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Time for a harness? Autocross vid

noz-e8tr

noz-e8tr

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 27, 2003
Location
Ocean Springs, MS
Although I didn't beat them, I did pretty well today against a lot of more powerful cars. Got several comments of respect. I flogged the Volvo about as hard as I could. I'll know more when they post the results. I'll be glad when this course is done. They run the same course for 3 consecutive months, then switch. It's a fun course, but I need more power to really do well on it.


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sIZgt7V89ow" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
A harness always helps, more than most people realize until they drive a car that has one. Is this a regional SCCA event, or a local club running this event? I ask because the fact that they run the same course over and over is not at all what autocross per SCCA rules is about. The course has to change every event. Think about it. I come and run an event with you guys. I've never seen the course before. You guys can drive it in your sleep. :-P
 
I would go with better seats before a harness. That way you retain the safety function of your stock seat belts.
 
mopar318 said:
I would go with better seats before a harness. That way you retain the safety function of your stock seat belts.
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You have to be careful of that though. IIRC, harnesses can be added to any car without changing the class, depending on how you mount them. Seats, not so with rules in the past. I have to spend some time and read through the 2014 SCCA rules I downloaded from their website. There has been quite a few changes in the last 2-3 years.

Edit:

I just reviewed the 2014 rules. No changes allowed to the seat in street class. I'm betting that has no effect on what you're doing. You are probably already way out of street class. I stick to street class to keep my car competitive for a very reasonable budget. A seat mod will take me from FS and put me in ESP. Add $20,000 to the budget to remain competitive in order to have a better seat.
 
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mopar318 said:
I would go with better seats before a harness. That way you retain the safety function of your stock seat belts.
Click to expand...

yea. a good fixed back seat is all you really need. Putting a 5 point harness on a factory seat isn't really gonna give you the support you need.

Better to run a stock seat belt on a nice fixed back with proper support.
 
I think a good seat will be next. A couple of guys are using cg-locks and give high reviews. Perhaps a nice seat and cg-locks on my factory belts will do for now. If only someone made adapters for a fixed seat that would mount to our factory slide rails.

www.cg-locks.com
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blkaplan said:
yea. a good fixed back seat is all you really need. Putting a 5 point harness on a factory seat isn't really gonna give you the support you need.

Better to run a stock seat belt on a nice fixed back with proper support.
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2manyturbos said:
You have to be careful of that though. IIRC, harnesses can be added to any car without changing the class, depending on how you mount them. Seats, not so with rules in the past. I have to spend some time and read through the 2014 SCCA rules I downloaded from their website. There has been quite a few changes in the last 2-3 years.

Edit:

I just reviewed the 2014 rules. No changes allowed to the seat in street class. I'm betting that has no effect on what you're doing. You are probably already way out of street class. I stick to street class to keep my car competitive for a very reasonable budget. A seat mod will take me from FS and put me in ESP. Add $20,000 to the budget to remain competitive in order to have a better seat.
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Nobody really cares if you are running stock class and change your seat unless you are competing on a National level.

I would rather be bumped a class anyways, and not have to worry about my junk being ripped off in an accident with the harnesses.:-P
 
South Texas Boarder Region (STBR SCCA). And I agree. We have voiced our opinion at meetings and hopefully we will be seeing more courses. This region has been around for many years and ran by the same handful. Not giving them a hard time, they've kept the club alive. But it is time for some changes. Last year we tried a new, much more challenging course. It was met with a lot of resistance. Complaints of track condition, complaints of excessive tire wear. Mostly I think it was resistance to change as 95% of the complaints came for the "old timers". Corpus Christi does not have a very good history when it comes to motorsports. We had a drag strip, it closed due to lack of interest, we had mud bogs, it closed, we had a dirt track for bikes, it closed. The next closest track for anything is 2.5 hours away in San Antonio. So that being said, yes I would like to see changes, but I'm still very happy just to have a local place the flog the Volvo.


2manyturbos said:
Is this a regional SCCA event, or a local club running this event? I ask because the fact that they run the same course over and over is not at all what autocross per SCCA rules is about. The course has to change every event. Think about it. I come and run an event with you guys. I've never seen the course before. You guys can drive it in your sleep. :-P
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I agree Ben. Once I get the t5 swap done and all sorted out, I'll be looking at a seat upgrade. Don't worry, you will be getting a big chunk of my business. Oh, and just in case nobody has mentioned it lately, I really do appreciate your work/products on Volvos. Infact here is a shout out to every one here making products for our bricks. Thanks

blkaplan said:
you need a Sparco EvoXL
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mopar318 said:
Nobody really cares if you are running stock class and change your seat unless you are competing on a National level.
Click to expand...

How long have you been autocrossing and with how many different clubs? What I've seen over the years amazes me just how low some drivers will stoop to win in their class. That is why I pay attention to the rules. Drive 500 miles round trip to participate in an event, just to have someone protest some minor change that has absolutely no affect on performance just to get the person that finished ahead of them disqualified so they place higher. I've seen it happen too many times over the years.
 
I'll be thrown into a prepared class with the t5 swap regardless. Had to leave the stock class behind when I mounted the NT01s. I'll try to stay in prepared class as long as I can, but eventually, I'll end up in a modified class. I don't try to hide my mods or anything. If I do well, I want to do it fair.

2manyturbos said:
How long have you been autocrossing and with how many different clubs? What I've seen over the years amazes me just how low some drivers will stoop to win in their class. That is why I pay attention to the rules. Drive 500 miles round trip to participate in an event, just to have someone protest some minor change that has absolutely no affect on performance just to get the person that finished ahead of them disqualified so they place higher. I've seen it happen too many times over the years.
Click to expand...
 
noz-e8tr said:
I'll be thrown into a prepared class with the t5 swap regardless. Had to leave the stock class behind when I mounted the NT01s. I'll try to stay in prepared class as long as I can, but eventually, I'll end up in a modified class. I don't try to hide my mods or anything. If I do well, I want to do it fair.
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That wasn't directed at you. I was asking Mopar318. I figured both of you are well beyond Street Class. BTW, Stock Class is now Street Class. :) You probably already know that. There isn't anyone I know of that has it in their vocabulary yet. Even the club officers can't get it right.

I was just trying to point out just how serious it gets trying to win a little plastic trophy. People that will spend $200,000 building a car to win bragging rights can get pretty pissy about the little things. I actually saw someone protest his competitor, after all his runs were made of course, because the guy had drilled a hole in his interior panel so he could adjust his shocks with a T handle Allen wrench. The officials denied his protest, saying, "There was no significant performance gain due to the few grains of weight reduction." Seriously, it happened. If I thought about it long enough, I could come up with several more instances of such petty attempts to get someone disqualified in order to take their place on the podium. They loose everyone's respect doing such crap, however, it doesn't seem to matter since they get the little blue ribbon. :rofl:
 
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