I'm looking into vintage racing for next year, and can get a deal on a Sparco 5 suit. The catch is that it's black, and I'd never considered that colour because I'd assumed that it would be very hot compared to a suit in a lighter colour. ( I was thinking red.) Has anyone used a black suit? Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

I haven't used a black suit but I can't see how it could feel hotter than a red one. My red one is like a freakin' oven mitt!

 

I have some black on my suit - arms and legs...
My experience (in Atlanta, btw), is that on a hot day (which is most days), I take the suit off between runs anyway. I wouldn't have it on even if it was white

 

I think you will find that the suit color will have little effect on how well baked you will be. On a hot day, my white suit is a sauna. Take what you save on the black suit 'deal' and buy a cool shirt too.

 

Thanks for the input. It seems colour is not a big deal. I think I'll pull the trigger.

 

Agree with everyone's comments about all suits being hot. That said, I had a black suit because I thought it looked cool. I found it to be much hotter than my current suit (shiny silver). I felt it was a poor choice.

 

Hmmmm.... Decisions, decisions. Thanks, Joe. Since you've used both, your experience is especially relevant, and confirms my intuition. Shiny silver is probably the most reflective.

 

I went with a silver grey Sparco suit for its reflective qualities. Just could not do black. That said, I sweat my a** off in the lighter colored suit anyway. Maybe the lighter color keeps me from completely passing out behind the wheel.

 

Is a black drivers suit hotter? Not on cold days. (Yuk, yuk) Seriously, I use a dark blue suit, and have used, and still do on long weekends, use a red suit, and the one before that was white, and to be honest, I can't tell the difference. Like said above, they are all hot. Go with the best deal.


Bill Seifert

1987 944S Race Car under const.

 

smokey,
have you checked ogracing's warehosue closeout section:
http://www.ogracing.com/eshop/home.asp?categ=190
lots of non black suits (hopefully they have your size). got my son's karting suit from them, great price and service.

 

I'll second the Cool Shirt on a really hot day with a suit. OK, any warm day.

It's next on my list.

 

I use a dark blue (almost black) 3-layer SPARCO and, yes it is hot. It is definately warmer tham my 2-layer white/light blue but not by much. If your tolarance to heat is high, I'd say go for the best deal. If not, you may want to consider a lighter color.

 

Hmmmm..

If I bought a black suit and did pass out, I wonder if I'd be faster???

Go w/ the shiny silver. On a hot day, every little bit helps.

You could wrap the black suit in aluminum foil for better heat reflection and enhanced fire protection.... Then again, you might feel like a baked potato when you got off the track.

 

I'll look for a deal on shiny silver. I can wait. The difference in price is one/two tires' worth, which is my measure of investment with the car. The HANS was a full set of tires.

 

Hey gang, I got a good deal for you. A few weeks ago, a couple of friends of mine and I put together a cool suit. If you buy one from a race place they are about $400. We bought an Iceman 1100 off of ebay. It cost me $66 including shipping. It is almost exactly like the ones you buy from the race shops, except it comes powered by 120 Volt Ac. So, unless you want to run a real long extension cord you have to adapt it. The 120 v goes down to 7.5 v Dc, so you cant just connect it to your cigarette lighter, because it will put out too much power. Radio Shack sells a transformer that takes 12Vdc down to 7.5 v dc. That makes it work perfectly. The transformer costs about $15. I bought the shirt from F.A.S.T. for $110. The connections work, because F.A.S.T. uses the same connection. So for $192 dollars including shipping I now have a cool suit. We tried it at the Nelson Ledges 12 Hour and it worked like a champ.

Just log on to Ebay and type in Iceman 1100. The bidding usually starts about $40, and the most I have seen them go for is $80 with shipping. Also they come with an attachment that either cools the head, neck, knee, etc. You could use that. The one I got will cover over 120 square inches, but I liked the F.A.S.T. shirt better.

Of course as more of us racers start bidding on them, then the price will go up. So do it early.

Bill Seifert

1987 944S Race Car under const.