gills Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 Hey all, I'm on the verge of buying a harness bar with some harnesses for my STi for some track days. I would like to be strapped in better and be safer while enjoying my time at the track. I don't want to put a roll cage in my car because this is my daily driver. While doing some searching i've noticed a few posts regarding safety issues with a 5 pt harness and no roll cage. Stating that in the event of a roll over, if the roof caves in enough and you're strapped in with a 5pt harness you're in for some trouble because your body can't physically tuck due to the roof pushing as it would with a 3 pt. Should i be more concerned that i'll be much safer in regular impacts with the 5pt that'll keep my body from submarining and moving to a minimum or does it not matter? I have a recaro seat on the way that has better lateral support than my stockers but i was also looking forward to being nice and strapped in with the 5pt harnesses as well. Is it a safer bet to just stay with the factory restraint system or go ahead with the sparco setup? If it is that dangerous to run a harness bar with no roll bar, why in the world would sparco sell it?! They make no mention of it to have it be used in conjuction with a roll bar/cage. All informative comments welcome. Thanks, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 Basically, if you modify your car it must confirm to the CCR. So if you put in harnesses and seats they have to be installed per the CCR, so that's a good place to start. Also since you will be in HPDE you also have to provide the same level of protection for the passenger (instructor) as the driver has. Having said that, most instructors IN MY EXPERIENCE won't use a harness without a roll bar in place as well. This isn't always the case as my first instructor had a E46 M3 with stock seats and 5pt harnesses. Not knowing any better I went for a ride and strapped into the harnesses. In retrospect I will not do that again. For now if you do not want to go full roll bar/cage route you might want to forgo fixed back seats and harnesses and just get a CG lock. I wouldn't risk the problems that may arrise from having fixed back seats, harnesses and no roll bar. Companies sell lots of things. Doesn't always mean they are the best thing to install. --chad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gills Posted February 12, 2005 Author Share Posted February 12, 2005 Chad, Thanks for the reply. As for the CCR, i'm going to have to read up on it. The seat i am getting doesn't have a fixed back either so i'm not sure if that would be a problem. I'm having a brain freeze with what CG lock stands for right now, please inform me. If anyone else cares to chime in, please do. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_2kgt Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 http://www.cg-lock.com/ --chad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gills Posted February 12, 2005 Author Share Posted February 12, 2005 Wow, very cool. I think i may just stick with that. I still would like to see other peoples opinions though. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuperdave Posted February 13, 2005 Share Posted February 13, 2005 I've been using one of those C-G locks in my 92 Civic for a while now and really like it. It was not expensive, was easy to install on my stock belts, and seems to keep me planted in my stock seats WAY!! better than my belts alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick 95 6sp Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 I got C-G Locks late last year and I really like them a lot. I got one for me and one for the passenger. After you pull em up tight, they keep your butt planted very VERY securely. Of course they provide no upper body support but the normal shoulder part of stock belts still work as intended. Of course these are not a replacement for a racing harness but I think they're better than stock belts alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FocusTed Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 I Also use the CG-Lock System. Used it the whole year in TT last year. I love it. It's a great why to hold yourself in the seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berner1 Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 One possible solution is to get a roll bar instead of a harness bar. These are much less intrusive for daily driver use, will give you the harness attachment and the protection of a roll bar without a full cage. Autopower Industries makes bolt-in roll bars for many cars. I/O Port sells the API roll bars. They don't cost much more than the harness bar. Just search the web.[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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