consolidated

I have a Cayman that will soon have GT3 seats and Schroth Profi II harnesses and would like to use a HANS device. I understand that running this without a roll bar makes for an incomplete safety system and I understand the compromises of being held upright w/o one installed.

Should I put off the HANS device until I get a bar, or is the additional protection worth considering? Would the HANS aggravate the risks of not having a bar? At this time only custom bars/cages are available until a good bolt-in solution becomes available. Heigo makes one that I may consider but it has it's own compromises in design and installation. Hopefully I can get a bar in my car later this year.

I don't expect a professional answer (unless I can get it), but rather just hoping to get some experienced opinions. PM's welcome.

Thanks.

Capt. Carrera

Very easy answer. Get a roll bar. Get the bar before getting the Hans.

PedroNole

Get the Hans first. You're far more likely to hit something with your wheels on the pavement than you are to flip your car on it's top....I think

sjanes

I say get the HANS now. In the 8 or so years I've been doing this, I've seen lots of cars hit the wall, and I've never seen a rollover (not that it doesn't happen).

RedlineMan

DING-DING-DING...

We have a winner. How can anyone support the notion that you should first strategize for an event that hardly ever happens, but if that level of equipment is not in the cards, then suggest you put yourself in greater jeopardy by limiting safety equipment that would help you more in the vast majority of possible incidents? This utterly baffles me.

Statisticians could give you the numbers, I'm sure, but what could it be? Miniscule! The odds of wrecking bad enough to injure yourself are already pretty low. The odds for a roll over have to be absolutely infinitesimal.

Beyond that, don't fall for the falacy that roofs crush occupants. Do a search and you will find the arguments, ad nauseum, but the truth is that it is occupants hitting the car that kills them. Harnesses usually prevent that, and race seats make the harnesses work better. This is FACT.

If you are going to get a roll bar anyway, get it all. If the roll bar is not in the cards right now, get your seats, harnesses, and HANS. You'll be plenty safe if it is all set up properly.

If getting it all is 100% safe, eschewing the roll bar drops it to a paltry 99.999%... maybe.

cooleyjb

I can think of a few situations where a Head and Neck device might have changed the outcome of an incident at a DE. I have never heard of an instance where a roof collapsed in to the point where a person wearing a harness would have had issues.

I would do it personally.

bruinbro

Don't you need a harness bar for the harness to work? IIRC there is no good place to attach the shoulder straps to in a Cayman/Boxster. I don't think anyone make a harness bar for a Cayman, but I'm probably wrong. If I'm correct, you will need the roll bar or cage to make the harness work.

Bro

LVDell

1. (as stated in the above post) how are you going to mount the harnesses?

2. Make sure you got the Profi-II HANS belts. While it is possible to run the non HANS 3" belts, they don't work properly.

3. As many have said, get the HANS first! Personally, I'd do both but if this is financial then HANS first.

KS-CS

TC Design and DMC (sold thru Farnbacher-Loles I believe) both make harness bars for the Cayman.

consolidated

I have a DMC harness bar. Thanks for the replies RL'ers.

MUSSBERGER

Yea,the harness bar is the easy part.

jester911

Hans w/o roll bar is fine. The main thing is to make sure you have the harnesses installed properly to insure the Hans does its job. The Hans is useless if the harnesses do not hold it in place.

Just my .02

Vampire

IT depends on the track. I have seen at least one rollover per year for the last 8years and I have only seen one car hit the wall at my local track (BIR). We don't have many walls, but have high speed corners. I know it is not the norm...

I thought the issue that gets debated often is "harnesses without rollbars", not "HANS withoutout rollbars".

kurt M

Good point about the tracks. I have seen far more impacts than rollovers. In DE I have yet to see a rollover that included driver’s compartment intrusion. This is only one person’s data but the real world data supports the same view.
One hard hit and roll over at VIR some years back. Car was a mess. Driver had a roll bar only and it was noted by many how lucky he was to have one. I looked the car over after the hubbub settled down and the roof had some crinkles in it but the metal was well away from the bar at all points. The vinyl head liner was un scuffed and had no pressure marks at all. I pressed a fingernail on the liner against the roof metal and it left a mark. The bar was a great place to mount the shoulder straps and I bet the 5 point helped much to keep the driver unhurt but for some strap bruises and a crushed wallet.

Use as much safety equpment as you can with reason.

RedlineMan

Boy Howdy!

My arms are getting tired, Kurt. Can you help me beat this drum a bit? You obviously know the tune!