Will my seat break in a rear impact?
11-12-2007, 01:04 PM
#17
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This is not for the track, just street, so my main question is could it do any harm to have a flat brack up against the back of the stock seat
11-12-2007, 02:25 PM
#18
There is nothing that will protect you from every eventuality.
Sorry to hear about your friend BTW.
11-12-2007, 03:08 PM
#19
Three Wheelin'
Yes, even Porsche seats fail, but not THAT easy. My friend spinned his S2 engined '83 944 on the track day two years ago and went backwards first to little "hill" (about 2-3 meters high) and bounced from that to deep ditch hard. The seat was in one piece but backrest was moving too loosely.
Car was obviously totalled but he did not suffer any other injuries than pitty about the car
Car was obviously totalled but he did not suffer any other injuries than pitty about the car
11-12-2007, 03:16 PM
#20
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yes there is a seat back brace produced for factory type seats. I/O port racing makes it... will post a pic
Correction - is Brey Krause that makes the one for factory type seats - here is a pic. Notice how wide and long the seat contact area is.
Correction - is Brey Krause that makes the one for factory type seats - here is a pic. Notice how wide and long the seat contact area is.
11-12-2007, 04:02 PM
#22
http://www.paragon-products.com/product_p/bk_r9020.htm
This is the one for factory reclining seats: http://www.paragon-products.com/product_p/bk_r9019.htm
Both are intended to be bolted to (through actually) a roll bar or cage, not through a harness bar.
It all comes down to either keeping it stock, or using a complete system. You can't mix 'n match safety components and expect it all to work as designed. The OP asked about using a seat back brace with stock seats and a harness bar; using safety components as they were not intended or designed = not wise.
11-12-2007, 04:13 PM
#23
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Actually, the one shown in that post is for one-piece race seats:
http://www.paragon-products.com/product_p/bk_r9020.htm
This is the one for factory reclining seats: http://www.paragon-products.com/product_p/bk_r9019.htm
Both are intended to be bolted to (through actually) a roll bar or cage, not through a harness bar.
It all comes down to either keeping it stock, or using a complete system. You can't mix 'n match safety components and expect it all to work as designed. The OP asked about using a seat back brace with stock seats and a harness bar; using safety components as they were not intended or designed = not wise.
http://www.paragon-products.com/product_p/bk_r9020.htm
This is the one for factory reclining seats: http://www.paragon-products.com/product_p/bk_r9019.htm
Both are intended to be bolted to (through actually) a roll bar or cage, not through a harness bar.
It all comes down to either keeping it stock, or using a complete system. You can't mix 'n match safety components and expect it all to work as designed. The OP asked about using a seat back brace with stock seats and a harness bar; using safety components as they were not intended or designed = not wise.
Great clarification for Original Poster
Yes 100% for use from roll bar NOT a harness bar!
The pic above (rollbar,fixed back race seat,seat brace) does not show it well, but the crossbrace/harnessbar are full thickness steel and designed as part of the roll bar, not to be confused with a lightweight harness bar. Sorry for any confusion from that pic .
11-12-2007, 05:38 PM
#25
Three Wheelin'
Something similar happened to me in a 1993 BMW 318IS (with a full M3 swap), I was stopped for a red light when a Caddilac STS rear ended me at a speed of 50mph.
Long story short, I nearly went through the rear windshield. Had it not been an elastic collision (my car jumped forward ), I am sure I would have been seriously hurt. Nothing happened to me, but the upper portion of my seat was pretty bent, it seems pretty common for this situation.
I am sorry to hear about your friend, hitting a tree at a high speed is usually fatal.
Long story short, I nearly went through the rear windshield. Had it not been an elastic collision (my car jumped forward ), I am sure I would have been seriously hurt. Nothing happened to me, but the upper portion of my seat was pretty bent, it seems pretty common for this situation.
I am sorry to hear about your friend, hitting a tree at a high speed is usually fatal.
11-14-2007, 05:50 PM
#26
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Sorry about the friend.
I was up at the Glen a couple of years ago and spun in 6, the down hill entering the laces. I went into the tires a the bottom backwards at an angle.
Seat did not bend and I had no injuries, except to one's pride. The stock seats in the S2 are well built and support the back an neck well.
That said I have subsequently gone to an Hajny harness/rollbar, 6pt Schroth belts and Ultra-shield AL seats.
Install thread
I was up at the Glen a couple of years ago and spun in 6, the down hill entering the laces. I went into the tires a the bottom backwards at an angle.
Seat did not bend and I had no injuries, except to one's pride. The stock seats in the S2 are well built and support the back an neck well.
That said I have subsequently gone to an Hajny harness/rollbar, 6pt Schroth belts and Ultra-shield AL seats.
Install thread
11-14-2007, 06:24 PM
#27
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Sorry to hear about your friend...but at 70mph...if the seat hadn't broke...his body would still have to deccelerate...that's a lot of force...you can always speculate but 70mph into a tree is a crazy ammount of energy to put through your body...even FIA seats are supposed to flex to alleviate this...i've never liked a seat back brace on cheap seat idea...organs aren't make to take those G's...a good race seat is the best option on the track...and should be installed according to specifications...don't reengineer it
11-15-2007, 01:51 PM
#28
Interesting...
Here is an interesting article that says how bad BMW is in crash tests:
http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol...cle2273838.ece
http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol...cle2273838.ece
11-15-2007, 02:44 PM
#29
Three Wheelin'
I totalled my first 951 backwards down a hill into a tree. I wasn't going 70 mph, but I was going fast enough to total the car and twist the entire unibody. I weigh 200 pounds and my stock sport seat did not bend at all; I walked away without a scratch. The seat is currently in my brother's 951. I second the fact that our stock seats are plenty strong.
