I'm trying to decide whether to buy some R1 suede seats or not from a boardmember on here and they appear to be charcoal color. My FD interior is black and the R1 seats for sale look almost dark grey. Is this the correct color that came on black interior R1's?

I want the R1 seats as they don't slip/slide like leather.

I plan to do a few HPDE road race days and will be using 5pt belts. Will these seats be usable with them?

Thanks in advance,


-Mark

 

My black R1 has Charcol seats.......

 

You can use the stock seats with a 5-pt harness (provided you have an aftermarket rear harness bar or roll bar).

 

I hooked mine to the strut tower bar in the rear. In good time the roll bar will be here.

 

You did use an aftermarket rear strut tower bar and NOT the stock one, right?

 

Uhh no. Was that a bad thing (thats kinda why I posted, to see what others would say)?

The dude who sold them to me said that was where he had them hooked to. I still have the stock seat belt and use that all the time. I have yet to take my car to the track so the only time I have harnnessed up is in my drive way.

Thanks

 

NEVER USE THE STOCK REAR SHOCK TOWER BRACE FOR A HARNESS MOUNT!

Pop off the plastic endcovers and look at the structural strength of the bolt section -- it probably wouldn't hold you in a 40 mph crash, let alone a track incident.

Yes you can use 5-point harness with the stock seats, but I would just get a 4-point Schroth and not have to drill a big hole in my floorboard.

 

Well I guess that answers it. I will come up with an aftermarket rear strut tower bar soon then. I received miss information in the past, thanks for clearing things up.

 

Yea, RTS3GEN here on the forum demonstrated how bad the stock rear strut bar is for harness support by bending it on his knee.

M2 and Rotary Extreme both carry rear bars made for harness supports.

 

Thanks

 

umm dont use a harness unless you got a cage....

do you really wanna be held perfectly straight up if you roll your car...nope

 

While that is a concern on the track, some roll bars/cages are problems on the street (since your head can bounce off them without a helmet on in case of an accident).

IMO, I'm more likely to have someone hit me on the street when I'm not wearing a helmet than I am to roll my car on the track.

 

I disagree with the 4 point statement. Some experienced opinions on the subject: http://www.nasaracing.net/pHP_BB/php...opic.php?t=512
Safety equipment is always a big debate.
My opinion is that you shouldn't run harnesses without some rollover protection. And, you shouldn't run a roll cage on the street where your head can hit the exposed bars. A 4pt roll bar is a compromise. On the street you'd have to be rearended pretty hard and break the seat back to hit your head on a 4pt bar.

 

Can you really use proper 5 point setup set belts with the stock seats? Isn't the crotch anchor point supposed to be kinda... well you know, near your package? I'd imagine that if you used the stock seats, your 5th point would be too far forward... I dunno... am I wrong here?

Brian

 

good point

 

I mounted mine where the stock floormat tab was. If you pull the sub belt tight it will crush the seat foam and keep the lap belt in place. I haven't had an issue with the lap belt riding up on me. I showed this to a couple safety stewards and their opinion is it's not optimum, but good enough to do it's job. Of course they always throw in that safety equipment works together and a race seat with the proper sub belt hole and back brace is needed to be most effective. Like EVERYTHING on a street/track car, it's a compromise.

 

Not only head hitting the cage would concern me but if I were in a rollover I wouldnt want to be wearing a harness if the roof collapses. The shoulder belt will push me to the center of the car when the roof comes down, the harness will hold me vertical and use my neck to support the roof.

 

And we're not talking about a race car either. I think a 5-point harness is a little overkill for HDPE events....

 

Roll cages/bars are designed to be used with helmets. Since most people don't keep their FD as a dedicated track car, they will be driving them on the street most likely MORE than they are on the track.

My point was, if you look back at the original message, is that there is no middle ground for safety for a track/street car. You have to pick one side or the other. In my case, I'm more likely to have someone hit me on the street than I am to roll my car at the track (as my car is NOT a dedicated track car).

 

they kinda fade to a charcoaly color, they were almost matching when the car was new

 

thanks for the replies guys.... Clarified a few things.

I plan to get the R1 seats and then do a bolt in roll bar with X brace out back to attach the 5 point belts to.

I'm shooting for 2600lbs without driver and 425rwhp/400rwtq. Should be plenty of power to have fun with at the track.

See some of you at the track hopefully before 2004 is out.

-Mark