FastLaneTurbo

+1
The recent Government tests of cars from the 1960s were eye-opening.
Those were heavy, rigid chassis and produced far more lethal injuries than
modern passenger cars which have crushable impact absorbing structures
surrounding the driver and passenger. It is rarely the crash that kills - it is the sudden stop. And I would expect the normal multi Airbagged and crushable
structure that Porsche has designed into the car to provide sufficient safety for
all but the most violent crashes.

orthojoe

This. I've always wondering about this myself.

TRAKCAR

I think I still want to keep my head / helmet as far away from the airbag as possible, but probably would de activate the front airbags, if not all.

For me, roll bar, harness Hans or nothing some the most logical. Maybe just a neck brace?

I still think its idiotic that we have to drive with windows down in at most US track events when race cars need nets and many cars close everything on impact anyway. Give the track workers a hammer for gods sake...if it's bad enough to come drag me out of the car, I'm sure we're missing some glass anyways.
much safer to be spinning around hitting stuff keeping flying debris and arms in the car with windows closed.

ShakeNBake

Simpson makes an R3, which is a potential compromise. It works a lot like a hans, but uses your body and back for bracing instead of the pressure of the 5/6 point. You can wear it in any 3 point setup. I just got one and will be using in student's cars. You can use the same hans hardware, etc - so I have both to choose from depending on the equipment of the car I'm getting into.

Manifold

Not a lot of data to go on, but I still like having a HANS with 6-pts in a car with airbags, leaving the airbags on. Roll cage is preferred with that, but realistically most street/track combo cars wind up with a roll bar, though some argue that roll bars add little or no safety because A-pillars usually cave first in a rollover (if anything caves).

Opinions on the R3 are mixed. Some think they add benefit, though not as good as full HANS, others think they add no benefit or may even be detrimental. I personally don't use an R3 or similar when I can't use HANS, but still wonder if that's the right choice.

Certainly agreed that driving fast on the street is not the way to go (which is why I wouldn't buy a 991 GT3 for primarily street use, as I've said before, but that's another topic). IMO, if there's a lesson to be drawn from PW's sad demise, it's that the kind of driving depicted in the F-n-F movies is not to be emulated in real life.

Terry L

With an R3 and harnesses, at least in a moderate front hit enough to fire the driver's airbag, the bag never touches you.

mooty

NO