GSlender's Track Beeotch!

[Magpie]

Spending money on shinny things, nice!

Fitting it yourself or is there a dodgy day planned?

[gslender]

Spending money on shinny things, nice!

Fitting it yourself or is there a dodgy day planned?

If I can collect tomorrow, I may have a crack over the long weekend, but if not, yeah, might volunteer my place for a dodgy day.

I've got a 4 car man cave on acreage so happy to have a bunch of MX5 nerds around to talk crap and break things. Toppertee might even show up half-drunk as usual and speak trash about how his boat goes fast (but not round corners).

Always good for a laugh....

G

[Magpie]

I'll turn up and either help or hinder

Your car is starting to sound like mine build wise.

[gslender]

So, where's a good place to buy harness and bolts to go with the new roll bar?

[Magpie]

Racer industries on the Gold Coast. I purchased mine when they were on special at MX5 Mania.

MX5 Plus can supply the eye bolts and required spacers.

Are you also considering a HANS device? If so you could get a harness designed for HANS, it has a 2" width over the shoulder.

[MattR]

If you do get a harness spend the extra and get a six point harness, and a proper race seat. A harness is more dangerous than a 3 point belt with a standard seat.

And a 4 point harness is very difficult to fit properly so the lap part stays across your hips as it is supposed to and not ride up onto your belly. The 6 point harness will prevent this also and hold you in the seat a lot better.

Also the better harnesses will have all the mounting bolts and eyelets you need.

[Magpie]

Thanks MattR, I assumed that when the question was asked about the harness that a suitable seat was already installed.

[MattR]

Unfortunately I have seen plenty of hranesses installed with standard seats so I never assume, especially with safety gear.

If it makes me look like a dick so be it, but you can bet someone will have a harness with a standard seat somewhere and may read this, and hopefully get things sorted sooner rather than later.

[gslender]

I've got a race-type seat, but don't really see the significance difference between that and the standard seat other than an obvious set of holes at your shoulder and fixed rake position. So hopefully even with my naive understanding, I've at least got the seat sorted.

I'll admit I'm a bit clueless about safety gear and how to fairly/reasonably judge need vs risk given I'm driving around in a 25 year old open top convertible!

I don't like the simple "well how much do you value your life" statements as I think that's a lazy way to manage risk. If we always took that approach you'd not bother leaving your home. So we all take risks, and we need to balance cost vs risk and do so in a way that enables fair progress/fun/life worth living etc.

As such, for me, at this stage I'm progressing to a 5 or 6 point harness with a roll bar and will consider HANS etc in due course, as I progress and feel I'm putting more of myself at risk and need to match safety with my comfort of being at 10/10ths....

G

[rascal]

I've got a race-type seat, but don't really see the significance difference between that and the standard seat other than an obvious set of holes at your shoulder and fixed rake position.

Above in bold is the important bit. A standard seat doesn't have any way to retain the harness and it can slip off your shoulders in a crash, hence why its more dangerous than a normal 3 point belt... Having the harness go through the seat holes means it cant slide downwards off your shoulders.

[MattR]

I've got a race-type seat, but don't really see the significance difference between that and the standard seat other than an obvious set of holes at your shoulder and fixed rake position. So hopefully even with my naive understanding, I've at least got the seat sorted.

I'll admit I'm a bit clueless about safety gear and how to fairly/reasonably judge need vs risk given I'm driving around in a 25 year old open top convertible!

I don't like the simple "well how much do you value your life" statements as I think that's a lazy way to manage risk. If we always took that approach you'd not bother leaving your home. So we all take risks, and we need to balance cost vs risk and do so in a way that enables fair progress/fun/life worth living etc.

As such, for me, at this stage I'm progressing to a 5 or 6 point harness with a roll bar and will consider HANS etc in due course, as I progress and feel I'm putting more of myself at risk and need to match safety with my comfort of being at 10/10ths....

G

That's a fair call and the same philosophy I use.

For the NA6, I only do club track days and the odd gentle mountain run, so run standard seats and normal belt on the track with a good helmet.

For my other race cars, past, and future, they go a lot faster and when racing door to door sh*t can and does happen, so I have all the safety gear I can get my hands on that makes sense. Last car had a 15 year old cage, it did the job as it was the best of the time it was built. When the car got written off it had done its job. To update that particular cage was not viable.

New car being built, a full custom 6 point cage tagged to the A and B pillars, rear suspension points tied in and looks like an explosion in BHP's rod and bar division to CAMS specs plus a bit and a fair investment in dollars that was greeted by the better half with I don't care how much that costs. Same with the upgrade of the seat I was going to use to the new seat with the full head wings for a HANS device.

HANS devices aren't the be all and end all of safety, they are a one component in many that help the driver if the worst happens, that includes the basic car structure, the cage in the car, the seat, the harness and the HANS device.

In terms of harnesses being bought now, if you are not getting a HANS device straight away, get a 3 inch harness, do not get anything with 2 inch straps UNLESS you are wearing a HANS device. Ask me how I know these things.....

And, again whilst mandatory for door to door racing in both CAMS and AASA and QR either now or in the near future, for track days in a fairly standard car, whilst nice, it is an extra expense that when you do the risk analysis probably comes up as nice to have for most people but money can be better spent elsewhere to make the car safer.

Oh, and one more thing, unless you are prepared to have a steaming pile of broken and bent steel off the side of the track pretty regularly, I wouldn't recommend driving anywhere at 10/10th's. You always keep a little in reserve just in case......

[gslender]

Oh, and one more thing, unless you are prepared to have a steaming pile of broken and bent steel off the side of the track pretty regularly, I wouldn't recommend driving anywhere at 10/10th's. You always keep a little in reserve just in case......

Yep, couldn't be more happy with that sensible bit of advice... whilst I'd like to put down good times, I have no interest in wearing brown pants unless I bought them that way!

[Magpie]

rascal

Not wanting to ignite a risk debate, I feel there is a different risk profile between a daily drive and a track, at least for me. To be honest I take more risk (I will accept more risk) daily driving than I do on the track. For the track I will minimise the risk as much as possible.

It will be argued that the consequences in both instances are the same, and the likelihood on the track would be lower than public roads so why accept less risk on the track? I accept less risk because the car is being used in a manner that exceeds what the maker probably considered normal use. Simply you are pushing both the car and driver. Do you need to brake late, hit every apex on public roads all the time, no.

I minimise my track risk by ensuring that the components used are capable of taking the abuse and the safety measures are the best that I feel minimises my risk to serious/fatal injury. I will not go on a track without a HANS device now. Putting on the HANS device is also a signal that I'm about to go on the track so time to switch on.

Sorry to clog the thread.

[gslender]

Not wanting to ignite a risk debate, I feel there is a different risk profile between a daily drive and a track, at least for me. To be honest I take more risk (I will accept more risk) daily driving than I do on the track. For the track I will minimise the risk as much as possible.

That's a fair call and sounds like you've thought about it logically and weighed up the risks - that's the point I think. Do what you need to be safe and only go as hard/fast as you can be within the safety margin you've created for the equipment/car you're using. Sometimes unexpected things occur (on and off the track) and you cannot always expect to manage that.

[rascal]

I feel much safer at 200kmh on the track, than I ever do at 60kmh on the road surrounded by morons whose seem way more interested in checking facebook on their mobile than taking any interest in how/where they are driving..


And to drag the thread back on track, how is that ITB airbox going?