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Are race seats safer than factory seats?

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I quit racing for almost 2 yrs after watching this happen to my buddys 86 stretched t bird with a Tommy Mauney chassis

212-1.jpg

211.jpg


you can see the top side bar over his head broke and somehow a peice of metal ran up his back ... the seat is twisted an torn where the shoulder belts go through
 
Kevin,

I think that jr. dragsters are a great way to get young people involved in our sport. Neck braces and gloves are a no brainer. They are inexpensive, effective and should be part of any racer's routine. If your daughter grew up racing and using all the right equipment, she'll feel weird without it.

I see so many people in our Buick community take the safety equipment way too lightly. Things can go really bad even in a 12 or 13 second car and there is a lot of kinetic energy involved. Better safe than sorry. I'll spend my money on safety gear before I'll make my car any faster.

Dave
 
turbodave231 said:
Kevin,

I think that jr. dragsters are a great way to get young people involved in our sport. Neck braces and gloves are a no brainer. They are inexpensive, effective and should be part of any racer's routine. If your daughter grew up racing and using all the right equipment, she'll feel weird without it.

I see so many people in our Buick community take the safety equipment way too lightly. Things can go really bad even in a 12 or 13 second car and there is a lot of kinetic energy involved. Better safe than sorry. I'll spend my money on safety gear before I'll make my car any faster.

Dave
Click to expand...

Yup for sure,she is not happy doing Girly stuff so i figure if she drives my cars at least I have some say:eek:She wants an Altered and that ain't happening:wink:mom said so,no 200 mph cars:biggrin:

Kevin
 
look at what road racers have for safety standards- even the "cheap" series like the 24 hours of LeMons and Chumpcar require fixed back race seats and SFI certified belts to be used and they have all sorts of rules about the roll cages. they are even getting to the point where they almost require the use of something like a Hans device in place of the standard cheap neck brace.
and these are $500 cars that are mostly lucky to get over 100mph..

after looking into the way road racers are built, i have a hard time thinking that most drag cars would be safe if most of the safety gear actually gets put to a test.
 
novaderrik said:
look at what road racers have for safety standards- even the "cheap" series like the 24 hours of LeMons and Chumpcar require fixed back race seats and SFI certified belts to be used and they have all sorts of rules about the roll cages. they are even getting to the point where they almost require the use of something like a Hans device in place of the standard cheap neck brace.
and these are $500 cars that are mostly lucky to get over 100mph..

after looking into the way road racers are built, i have a hard time thinking that most drag cars would be safe if most of the safety gear actually gets put to a test.
Click to expand...
Very good point here I have seen road Race Cars roll over at 65-70mph and flip end to end hitting the wall. When We have been at the drag stripe I have seen very few 12-11 sec. cars have any issues its when your going a lot faster that things normally get a bit out of hand. Hence the NHRA Rule 11.49 or faster has to have a cage. I know many people in our area that go way faster with no cage but we all have kids and drive our cars on the street. We dont go balls to the wall with the kids in the car or the wife even but when alone or on a track we sure as heck do :) It is personal Pref. and what you really do with your car that deems the safety stuff is needed. If your going to the track 1 or 2 times a year (Such as my self) But drive the car almost every weekend with the fam in the car how practical is it to have them jumping around a cage to get in and out? Or strapping a Car seat in and out? If you have done it ya know its a pain. I sold my GN with a 10 Point in it and got a stocker no cage T-type for that reason. The T is almost as fast but man its more fun to use. Some day it will get a cage but for now I have to live without it.
 
2QUICK2B6 said:
I quit racing for almost 2 yrs after watching this happen to my buddys 86 stretched t bird with a Tommy Mauney chassis

212-1.jpg

211.jpg


you can see the top side bar over his head broke and somehow a peice of metal ran up his back ... the seat is twisted an torn where the shoulder belts go through
Click to expand...
That would have scared the crap outa me too :(
 
1987T said:
:) It is personal Pref. and what you really do with your car that deems the safety stuff is needed.
Click to expand...

No,

I'll agree to disagree with you. If you take your car down the 1320, You should be smart enough to have and use all the required safety equipment. The requirements for a 10.00 car are NOT that hard to meet!! If you never intend on taking your car down the dragstrip, then you get to decide.

Yes, a dual purpose car is a pain crawling around the roll bar to get to into the back seat etc. But if you have the roll bar, you (and your family) will be safe. I have seen MANY severe crashes occur in 12 and 11 second cars. If you race, It is NOT a personal preference as to what safety equipment you choose to install. The track officials decide what you can and will get away with. Some tracks are VERY casual about safety and other enforce the rules to the letter. The NHRA and IHRA rules are very clear. And the rules were not written without considerable forethought. A 3500 lbs car traveling at 100 MPH has considerable kinetic energy and things can go bad very quickly. Trust me, I've seen it happen......and its never pretty.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Dave
 
turbodave231 said:
No,

I'll agree to disagree with you. If you take your car down the 1320, You should be smart enough to have and use all the required safety equipment. The requirements for a 10.00 car are NOT that hard to meet!! If you never intend on taking your car down the dragstrip, then you get to decide.

Yes, a dual purpose car is a pain crawling around the roll bar to get to into the back seat etc. But if you have the roll bar, you (and your family) will be safe. I have seen MANY severe crashes occur in 12 and 11 second cars. If you race, It is NOT a personal preference as to what safety equipment you choose to install. The track officials decide what you can and will get away with. Some tracks are VERY casual about safety and other enforce the rules to the letter. The NHRA and IHRA rules are very clear. And the rules were not written without considerable forethought. A 3500 lbs car traveling at 100 MPH has considerable kinetic energy and things can go bad very quickly. Trust me, I've seen it happen......and its never pretty.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Dave
Click to expand...

Well let me send you into a spin a little more lol Here in our area Street Racing is a live and well ;) No cage makes big $$ cause you can lie and say it only goes 11.90 when it goes 10.90 and make big cash ;) If its got a cage in it they know the rules for it so they also know its faster than you say it is :) We also have 1 track day a month here that is just like street racing no tech no inspections no rules you run what ya got all out and no one says a word :)
Am I going to say its a smart thing? NOPE It aint never gonna be but its sure is fun! And the cage is a HUGE pain when you have 2 baby seats to shove in and out and kids to put in them. And trust me when the kids are in the car there are no speeds higher than freeway or slower :) I would hope no one was that stupid.
 
It's always an inconvience to add more safety equipment, or put car seats in and out, or wear a seat belt ....but, ask anyone who has been in an accident or survivors of someone who died in an accident how that's working for them. It's an easy choice. I would rather know that with a roll bar or cage I'm going to walk away and see my kids again, than worry about a couple hundred bucks I'm winning from a squirrel in a street race.... Just my opinion.
 
Since this seems to be a hot subject these days I'm gonna bring up Odells wreck at BG. If he didn't have the cage in it he woudn't be here right now. We also had another wrech just recently in a 10 second car and all he had was a 6 point cage. He's recovering right now with a lot of injuries and it proves that ecen a seasoned racer like Scott can have a bad day. It's there for your safety, not ours, and the fact that you're dumb enough to even consider driving fast enough to ruin not only your day but your families.:)
 
Trust me, You won't send me into a SPIN!!!! I'm not naive!!

Street Racing in the Detroit area is BIG!, Lots of money changing hands. Seems like we hear about illegal Street racing on the news at least couple times a year. The Legit racers get painted with the same broad brush as the illegal street racers. When this happens, the public, law enforcement and our legislators think that all racers are irresponsible. This is never good for our sport and hobbies.

We have "Street Legal" racing at our local tracks too ........but the track owners are smart enough to keep control and inspect the cars for safety equipment. They ask racers to leave when they go too fast.

There are plenty of the Midnight Free-for-All track rentals around the country. These are just street racing on private property. The participants and the track owners at these "events" are all irresponsible in my opinion. Gambling, Drugs and Prostitution are rampant at some of these events. These aren't the type of events I consider fun.

I started this forum to promote safety, responsibility and awareness of safety issues. Don't be surprised if complaints about safety equipment being inconvenient fall on deaf ears in this forum.
 
My main track car is an 87 GN with a 7.5 cert. I run 8.60's.

It is always a good idea to run more cage. Bad things can happen at 158.


I go to a lot of tracks that don't tech cars properly. Most will let you break the rules three times (speed warnings) before you have to quit.

If tracks were stronger on rules racers would have to conform to regulations.

Everyone knows someone with an out of date or never certified cage.

It seams like my race is always directly after some junk street car gets done spewing oil down my lane.

I just got a new fire suit from my lovely wife Susan (Christmass Gift) and will be upgrading my helmet soon.

What is the device that attaches the helmet to a back brace? Does this interfere with a regular aluminium seat like an 18" kirky?
 
In the summer I drive my GN every chance I get I have to kids one is in a car seat. My car right now is getting a 4 point put in it I can always add the door bars later. We are making the cross bar behind the seats removable so that when I have the kids with I can just take the bar out and put it in the trunk. I may do this with the door bars to haven’t decided yet. But my point is I don’t think it will be in the way of the kids getting in and out. I also plan on having the bar padded and covered so it matches my car and gives some padding in case the kids do somehow hit the bar. I was just in here looking for ideas when I seen this thread. Chances are my car will never go in to the 10s and maybe not even 11.50 but I wanted it there for peace of mind. I was just going to post what you guys would think would be better a slandered 4 point or a 4 point that instead of having bars to the rear has the cage around the driver this would leave the bars going to the trunk off and I wouldn’t have to worry about the kids knocking their heads on them. I know neither would pass tech but like I said my car won’t be going faster than low 11s.
 
681tonburb said:
In the summer I drive my GN every chance I get I have to kids one is in a car seat. My car right now is getting a 4 point put in it I can always add the door bars later. We are making the cross bar behind the seats removable so that when I have the kids with I can just take the bar out and put it in the trunk. I may do this with the door bars to haven’t decided yet. But my point is I don’t think it will be in the way of the kids getting in and out. I also plan on having the bar padded and covered so it matches my car and gives some padding in case the kids do somehow hit the bar. I was just in here looking for ideas when I seen this thread. Chances are my car will never go in to the 10s and maybe not even 11.50 but I wanted it there for peace of mind. I was just going to post what you guys would think would be better a slandered 4 point or a 4 point that instead of having bars to the rear has the cage around the driver this would leave the bars going to the trunk off and I wouldn’t have to worry about the kids knocking their heads on them. I know neither would pass tech but like I said my car won’t be going faster than low 11s.
Click to expand...

It's easy to make the rear bars high, and out of the way. My street car has a Crome Molly 8 point. The rear bars going to the trunk stay tight to the roof line and come down tight to the rear glass and through the speaker holes. I had to move the speakers inward. The bar across the back of the seats is a pain for passengers but for kids it's no problem. I can pass tech for 10.0 and everything is still stock interior. With the exception of a 5 point harness. Not to sure if the stock seat with the harness is legal. I think it really requires strap location holes.
Maybe someone can chime in on this rule...
 
justcrusin' said:
It's easy to make the rear bars high, and out of the way. My street car has a Crome Molly 8 point. The rear bars going to the trunk stay tight to the roof line and come down tight to the rear glass and through the speaker holes. I had to move the speakers inward. The bar across the back of the seats is a pain for passengers but for kids it's no problem. I can pass tech for 10.0 and everything is still stock interior. With the exception of a 5 point harness. Not to sure if the stock seat with the harness is legal. I think it really requires strap location holes.
Maybe someone can chime in on this rule...
Click to expand...
Would you mind taking some pics of the set up? I doubt that I'll put a bar in my car but I'd like to see what you've done with it.
 
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