2005 AI rules Section 5.14 Seats

[AlanPK]

The new rules state "Seats must be of a fixed-back competition type. No reclining seats are allowed."

 

Does this mean that my new (04) Corbeau seat that has a back adjustment (if necessary) is no longer legal even though I have an IO Port rigid seat back support that attaches to the roll cage? This was legal last year.

 

Is the seat requirments from 04 and before grandfathered in?

 

[Jeff F]

It seems pretty clear to me that reclining seats are no longer legal. I have a Recaro SRD with a brace and I'm replacing it with a fixed seat.

[AlanPK]

Well that certainly sucks as I don't have the spare cash for a new seat, especially since I just spent $400 for one last year that was legal. Was this announced anywhere that this change was imminent?

 

Do you think removing the reclining mechanism and fixing the seat back (along with the fixed seat back brace) will meet the letter of the law? Who do I talk to to about this?

 

Thanks for your help.

[JWL]

Alan-

 

We decided on this change to make sure you would not have a problem with the mechanism separating in a big crash. We didn't announce this before the 2005 rules came out, but hopefully you have enough time before the season begins to get a proper seat in place. I don't think there's a good way to make the seat fixed back to avoid this problem, so you're better off getting a new fixed back seat. I know this sucks from a cash outlay perspective, but we're only trying to make sure you guys are as safe as possible and a new seat is pretty cheap when you consider the alternative. For a dose of perspective, I had a major rollover a few months ago and if I would have had a non-fixed back seat I would have been toast as the impact was severe enough to rip the bottom of the FIA 8855-1999 seat that I was in at the time. A recliner would not have held my large arse (240+ lbs) in place and certainly could have busted as the biggest hit was when the car augered into the ground nose first. Retire the recliner to street use or sell it to fund a new fixed back unit. I'm sure Mark Wilson can hook you up with a good deal on a nice Recaro and I've also had good luck with Cobra seat from Sube Sports. I know you hate us for this now, but you'll thank us if you ever have to walk away from the "big one".

 

-JWL

[Frank Corkran]

Alan, if you need a larger sized seat I'll be selling a slightly used Momo(?) FIA seat soon from the car I got from John Pearson. I haven't listed it for sale yet as I wasn't going to remove it until my new seat arrives. If you might be interested send me a message and I'll get the specifics for you. You can come up I83 and sit in it if you like before I remove it.

[johnbasf]

It's an OMP "Extra".