Now that I've got the Radical, I need to upgrade my helmet to an open-cockpit type. I currently have a Sparco spy-05, will add the spoiler set:
http://www.ogracing.com/catalog/1-Dr...ET-SPOILER-SET

Been thinking about the Simpson Speedway Shark:
http://www.saferacer.com/simpson-spe...productid=1040

Any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

Define "best?"

Call these guys for "the best" http://www.schuberth.com/en/home.html?sprachwahl=true

HMS now is the importer for Stilo, they have a very nice helmet thats priced well for the quality/features.

http://www.hmsmotorsport.com/store/s...4f/st4f-carbon

Arai and Bell both have FIA carbon helmets as well... some of "the best"

 

We've used the Bell Helmets with chin spoiler.

 

Saw that Bell HP3, looks great, costly too. My head is worth it, though.
Should I get an SA2010? I guess I should, but want to hear your thoghts on it.
Thanks!

 

Arai is considered "the best" by a lot of open-wheel and karting guys.

But it's gonna be crap if it doesn't fit your head type.

 

I believe you are looking for something like this?

http://www.helmetsetc.com/detail.asp...t_id=h10-rebel

 

Open wheel, important to have good venting as you have to keep the visor down, flow through with extraction on the top. Definatetly get the chin spoiler, at speed air under your chin will pull your head back with a reclined seat... Oh and tearoffs...

 

I've used an Arai GP-5 (and mine is the W, wide port, so I can wear glasses if I want), and just got the stick on chin and top spoilers. Works great. Still have my Bieffe with the shell molded spoilers; that worked fine for 3-4 years also.

Best thing though is to make sure you're positioned out of the airflow, yet can still see over the fenders.

 

^ + 1
If your helmet is painted, you can leave them clear, or you can apply them to the helmet and ask the painter to match them to the design.
I prefer the former...

 

HJC is making some great stuff now for car owners. Their prior knowledge and history has been motorcycle helmets. They have specially designed helmets for open cockpit cars. And some of the lightest products available.

 

I bought a Zamp (European Bell) helmet this past spring, and was very happy with it all summer. I bought the stick on spoiler as well, and had no issues in the Radical.

Previously I had a Bell Dominator, which I liked as well, although I was not impressed with the plastic hardware for the visor. I believe the new Dominators come with nicer hardware.

When I started driving open cockpit cars about 7 years ago, I had an el-cheapo SA helmet (maybe G-Force). I bought a stick on spoiler from Arai I think, and it worked fine.

So moral of the story - get the helmet that fits your head the best, and if it starts to lift off your head in the car (or the buffeting is bad), get some add on aero bits.

-Matt

 

A quick Google got me to our own Mark at OG Racing for spoilers -
http://www.ogracing.com/catalog/1-Dr...ET-SPOILER-SET

 

I like this one:

 

So I've spent a bunch of time in number of open cars with a variety of helmets.

The single biggest factor for speeds under 150 was not the helmet but the way the air comes into the cockpit. Air hitting the helmet straight on really doesn't cause the helmet to do much at the lower speeds we travel compared to IRL and F1. What really causes problems is when the air comes over the front of the car and then drops into the cockpit hitting the driver in the chest. The air then pushed your helmet up and causes some buffeting.

My two main helmets.

Bell M4Pro. The most generic looking golf ball helmet ever. Zero aero bits.
Bell T-6 Pro. Bell's whizzy helmet with all the aero stuff.

The difference is truly minimal and I've run them both a lot in the SRF, FC and Ariel Atom. Anything up to 150ish.

The best thing you can do is build up a little lexan spoiler that sits right in front of you on the cowl of the car. Depending on the way the air flows into the car it can be half the size of a playing card to no more than double that size. It doesn't take much to change the airflow and will fix 99% of the issues you might have with your helmet in an open car setting.

 

Here's a great example of this in an Ariel

Here's a photo of the test mule we use at Ariel in VA.

http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezwe..._10_zoomed.jpg

If you look closely you can see the two little vertical lexan screens.

Here's the version we had on the older Atom2 school cars.

http://www.caterham-addict.co.uk/aca...l-atom-1-1.jpg

While the earlier version on the Atom2 looks like it might be nicer, it was actually worse as it allowed the air to come over and hit the dirver in the chest and full speed and cause buffeting and lift. The first picture that has the little dinky spoiler was MUCH better and kept the high speed air off the chest and there were no helmet issues.