fit with a helmet?

[nostatic]

so how the hell do you guys fit with a helmet? If I scrunch down or hunch over I can fit, but if I sit up straight, the top of the helmet bangs into the roof. I'm 6'1" and the seat is stock. I didn't see any spacers or anything moving the seat up. Maybe an aftermarket seat will drop me down a bit?

[Vipergrün]

Actually, in my experience, the stock seat is lower than some aftermarket seats. Have you tried reclining it a bit? I suppose you could remove the lower pad while at the track.....maybe not..

So, are you going to Willow next week

-B

[nostatic]

Originally posted by bb80sc
So, are you going to Willow next week

If the good lord is willing and the creek don't rise...

[Tyson Schmidt]

Todd, you can usually remove the rear bottom seat pas from the race seat to give clearance. You also should sit in a lot of different race cars to see which seat fits you.

I can't tell you how many race cars I've had to custom lower the seat in for tall drivers. 6' 1" to 6' 2" seems to be the starting point.

Of course if you owned a non-sunroof coupe, this wouldn't be an issue.

[GrindingGears]

Yeah Todd I have the same problem w/o a helmet I'm also 6'1. The only solution is to sit with my seat back straight up like a dorkmeister.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by Tyson Schmidt
Todd, you can usually remove the rear bottom seat pas from the race seat to give clearance. You also should sit in a lot of different race cars to see which seat fits you.

I can't tell you how many race cars I've had to custom lower the seat in for tall drivers. 6' 1" to 6' 2" seems to be the starting point.

Of course if you owned a non-sunroof coupe, this wouldn't be an issue.

yeah, the Recaro Speed didn't work for me, as I need to angle my legs out and the side cushions on the base made that impossible. I tried a Cobra that fit better, as did the Sparco Monza, but both of those require custom mounts...

As for the non-sunroof coupe, one of the cars I looked at before I bought mine was a '71T non-sunroof coupe that had a rebuilt s-spec 2.2 with Webers. I really liked that car, but it had a few issues.

[Tyson Schmidt]

So you have to angle your legs out for steering wheel clearance I assume?

Maybe if the seat was low enough, or you could get the hub extension wheel so that you could stretch you legs out straighter and still reach the steering wheel.

[nostatic]

I've already got a Smart Racing 1" extension (replaced a Momo 1/2" with it). I think it has to do with all those years of driving a bug or something...I don't like being near full leg extension when I push the clutch in.

I'll have to fiddle around with recline and seat fore/aft with the helmet on to see if I can find a "magic" position.

[Victor]

Search for the magic position. I am 6'2.5", have a HUGE head and fit no probs with a helmet on in stock seats. Just have to "slouch" a bit.

[DonNewton]

"I am 6'2.5", have a HUGE head and fit no probs " . . . So, very popular with all the girls are you (thanks Mel Brooks)?

[Dutchie]

Todd,

I,m 6.2 myself and have a Sparco Pro 2000 bolted on the stock rails. I have a about 5 centimeters headroom left but mine is a non sunroof coupe. The nice thing about a Sparco pro is that you can take out the cusion (hope i spell it right ) wich will give you 5 centimeters more headroom wich should be enough for you i think. I also have a 3 inch spacer on my sparco wheel wich helps a lot. Did you try with a Car helmet ? I have a Sparco helmet for my car and a Arai for my motorbike, the motorbike helmet is higher on top then the Car helmet.

[JackT]

All I have figured is to recline the seat. I want to keep the stock seats and I do have a sunroof. It is tight but once I get going on the track I forget all about it.

[85eurocarrera]

6'4" here. I removed some foam from the stock seat cushion. Bought me a couple inches. Still looks stock.

Joe

[chrisp]

With a sunroof the only way for taller drivers (I am 6'3" with a long-ish torso) is to cut out the seat rails. I have been working very hard on this project on and off for three years and I am as low as one can go with stock rails.

Here's my set up.
Buy a side mount seat (mine is a Sparco EVO2)

Take out the factory sliders.

Get custom brackets made. Have the brackets designed so the butt portion of the seat bottom hangs below the plane of the chassis rails.

Use an allen head bolt to mate bracket to chassis rail. My seat literally has between zero and .5mm of clearance with these bolt heads. I needest the lowest profile bolt head possible

Pull out all bottom seat cushioning

Drive with a little less leg extension than you would ultimately like so you can push up towards the higher parts of the roof line

Use driving shoes or wrestling shoes with the thinnest heel possible to take back some of the leg extension loss

Take out the floor mats to take back some more leg extension

Find a helmet that fits well in the car. (Bell's do not in my experience. They have a big forehead hump that contacts the headliner)

After all fo this work my helmet will often touch the headliner in my sunroof coupe. I currently use a Bell because I got a new Vortex for $200. My next helmet (when my SA95 runs out) will not be a Bell, although they do make a top quality helmet.

It's so low my 5'3" wife cannot see over the dash with seat cushions installed.

I am going to take the big step of cutting out the factory chassis rails and weld in a new seat frame using 1" square tubing suspending me between center tunnel and side rail. This should gain me another 1" to 1.5" if my estimates are correct. It will also help me achieve an ideal driving position. I am going to add an aluminum plate to back up the seat pan because I will be so low that any protrusion will compromise my seat.

For me slouching and having my head rest solidly against the headliner were not options for safety reasons. In a roll over (even with my roll bar) I suspect the roof will crush 2"-3". If I am in solid contact with the roof at the time I will get not only the shock when it hits the ground but the compressive forces through my vertebrae/spinal cord as it pushes me down into the immovable seat.

Good luck.

[}{arlequin]

once you tighten the harness, the shoulder straps will have you in an even more upright position (straight back) so whatever space you're looking to find, you may need another inch added to that

[Teutonics]

6'2" here, and I opted to have the seat mounts lowered. It made a huge difference (added more than an inch of clearance), and the car is much more enjoyable to drive, even without a helmet. Other drivers (5'6" wife, 5'7 father) don't find it a problem as they can use the height adjustment to bring the seat back up.

I posted pictures of the modification in this thread:

Seat Lowering Danger!

HTH.

[chrisp]

Pre-carrera's are different. We have wings that come off the tunnel and side rails. I think becuase of the mounting and dimensions the wings cannot be relocated like on your car. I wish they could.

[briansc]

6'5" '82 SC. I had the side rails cut out of the drivers side and then re-welded, with lateral bracing about 3/8" off the floor. Use the slide extensions that came with the Porsche sport seat, sparco side mounts and an EVO2 seat. The car actually now goes back too far and you sit very low. When at a DE instructors are always suprised how low the seat is. I did find however that going to the Sparco seat had much less effect than lowering the rails. To make more room for your legs and easier to get in and out get the 930S steering wheel.

[chrisp]

briansc where did you have the work done? What was the ballpark dollar figure?

Did you take the wings off and reposition them lower or did new wings need to be fabricated? Tell me more aobut the cross bracing if you can.

Thanks.

[briansc]

The repositioning of the seat was done by Kevin at Randolph Racing. Don't remember the exact price (a few hundred ?) My advice would be to retain the porsche seat first, and then purchase the Sparco or Recaro or whatever. The standard seat might give you all you can ask for.
Call Kevin @ Randolph Racing 781-344-1029. We need more SC' s at the NER autoX