M758

One issue I see is a comfort issue. The cross bar where the belts are mounted is too low. I had this issue on my set-up and since my seat was all the way on the floor already I pulled the seat pad bottom and the right aligment to the cross bar. If it is too low like this it will pinch your shoulders.


Now the picture from the front shows the harness half off. Something does not look right in that picture, but I it could very well be that your adjuster bars are way too high. You belt spacing looks good on your cross bar. Same spacing as mine.

Here is my set-up from what I doing my install. I had not put the collars on the cross bar yet.

kurt M

Spot on. Regardless of the age the seat setup has a list of items all working against Mark. The first item is the SEAT. It is old poor design and too short for the driver. Might have been a good idea when it was made but there are far safer seats out there now. Mark's head sticks up past the top of the seat back too far and there is 0.0 halo or wing of any sort. Mark, it is 2012 not 1981. Safety systems have improved.
1.STFU about the Hans for now. It is not the H&N device it is the LWB between the device and the seat that is of issue.
2.Use your head and learn up on safety.
3.Save up some money and buy a safety system that works together. Seat, belts, nets, H&N, fire and the like. Once you have done so install it as it is intended. You have said about 5 times that you think your seat is installed at the wrong angle. Fix it or far better yet get a better seat that fits.

analogmike

That seat would not be legal in SCCA or PCA. It's unsafe as shown. Where is your headrest?

14. Headrests, either integral with the seat or separate, are required. The headrest must extend above the midpoint of the back of the helmet on the vertical plane of the seatback with the driver in the driving position.

OGRacing

Mark

Is that a model 650? If so then I believe that's a pre 2001 production date. If you get a chance you may want to try a model 30 to see if that works better for you.

Bill

Veloce Raptor

Yup.

I use a 20 Pro version, love it.

OGRacing

Sparco Evo 2 Plus which is HANS compatible at 2 1/2". All the other Sparco's I just measured are 3 1/4 +.

Bill

4WHLDRFTN

^^^^ the hans isnt the issue, if the seat is mounted correctly (like driving and not sleeping) all would be good. still could use a safer seat, doh.

mark kibort

I have new belts, new helmet, new net a fire system. the only think in question here is the hans and the seat. my belts are perfect width apart and so is the angle , just as the picture of the other poster had his shown, and within the limts of the design advice by HANS on the manual.

The 650 is not a pre-2001 item, it iwas certed in 2005. but ill check to see if this is the case.

mark kibort

Its legal, but not as safe as i would like, so that is next on the shopping list.
its an FAI seat that is over 10 years old, so it needs the back brace attached. thats the only rule that SCCA and PCA has for older seats.

its been racing in PCA, scca, scca pro, and nasa for over 10 years now. not to mean its the best seat out there, it sucks, i agree, but it is legal

mark kibort

the half off piture shows what the belt does when i move around a bit. its not secure.and you should try what im doing in the cockpit with your set up. belt yourself in without the hans, and then with. lean forward like a frontal impact. see what im talkng about the belts sliding over the hans and the increased frontal movement. it doesnt feel right or secure. ill probably use the little velcro straps and sew some velcro on the adjuster area of the belts to keep the belts in place., but that means it was designed wrong to have to do that. im sure it will work, it will have to, but its not a great design. im sure the new stuff is much better.

mark kibort

funny!

BBMGT3

I think the best way to think about safety equipment as part of a complete safety system.

Some components may be top notch, belts may be great and all that. But the overall safety performance is compromised because of poor integration with certain components - as you've identified already. A bad seat installed in a weird position makes everything else you have redundant.

Nowadays, the helmet, HANS, seat, belts, cage all work as part of a whole system. I would advise that rather than piecemeal "ok, I've got the latest this and that" you look at it it as an overall "Are the safety systems in this race car working correctly".

A friend of mine has a picture taken at a race - I'll try to post it one of these days - of a head-on crash of a guy, its a freeze-frame and you can see both rear wheels in the air, guys shoulders are basically back on the seat but his head is sickeningly far forward.

In my neck of the woods, 2010 was the first year the local race organizers mandated HANS use (and FIA fuel cell) in ALL series and races. Best decision they've made in a long time.

mark kibort

remember, i had a 90mph crash into a wall at a 45 degree angle back in 08. the saftey stuff worked great. there is a little benefit on how my stuff worked in that crash, that might have resulted in a death, if it worked as some think it should. the fact that you are locked to the seat in a crash could be the difference between life and death with the forces left to work on a floating head. the belt stretch is a good thing. however, i broke some ribs due to the seat! FRIGGEN SEAT! So, you are right the seat has to GO! its next on the list. i wasnt wearing a hans, so shame on me, becuase i was late to grid and my hutchenes was too hard to put on. needless to say, never again. i was lucky. the last thing i thought after that FREAK hit me and drove me in to the wall at 90mph, was "this is too fast to go head on to a wall without a HANS!!"

again, i was very lucky, but the car and saftey equip i was using, did do their jobs as designed, and did it very well.

M758

Mine does not move at all. At least not when try to wiggle around and I can't lean forward at all. The belts hold me in place. Something is wrong.

Sterling Doc

Mark, if that is the same seat that was used in the crash (and broke ribs then), it's done it's job, and should have been tossed already.

NASA had (has?) a contingency with OG Racing that gave 1/2 off of a seat replacement if you were involved in a crash. I'm not sure if it's still in place, but it put a Sparco ADV Pro halo seat in my car in place of the Recaro SPG it had - which has worked out great!

Skip an event if you need to, and get a quality seat. You don't want to have any regrets the next time things are looking ugly out the windshield!

Thanks OG!