JTT

Rookie here. I will be doing my fourth DE event this summer. I notice quite a few wear gloves and was wondering if it might help with grip? I don't "think" I need to be overly concerned with fire protection, as the rest of my body is only protected with natural fibres. So, a couple of questions for you experienced guys.

First, should I be concerned with fire protection? or would "Karting" glove be a good alternative?

Second, would gloves be any benefit at a pure rookie level, driving a street car? And if so, should I be concerned that gloves have rubbery bits on fingers to grip the smooth leather stock wheel? (no suede or alcatara here)

Third, if yes to the above, any recommendations? I have moderately long fingers and typically wear a "large" glove. I hate sloppy feeling gloves (years of motorcycling I've gone through many gloves looking for a good fit)

Thanks!

ExMB

How much do your hands sweat? Can you borrow a set on track for a session for eval?

TREMPER

Gloves are good for several reasons: grip, fire protection and visibility of your hand for passing signals. Please choose a color of the glove that is not the same as your car, so that visibility by other drivers is clear once you signal out the window.

ProCoach

I like gloves that have seams sewn externally with as thin a palm and fingers leather as I can get. Many modern gloves could serve as double duty for kitchen mitts!

try several and see what you like. Are they necessary? Probably not, but they do feel good on the wheel on a hot day.

David993S

Please read the thread about wearing a driver's suit at DE's.

Blue Chip

Yes to gloves. Especially with the coming summer months. I don't think I would have a concern with the grips on the smooth steering wheel either. I just think they give a better overall feel and overall control. The added visibility of brightly colored gloves is nice for other drivers.....assuming you are looking in your mirrors and giving point-by's in a timely fashion (I kid). :-)

AudiOn19s

I've never been able to get comfortable wearing gloves. To me it takes away a sense of feel and connection with the wheel just enough that I don't like it.

As an alternative I've got an alcantara wheel in my car which is really nice and does add to the grip factor with the wheel for me.

mmuller

Gloves and a suede/alcantara wheel are the best combo of all. Superior grip without having to hang on hard and no sweaty hands. I resisted gloves for a good while but once I started racing it was mandatory. Once I tried it a few times I decided I liked it much more than bare hands. Is also helps in the colder months when giving points -by's which as Tremper says, adds to the visibility of the hand.

DTMiller

I switched to gloves about 15 days into the DE experience and it took me about 1/2 a session to get completely used to them. Now I'd feel weird without them.

Huge bonus if you give lots of point bys in cooler weather too.

Bill Lehman

I highly recommend the Sparco Tide, a little pricey but great grip. http://www.ogracing.com/sparco-tide-rg-9-racing-gloves

CosmosMpower

I wear them as they give better grip and also if I don't my alcantara steering wheel wears much faster. I have these

http://www.sparcousa.com/product/arrow-rg-7

Cory M

gloves are also useful if you have a disagreement on track and need to deliver a glove-slap and challenge someone to a duel

gyh

Intermediate DE driver here with 6ish days here (thus, I defer to the more experienced voices on the forum) and I went the karting glove route (http://www.saferacer.com/collections...nt=25897482947). My hands get pretty sweaty after a few laps and gloves helped with that. I also found that the gloves encouraged me to not have a death grip on the wheel as I was learning and to focus on steering inputs.

That said, I do plan on moving up to a suit in the next season and will upgrade to gloves with fire protection. If I were to do the purchase again, I would have bought them straight away and build a suit around them as I progress.

Hella-Buggin'

During the summer, the combination of sunscreen & sweat on your hands can be an issue.
Also, please get gloves that contrast the color of your car. That way they make point bys easy to see for the other guy. I bought white so they stand out.

Berringer

+1... Though mine were bought for a cold rainy day. Now, I can't imagine not having them on. Alpinestars Tech1 as seen in avatar.