Helmets
 

Hi all!

What helmets do you wear when doing track days?

Brand?

Full face or?

Pics?

Thanks!

Sparco WTX-5. You may be able to see it in my avatar.

I wore full coverage, until time and experience showed me its a real waste of money. Heavy and hot, hard to talk out of, makes you look like The Stig. So I upgraded to a nice comfortable lightweight kevlar open face helmet.

Only problem is, the track is BSD Ground Zero. And let's face it, open face is simply not BSD. So odds are you will follow the next 20 guys advice and get something much more suitable for the grid at LeMans. By the time you are done here, some time this spring, they will have you in a roll cage, with a fire extinguisher, Nomex suit, gloves and shoes, and a great big horseshoe thingy shock-absorbered to your carbon fiber racing seat. Just so you can do a few DE's, maybe learn how to drive a little better. Sigh.

Oops, #1 of 20 chimed in while I was typing.

HJC HX-10 ii ...

Arai GP-5. I plan on upgrading to the GP-6 this spring as my GP-5 is getting old.
Highly recommend Arai

I'd love to get va Stand21 made to measure

I agree with Chuck911. I presently have a full face HJC, which is hot, and really limits my vision and hearing. Generally, I would much prefer open face. I would like a much better seat and a harness, but that's so I don't feel like some kind of wobbly wing-walker going through corners. I'll take my HJC if some fool offers me a drive at the 2016 Classic LeMans. Not bloody likely.

Chuck, I know I should know, but I can't come up with what BSD stands for??

I'm guessing B is for big, S is for swinging and D...

Does Arai offer different models for different head shapes, like they do for motos? I love Arai, but only the Signet model fits my head.

Not sure where Alamo CA is, but there are several suppliers in the state who will have a selection on hand that you could try on. Each manufacturer's helmets will fit a little differently. Since this sounds like your first helmet purchase, ideally you should try on helmets from different manufacturers since some will fit better than others.

As far as open face, vs full face, that's subjective and up to you. Personally, in the 17 years I have been driving on the track, I have only owned a full face helmet for racing, drivers ed, and autocross. For car club drivers ed events, you'll just need an SA 2010 or SA2015 helmet which is rated for motorsports use.

I have a basic OMP full face helmet. It's a decent starter helmet. I just started tracking this past year so it's fine for now.

Alamo is fairly close to the Sonoma track. You should make a trip there to Wine Country Motorsports to try various helmets.

Since you are near Wine Country, it's worth the trip. They will have a good selection on hand, and nice knowledgeable folks to boot.

I was actually just there at Sonoma Raceway this past month for the Porsche World Tour! We were able to drive 7 different Porsches each!

Is the store located within the raceway?

I have a Bell M8 Carbon helmet.

But what fits me, won't fit you.

Really really need to go to a physical store and try on various helmets, sizes, weights, etc.

Had a Bell M8. New SA2015 is a Bell Vador.