I'm just wondering are there any difference between motorcycle helmet and autocross racing helmet? Helmet is Helmet right? I'm thinking of getting Arai brand for my regular track use. Any comment? What do you have? Where can I get a good deal?

 

http://www.helmetshop.com/symax.htm

I bought this several months ago. It's very comfortable, especially with the flip-up front feature.

 

Car helmets are different than motorcycle helmets. For autocrossing most clubs allow either as long as it is Snell certified. Pretty much any decent helmet will have this certification. For track events many organizations require a car specific helmet. If you are having problems telling if a helmet is for a motorcycle or for a car again check the Snell certification. There should be a sticker stating is a SA (Special Applications or cars) or a M (motorcycle) followed by a year (i.e. M95). I would go with a car helmet if you want the best protection for you head. Generally they are a little more expensive than motorcycle helmets but this is one area I would no cheap out. Check out www.helmetcity.com for a good selection and great prices.

 

I have and HJC Snell-M helmet. The local drag strip requires it for verts. The track also allows Snell-M helmets for track days and such, but not for full race events. Here's mine , it matches pretty well with my silver/red.

Not positive, but I think Arai helmets are Snell-M, but they are good. My friend's brother raced Ducati's in the F1 circuit; he only wore Arai and swore by them. Check them out at local Bike dealers for style, size, fit. I bought mine at a Honda bike dealer that had hundreds to choose from. You can get a good deal on-line, but for me, after shipping the price was about the same.

TypeSH is correct, the shells for SA and M helmets are constructed with different protective attributes in mind. I read on one of the sites that M helmets are made for impacts with concrete but not with the expectation that it would be "head-on," I guess they're supposing the cyclist bounces his head of the concrete while moving forward, not straight at the ground (i.e., it's more like a glancing blow). The SA helmets are made with brute force trauma in mind (head-on with a wall and getting the steering wheel in the face). So SA should be more protective and more expensive.

 

Bieffe F1GP here. Love it. Very lightweight which helps on long track session when my neck isn't exactly in shape. Doesn't breathe as well as I would like it to be, but they have the V[ented] model out for '02. I'm an authorized Bieffe dealer, as well as Arai, OMP and others if you are looking for various helmet options.

http://www.graphyte.com/products/safety/

 

I've got a Simpson (I'm sure their site is easy to find...) helmet. As noted above, be sure to get the auto helmet, not the motorcycle helmet, as you might be limited where you could use the latter. Also, IIRC, I think the auto helmet has some sort of fire protection that isn't required in the motorcycle helmet, in case you get trapped in your car after it wrecks (hopefully not) and catches fire (again, hopefully not).

 

Speaking of helmets...if you guys don't think you're getting enough attention driving around your S2K, try driving around town with the top down and your helmet on. I tried this the other day and you definitely get a lot of looks! Actually, sometimes my passengers insist on wearing my helmet with the way I drive.

 

Snell testing is different for car and motorcycle helmets and the Snell requirements are different (for examples resistance to solvents, fireproof liner, and a positive locking visor) but the construction theory and materials (except liners and some plastic shells) of motorcycle helmets and car helmets is the same. They are made on the same line in the same way. I believe you would find that any Snell motorcycle helmet would pass the Snell Special Apps intrusion tests.

To add further "insult to injury", It's the "cheesy" stryfoam that protects you from non-intrusive brain injury. The shell protects the strofoam (primarily) and prevents intrusion (important but not the common source of injury.) For a little bit of history, helmet manufacturers originally went to styrofoam inners because they were an inexpensive way to size hard shell helmets. It wasn't until this was tried that we realized that they were safer (and began to understand how helmets actually worked.)

Buy the best helmet you can afford, and I always recommend SA. It does seems a little silly to buy a fireproof helmet, though, unless you are also buying a full fireproof driving suit. If you believe that your autocross or track day might lead to a cockpit fire, you would be remiss not to buy an SA helmet and a full firesuit. Further, some track day vendors (like Car Guys) require an SA helmet.

Last time I said this, I got flamed big-time. I'm putting on my fireproof helmet right now.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Trackman
[B]Speaking of helmets...if you guys don't think you're getting enough attention driving around your S2K, try driving around town with the top down and your helmet on.

 

Speaking with complete speculation, I don't think this is too big a deal (helmet sharing). Most of the driving schools I've been looking into provide helmets to the students, so I'm sure each has been worn by dozens or hundreds of people (hope they disinfect them). I doubt that a pro school like Skip Barber would place themselves at risk of litigation by providing helmets to students if they know that helmet sharing somehow degrades a helmets protective qualities. Just a thought.