Racing Helmets
 

Damn - I wish I did a search before buying my open faced helmet but at this point, that is the least of my worries.

I'm running with a few people at Buttonwillow on the 17th but I'm finding that my helmet I just bought (HJC CS-5) *really* makes me have to compromise my driving position.

I'm about 6', 210# and with this ungodly helmet on, have to lean the seat back almost all the way back and can barely see over the dash. Is this common amongst everyone who road races here? Are there "low profile" racing helmets?

Thanks.

I don't know of any..

That's why my car has the seat bolted to the floor, no brackets.

Good luck!

PaulC

DamonB is 6'-4" and has to shrug his head forward when his helmet is on or his head hits the roofliner in his FD with stock seats :o:

FEED makes lower position seat rails. maybe just lowering your seat would help you guys out.

I nearly hit the roofliner without a helmet so this is going to be interesting.

And where would I find these FEED seat rails? I looked at jt-imports and the rx7-store but no luck.

I'm 6'2" and the top of my helmet is a mess after the last five years of scraping on the roof in my 1st gen. I think no matter what the seat rails have to go. It's the only way to get the 2"+ drop you need. Hell, I'm even debating cutting the tops off the rail mounts in the car so I can drop the seat further.

-Trent

I asked about this on the 3rd Gen forum and was recommended the Corbeau A4 or CR1 seat as a replacement for the stock. Mounted on the Corbeau rails you'll gain 2-3" and if you mounted it without rails you could probably gain a bit more (2-3" is all I needed).

i saw them on the FEED website. i emailed jason at jt-imports and he said he could get them for me. i dont need it though as i am 5'6. but when i switched to racing seats my chairs sit alittle bit higher. anyways i would just email jt-imports and ask him how much.

I had to cut out the stock seat rails and go to a Corbeau seat in my first gen to get clearance for my noggin. Once I did that, I have about 1 1/2" clearance, and I'm 6'1". The side of my helmet still whacks the roll cage, though. BTW, SA rated helmets have thicker padding and are externally larger than a comparable M rated helmet, so that's about half the problem.

Svelte,

I'm 6'4" and headroom with a helmet is a problem.

This has helped enormously. Remove driver's seat, take off back, remove seat bottom upholstery, and "shave" the seat bottom cushion foam. By memory you can take out 1.5" of foam and once the cover is put back on it still looks "unmolested".

Getting any seat to be lower than the stock one is practically impossible, unless mounted straight to the floor. With the stock seats you are essentially sitting between the rails.

David

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to see if I can fabricate some brackets out of aluminum so I can position the seat closer to the floor but if nothing else works, I may have to resort to such "surgery."

Try reclining the seat. I know it sound simple but I try and encorage students to do this to promote looking further down the track. Esentially I'm changing the possible angle of sight down the hood. Here's the test, sit in your car and if you can see the hood you are sitting too upright and not looking far enough down the track. Most say after that it feels like they are sitting on the floor of the car and they are amazed at the headroom they have. By comparison I'm 6'0" and in my FC racecar I have a good 6-7 inches of head room. My line of sight is just above the sterring wheel.

That's about the line of sight I forced into with the helmet on - right above the steering wheel. It's just completely opposite of what I like but you're supposed to look where you want to go, right?

I would never consider reclining the seat at the expense of straightening my arms.

you can get a steering wheel that sticks out further than stock cant you?