Speed Weasel Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I joined NASA last year after attending a Track Day at Road Atlanta and since joining have one DE1 under my belt also at Road Atlanta. Needless to say I’m hooked! My car is a fairly heavily modified 2005 V6 Mustang including ATI Procharger, Steeda Dampers, 8” 3.73 rear-end, Suspension Tech springs, Billet rear control arms and upgraded front and rear adjustable sway bars. It’s not my daily driver but I do drive it a couple of times a week. For now my plan is use the Mustang for DE, TT and autocrossing. In addition to needing seat time, more seat time and then some more seat time, I was planning on installing a roll bar and seats with more support. For the roll bar I was looking into the Autopower bolt-in Race Roll Bar w\removable cross piece. My biggest question is the seat choice. What are acceptable configurations realtive to the seats... fixed back (tubular or composite\fiberglass such as the Corbeau FX1 PRO), Are reclining “tuner” class seats out of the question? Bolt to the floor or can double locking sliders be used? Regardless, I figured I would install 5-point pull down cam-lock harnesses unless advised otherwise. Given all of the above any recommendations\advice would greatly be appreciated! Also looking at driving suits & gloves…is single layer SFI\1 with FR Underlayer okay or best to just go with an SFI\5 suit? Thanks in Advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerkat Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Since you are still doing HPDE you have a very wide range of choices. I used the AutoPower roll bar in my '03 Mustang/Cobra it was the bolt in with the removal bars. As for a seat a lot of that has to do with what you can afford. Fixed back would be the preferred way to go. Whatever you do make sure the seat fits you. Also consider that what you do for yourself you should do for your instructor, although it is not required. Something you did not mention in your post were better tires and brake upgrade. I know that on my Cobra I need to go with the Cobra R brake upgrade Four piston Brembros. For most of the time I ran NT 555 street tires that wore very well. I did start running the Tech R Avon tires that really added grip. If you are still in HPDE1 save you money until you move up into HPDE2. You will learn the most about your car the way it is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosm3os Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Fixed back would be best (and "mandatory" if you are going with 5 or 6pt harnesses). Try a lot of seats out so you know you are getting something comfortable for you. Also, don't skimp on safety. Get a quality seat. Finally, remember many clubs require equal restraints, so if you get harnesses for you, get a set for your instructor (and the appropriate seat to go with it if necessary). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speed Weasel Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 I have upgraded to DBA4000 slotted rotors, Hawk HP Plus Pads and AP60 Brake Fluid which so far has worked very well. As far as the tires go I am currently running General UHPs. After reading a lot of the posts I fiqured I would hold off on the R-compounds until I have more experience. I will definitely have seat\restraints for the instructor as well! If I go with fixed back seats then should a seat brace be used and I take it sliders are not best route to take. Thanks for the input. I appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosm3os Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I think brace's are only required for W2W. Sliders are fine and in fact I'd encourage it cause it would give you an opportunity to see what your instructor/others can do with the car. I almost insisted on bolting mine down (more of a clearance issue), but I'm glad I didn't cause it afforded me an opportunity to let pro drivers (Ian Baas is a little guy and I'm 6'5") do some testing on the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kishg Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 hi, I have 8 track days and am looking to install seats/harness/rollbar in my e30 track car. i want to make sure my intended config will pass tech for NASA (i run mostly with BMWCCA) since I plan to attend quite a few NASA HPDEs this year. Here's what I'm planning: - Sparco Evo3 (yes i'm a big guy ) seats - side mounts for the seats with sliders (accomodate different drivers) - Autopower rollbar with harness bar and crossbrace - 5 pt harness (probably G-Force) IMP/PDA in Clifton NJ is going to do the installs. Any other tips on what NASA likes in terms of safety stuff for HPDE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 hi, I have 8 track days and am looking to install seats/harness/rollbar in my e30 track car. i want to make sure my intended config will pass tech for NASA (i run mostly with BMWCCA) since I plan to attend quite a few NASA HPDEs this year. Here's what I'm planning: - Sparco Evo3 (yes i'm a big guy ) seats - side mounts for the seats with sliders (accomodate different drivers) - Autopower rollbar with harness bar and crossbrace - 5 pt harness (probably G-Force) IMP/PDA in Clifton NJ is going to do the installs. Any other tips on what NASA likes in terms of safety stuff for HPDE? Try this first. http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/index.html then this http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/ccr.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I think brace's are only required for W2W. Sliders are fine and in fact I'd encourage it cause it would give you an opportunity to see what your instructor/others can do with the car. I almost insisted on bolting mine down (more of a clearance issue), but I'm glad I didn't cause it afforded me an opportunity to let pro drivers (Ian Baas is a little guy and I'm 6'5") do some testing on the car. Glad you are running with NASA With your seatl follow all manufacturers instructions in mounting the seat. If your seat is mounted to a sliding track, be sure the seat track is capable of taking a rear impact without breaking free and rolling you into the roll bar. I had a street rear impact and the stock seat track broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speed Weasel Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 I think brace's are only required for W2W. Sliders are fine and in fact I'd encourage it cause it would give you an opportunity to see what your instructor/others can do with the car. I almost insisted on bolting mine down (more of a clearance issue), but I'm glad I didn't cause it afforded me an opportunity to let pro drivers (Ian Baas is a little guy and I'm 6'5") do some testing on the car. Good deal and good point! After taking a closer look at my stock seats, I believe I would have a hard without sliders. The stock sliders mount to two ridges in the floor pan. I would need to mount the seat behind the front ridge which would put me too far back and I wouldn't be able to reach the pedals Based on the feedback and some more research I decided to go with the following: Kirk Racing Competition roll bar (4 point bolt-in) Cobra Imola seat w\ Cobra sliders specific to the Mustang (mount at factory points) for the driver's side I do have a follow-on question regarding the passenger seat...any issue form an instructor acceptance standpoint with using the Cobra Monaco? The main difference being the Monaco is steel frame fixed back seat, FIA as well, as opposed to the Imola which is Kevlar composite. Both the driver side and passenger side will have 5 point harnesses. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RACER-X Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I have an Autopower 4pt roll bar. It has removable x brace and harness bar. Was fairly easy to install and looks good too. The price wan't bad either. Later down the road I can always turn it into a full cage. Here are a few pics http://teamfri.com/rollBar.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kishg Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I have an Autopower 4pt roll bar. It has removable x brace and harness bar. Was fairly easy to install and looks good too. The price wan't bad either. Later down the road I can always turn it into a full cage. Here are a few pics http://teamfri.com/rollBar.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; tks. i just ordered that from Autopower. What material is that delete kit? foam or carpet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RACER-X Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I have an Autopower 4pt roll bar. It has removable x brace and harness bar. Was fairly easy to install and looks good too. The price wan't bad either. Later down the road I can always turn it into a full cage. Here are a few pics http://teamfri.com/rollBar.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; tks. i just ordered that from Autopower. What material is that delete kit? foam or carpet? Its 1/8 backer board with carpet that matches the interior. The carpet has no insulation on the back. Who did you order your roll bar through? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFR Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Just be carefull with those Autopower roll bars. Some of them in the past have mounted to points on the floorpan that cannot support the car. This guy was running an autopower roll bar in his mustang... luckily no one was hurt. A bad roll bar mount can be worse then no roll bar at all. Notice the roll bar through the floor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RACER-X Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Just goes to show ya that nothing is a givin'. No matter what you have, there is still a chance of getting hurt or even worse KILLED. Looks like the drivers side held and prevented the roof from coming down on him. In this case I'd say the roll bar saved him and did it's job even though the passenger side failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kishg Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I have an Autopower 4pt roll bar. It has removable x brace and harness bar. Was fairly easy to install and looks good too. The price wan't bad either. Later down the road I can always turn it into a full cage. Here are a few pics http://teamfri.com/rollBar.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; tks. i just ordered that from Autopower. What material is that delete kit? foam or carpet? Its 1/8 backer board with carpet that matches the interior. The carpet has no insulation on the back. Who did you order your roll bar through? IMP/PDA in Clifton, NJ is ordering/installing it for me. the carpet is a good idea, did you make it yourself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kishg Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Just goes to show ya that nothing is a givin'. No matter what you have, there is still a chance of getting hurt or even worse KILLED. Looks like the drivers side held and prevented the roof from coming down on him. In this case I'd say the roll bar saved him and did it's job even though the passenger side failed. agree. it looks like it did save the driver. but that looks nasty nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RACER-X Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 IMP/PDA in Clifton, NJ is ordering/installing it for me. the carpet is a good idea, did you make it yourself? No, I purchased it off of a GTO site. It was made specifically for the car. Try going on one of the forums for your car and do a search for rear seat delete kit. That should turn up something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LateApexEM2 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 It could just be the pic but on the mustang floor shot it doesnt look like the mounting plate is very big. It also looks like theres only one bolt ( I realy hope thats just the pic). If you get a bar and the plates are anything less than say 6" x 6" I would add a reinforcement to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFR Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 The problem with most of the Autopower bars (and it is the same for my make/model) is that they simply bolt to the floorboard sandwitched between two plates. Now-a-days they make the floor pan out of used gum wrappers... no matter how big your plates are the floorpan will give way. They were just not made to support the weight of the car (not to mention impact). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neutered Sputniks Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I just wanted to clarify something. I moved from AZ to NY recently. I'm in DE2 with my Honda S2000. I installed a Recaro SPG on Buddy Club rails with a Takata harness. However, I have no aftermarket roll-cage. After much research, I was willing to do this only because I'm short and only barely would not pass the broomstick method with the stock roll-hoops - whereas putting a roll cage in my car is just not safe for a daily driver. I was looking into going to Limerock with PDA/NASA and saw that PDA requires the driver and passenger restraint systems match (not a NASA requirement). While the harness and Recaro are my own personal decision that I make knowing that the risk to myself is mitigated because I'm short enough that the mounting points are properly angled, I don't feel comfortable putting a harness and Recaro in the passenger side as it's more likely for a passenger to be taller than I am thus making it too unsafe. Is there a way around this rule, or am I stuck with putting the OEM seat back in the driver's side (not an option I'm really interested in pursuing as it's hard to concentrate on what the car's doing when you're sliding all over your seat). On a related note, with NASA events, I was able to use my Scorpion EXO-700 motorcycle helmet for track days (SNELL and DOT approved). PDA does not allow motorcycle helmets to be used at their events. Will I have to go out and buy a track specific helmet for events now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nasaregistrar Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 I just wanted to clarify something. I moved from AZ to NY recently. I'm in DE2 with my Honda S2000. I installed a Recaro SPG on Buddy Club rails with a Takata harness. However, I have no aftermarket roll-cage. After much research, I was willing to do this only because I'm short and only barely would not pass the broomstick method with the stock roll-hoops - whereas putting a roll cage in my car is just not safe for a daily driver. I was looking into going to Limerock with PDA/NASA and saw that PDA requires the driver and passenger restraint systems match (not a NASA requirement). While the harness and Recaro are my own personal decision that I make knowing that the risk to myself is mitigated because I'm short enough that the mounting points are properly angled, I don't feel comfortable putting a harness and Recaro in the passenger side as it's more likely for a passenger to be taller than I am thus making it too unsafe. Is there a way around this rule, or am I stuck with putting the OEM seat back in the driver's side (not an option I'm really interested in pursuing as it's hard to concentrate on what the car's doing when you're sliding all over your seat). On a related note, with NASA events, I was able to use my Scorpion EXO-700 motorcycle helmet for track days (SNELL and DOT approved). PDA does not allow motorcycle helmets to be used at their events. Will I have to go out and buy a track specific helmet for events now? Those are questions you will have to take up directly with PDA. And so you know, VIR will not allow an S2K on the track without aftermarket rollover protection, and in the NASA MA region we will require it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neutered Sputniks Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 So, for DE in NASA MA I have to install a roll-cage that makes my car unusable as a daily driver? Or would a hardtop work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 unfortunately you picked a convertible a full cage is more than the minimum requirement, a 4 point bar would suffice. On the hardtop...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nasaregistrar Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 unfortunately you picked a convertible a full cage is more than the minimum requirement, a 4 point bar would suffice. On the hardtop...? What he said ^^^^^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Sean - would a hardtop suffice as rollover protection for an S2000? or would it require a 4 point bar underneath no matter what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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