever did to my car.
They change the spacing between the seat bottom and the rear of the seat and how the lumbar support hits your back.
It went from a comfortable cruiser that I could drive all day to something that I regretted sitting in for any longer than an hour (ie, road trips to get to the track).
I think full stock or full race...

j0oftheworld

I love the way it raised the lumbar support to actually hit my lower back.

stooga

I recently went through the same dilemma. I ultimately landed where Nate Tempest suggests - if I'm pushing hard on track, I'm prioritizing track safety over street safety (there's definitely a trade-off). While the chance of incident on the streets may be higher if you're spending significantly more time there, the severity of incident on track is likey to be way worse.

I also didn't want to half ass it since that's probably more dangerous than staying firmly in the street safety or track safety camp.

I'm 5'11" , 195-205 lbs. athletic build, and went with:

Hard dog double diagonal with harness bar
Sparco Evo 2 (non-US)
PCI fixed mount
Schroth Flexi 2x2 6 point harness (also kept the OEM 3pt connected with bracket extenders for street driving)
HANS III
HJC AR10
OEM steering wheel

Cost roughly $3k brand new for all the non OEM stuff, but I'm very happy with the setup. If budget is a concern, hundreds could be saved in various places.

stooga

Btw, I'm not remotely a track expert or safety expert. Just relaying my own thought process and decisions.

Nate Tempest

While we're on the topic of safety, another thing most people should probably have, especially if you're not running a hardtop or are running with the window down (but likely even otherwise) are arm restraints. They're very inexpensive compared to all this other stuff, and once you get used to them don't really impact comfort or anything (and only take a few seconds extra to put on).

Also a fire extinguisher. I have a rollbar-mounted one from Element, which is great—tiny and never needs recharging, but lasts for almost a minute.

G4Z808

I'm 6'1" 230lbs and got my S in December, already with a Hard dog rollbar. My setup is very tight, but just barely works for me, I would be hesitant to recommend it for someone of my width, but height wise it works well. I'll get some pictures with me sitting in the car this weekend and share. my shoulders end up right in the middle of the shoulder harness holes. TBH idk if I'm using the crotch straps right, but I'll be starting a new thread on that

Hard Dog double diagonal w/ lowered harness bar and bulkhead replacement
Bride A.I.R fixed back seat (https://bride-jp.com/en/seat/air_series/)
Bride LF S2000 rails
Schroth flexi 2x2 6-point harness
Stock 3-point still installed with receiver extender and Modifry belt lock (https://www.modifry.com/old/product/sbl/index.htm)
Modified OEM wheel (flat-bottom)

OP, since my car came with the rollbar installed, I decided it was worth it to me to install the seat and harness, and keep the stock 3-point and airbag for the street.
The only thing that I'm not sure on is whats more dangerous on the street, hitting the rollbar while wearing the 3 point, or neck injuries from wearing the 6 point without a HANS

DavidNJ

The 3-point and the harness pre-date attempts to limit basal fractures; there shouldn't be a significant risk difference between the two when not using the HANS. To some extent, the airbag will work to minimize that same injury.

You can install padding over the rollbar to make it safer on the street. The interior of the car is full of hard metal surfaces that are covered and padded by the manufacturer. Rollbar padding comes semi-circular and fully enclosing. Some have an adhesive already applied. To be able to absorb the impact in a collision the padding is fairly hard; dual durometer padding is available that has softer padding around the harder padding. Inexpensive (<$30 for a 3' length). I'd still recommend arm restraints connected to the harness; inexpensive and IMHO much more effective than padding or nets but used in conjunction with both.

Nate Tempest

I don't believe that's accurate. While a 3-point harness may not be explicitly designed to limit basal fractures, it does reduce that risk compared to a 6-point. In a 6-point harness the airbag is unlikely to even play much of a role, because the body will be held upright in the seat, with only the head moving forward. In a 3-point, the whole upper body is able to move forward somewhat, limiting the stress on that area. Also, the airbag is designed for the body to move forward more, due to the less restrictive 3-point belt, and in that case does prevent the heat from snapping further forward once the body is restrained.

However, whether the risk is greater or less than that of hitting your head on a roll bar given the greater freedom of movement in a 3-point, I don't know. Probably depends a fair bit on seat position. I'm 5'8", so am nowhere near my roll bar, and so choose to wear a 3-point on the street. For the OP the tradeoff might be different.

DavidNJ

a) The roll bar should be padded on any potential contact surface, street or racing. No part of an occupant's body should be able to come into contact with an unpadded bar while they are restrained in the seat.

b) HANS devices are relatively new and only became popular after Dale Earnhardt's death in 2001. I bought mine (4-month waiting list at the time) after a t-bone in August of that year where my helmet hit the front cage hoop and the steering wheel was bent inside out. Containment seats, still relatively rare on road courses or track days, are even newer. People raced for over 30 years since belts first came into use in the late 1960s until HANS devices came into use. There never was a 3-point racing belt.

c) 3-point belts are designed to have the occupant twist around the belt. If you watch the IIHS crash videos you will see 3-point belts tighten on an impact the occupant remains forward facing...except in side impacts.

d) Side impacts for objects (e.g. trees) or being t-boned are a major source of injury and death. The side curtain airbag can help, but a 3-point belt leaves a lot to be desired. A 4+-point harness is MUCH better.

e) On the street, the 4+-point harness can limit driver movement preventing accessing some auto controls (typically HVAC and entertainment, but sometimes also lights. They can restrict the driver's ability to twist if necessary to see traffic conditions. 3-point street belts have retractors and only lock on impact overcomes this.

f) In the late 60s and 70s when OEM, especially US OEM, seat belts were horrible people (including myself) used 4-point harnesses both on the track and the street.

Nate Tempest

Good points. So even if the 4-6 point may increase risk of that one specific type of injury, it could also be beneficial in a number of other ways. (Although with drawbacks like reduced motion.)

I'll also add to your roll bar padding point that the padding needs to be proper high-density roll bar padding, not just pool noodle foam or something. And even so, it's not a panacea; a moderately hard strike of unprotected head on padded roll bar can still cause serious injury.