I have some older Sparco reclining seats on sliders with current 5pt harnesses attached to an un-padded DAS bolt-in bar.

My concern is the seats. My understanding is they could break in a rear impact and contact the bar which is roughly 6" behind the seats. Alternatively, the seat could flex and release the tension on my belts.

Because I drive to the track, I really like having a seat I can fold forward to stuff my crap in the back, but safety is a concern.

So... what would be the best course of action for a street driven DE car with safety in mind?

a) at least pad the bar
b) add seat back braces (any other options better and/or less expensive than the BKs?)
c) fixed seats are the safest (convenience and safety cannot be had)
d) all of the above

 

Pad the bar anywhere you could come into contact flailing around the cockpit, put a setback brace on any seats someone will be sitting in on the track (equal for passengers) Not sure which seats they are oe which brace would be appropriate tho... Different seats different braces, if they are sparcos with belt holes you should be ok for DE...you want a shell for race...

 

Yes, high density padding on the roll bar. Also install seat back braces. You should consider a fixed back seat for yourself. If you are a solo driver at DE's then you probably don't have passengers in the car on a regular basis. I have a reclining seat in the passenger side so I can wiggle into the back to clean the rear window. If I was regularly taking passengers in the car, I would put a fixed back seat in the passenger side for safety reasons.

Brey Krause makes two models of seat back brace, one for one piece race shells, one for reclining seats. The one for the reclining seat is BK part number R9019, and for the one piece shell, R9020.

Info on both can be found at the links below.

Competition Seat: http://www.ogracing.com/catalog/2-Ca...EAT-BACK-BRACE

Reclining seat: http://www.bkauto.com/porsche/r9019.php