Is there any kind of kit that would add shoulder harness (4 or 5 point) to the Racaro seats. Something that would "plug" into the cars existing electronics and not require a roll bar?

When you guys go racing do you have to have shoulder harnesses or is the stock restraint system OK? I know rules are different every where but I would think that with the racing seats installed some may require a 4,5 or 6 point restaint system.

 

I've been racing my 95 R for a few years now, and can say that the factory seat belts will definitely not hold you in place for a serious track session. You'll want a five point harness, but I'm not aware of any that plug into the cars' seat belt sensors. The real question here is how do you plan to attach the shoulder belts? About your only real options are a harness bar that runs behind the seats (several companies sell these) or a full on cage to attach the shoulder belts. The waist belts can attach to the same bolts that the factory seat belts attach to.

 

You can't run a 5-point on the stock Recaros because they don't have the opening for the submarine belt in the seat. You can run a 4-point. There are tradeoffs though without a roll bar. The car's safety equipment is designed to work with the factory 3 point harness. If you track it with a 4 or 5 point harness, you are less safe in a roll over as the harness pins you in place if the roof caves on the driver side. Personally, I'm not going to add the harness until I put in a roll bar. I'll probably do a roll bar versus a full cage since I'm planning to keep it streetable, but initially will just run the 3 pt for HPDE events. HPDE events do not require a cage or harness. The factory Recaros will not hold you in like a harness, but will hold you better than regular factory leather seats.

 

I was wondering about the seats and if they would have an opening in the front. I don't know how comfortable I would be with just a 4 point harness without the submarine belt. And you are exactly right about a full harness without a roll bar. I may have to talk to Rehagen Racing about putting in a nice roll bar. In fact, if the roll bar would be painted the same color as my rear cross brace, it would look pretty kick ***.

 

I'll let them practice on your car first, and then send mine up there.............

 

I assumed I was missing something in the pictures out there. To me it makes no sense to have racing seat with the slots for shoulder harnesses but no slot on the bottom. It has a been many years since I was racing and as far as I remember NHRA required at least a 5 point system if you installed a roll bar.

I will have to think about it some more and would appreciate if any of you do modify your Boss to share the info and pics with us. However if it requires not only adding a roll bar but replacing the seats I doubt I will go down that road.

 

I was reading the 2011 rules for NASA. As of April 2011, for the HDPE only fully stock or 5+ point competition seat belt systems will be allowed. NO 4 point systems are permitted, regardless of their certification. 5+ point seat belt systems must conform to NASA's competition regulation 15.5.

http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/ccr.pdf

 

Are CG locks legal in these race leagues?

 

Having seen and sat in the seat it's not a racing seat. It's a sport seat and nothing more. I did not order them.

 

I also did not order them for a similar reason. They are more supportive but in terms of their full functionality as an actual racing seat, there would have to be changes made to the car that I am not willing to do.

 

I ordered them for two reasons. First of all I wanted the Torsen differential so had to get the seats. Secondly, having run my GT500 with the factory leather seats and restraints and running fast lap times despite having to hold myself in through the high G turns, I knew these seats were an upgrade. I was just about ready to pull the trigger on a roll bar, seats and harnesses for the GT500 when the Boss came out. I'll start with the factory Recaros, but if I am happy with the Boss' track performance, will likely do a roll bar, seat and harness next winter.

 

CG Lock should be sufficient for HPDE use.

If you're really set on getting 4-points, look up "harness bar" online.

 

Same here, if the Torsen was a stand alone option I may have just ordered that. The seats do add a "cool" factor to the car but the factory seats with the Boss 302 logo still look very nice.

 

Good research! I wasn't aware that the Recaros don't have a slot for the anti-submarine belt.

 

Do the recaros at least have the leg extender, under the knee ?

I run my anti submarine belt thru that on the recaro seats in my 2000 R, and attached to a welded tab on the floor with no problem.

 

If you look at the picture in this post, you will see it does not have leg extenders.

 

I actually didn't order them for another reason. My kids will be sitting in the back seat a lot and the Recaro's are very large around the shoulder and I thought it would make seeing out of the back difficult. Also wasn't sure if they would make it more difficult to get in and out of the back seat. Oh the sacrifices we make for our children. After checking out the seats much closer last weekend I'm rethinking that and may add them to my order since mine hasn't been serialized yet. Decisions decisions. They are nice seats and remind me a lot of the sport seats that were in my 1980 Porsche 911 SC Weissach. I'm not going to add a harness so that's not a factor for me.

BTW I did not see a leg extender but the drivers seat does have height adjustment.

 

Understand that And yes, they are a nice seat for sure. Since I would have passengers in the car, I also assumed their ride comfort would be important to consider, especially since I don't plan on lots of road course events. While I'd be having a lovely time in the snug seats, my wife might not!

I would have liked to have the Torsen by itself.

 

At first I thought that but you can see by the seat pics from the L.A. show they do not. The first pics I saw were from the back of the seat looking forward and it seemed that it had it.

I had a 1987 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, the seats had them and I loved it. That was a great car but had many small problems. Still would love to restore one, drove it from VA to FL without stopping for gas!

 

I was curious how close the Recaro's in the Boss are to the one's I had in my Porsche so I found a photo. They were made my Recaro and are pretty close.