mx5cartalk.com

Guys,

I want to get a harness for the track days i'm going to start attending now that the car is sorted.
What are you running and what do you recommend? I've had one recommendation for a SAAS FIA approved 5-point harness which I can get quite cheaply, is this any good?

It will be fitted over the factory SE seats at this stage.

Thanks,
Dino.

I've got a set of 2" 4 point Clippans. They are cheap, which is good but they have a standard seat belt clip in the middle. this puts the two shoulder straps further apart on your middle than optimum. When combined with a stock seat which forces the straps to the outer parts of your shoulders it is less than ideal.

If you get wider straps, they'll be wide on your shoulders and more twisted at the seat.

So, with a stock seat there isn't a perfect solution. I'll be going for a race seat and will probably upgrade to 3" belts then too.

M

I just use a 6 point autotechnica harness. They're about $200 and are designed to also accomodate sedans with rear seats. So they should fit over the standard seats easy. You don't have to use the 5th and 6th point either.

I use a 3" sparco cam lock harness (run 4 points). It's nice and comfortable and easy to get in and out of often.

I'm not a fan of 4 point harnesses as their rather easy to submarine out of in an accident, spearing you down into the footwell area - not good. And once you have a 6 point harness you'll never feel safe in anything else.

Personally I run a Scroth 6 point in the 5 and find it quite good. Demon Tweeks in the UK are a good source of stuff like this, they have all of the brands.

I'd love a 6 point, mine can run as a 5 point but I don't have a middle anchor point.

Thanks guys, some food for thought indeed! Looks like I will be able to get the SAAS 5-point for a good price new, so might give them a run and see how we go.

The harness eye-lets come with the kit right? I want to mount it to my twin hoop MX-5 plus style/roll bar.

I got 5 eye bolts with the autotechnica harness. I'd call and ask though to be sure.

Aside from any safety issues it's worth mentioning that when you go to the 5 or 6 point harnesses you also get the ability to pull all the straps down really tight without the buckle riding up into your gut. This helps lock you into the seat a whole lot better than you can with a 4 point setup. I haven't tried 2" belts but with 3" belts you can basically make it tight enough so that you are at one with the seat.

The difference in track driving is pretty noticeable. It improves your times because you need to use your hands only to drive, not hang on.

If you dont have a roll bar what part of the car are you bolting the harness to? (Dont want to drill holes if I can avoid it)

Can it ever "legeally" replace a seat belt for daily driving? Or I put the harness on AND the seatbelt over it?

but drilling holes will save weight

Would this ever be a GB item?

I kida want a 5 point tho...

Ok, so I got it and fitted it today. 3" five-point harness, my questions:

Where do you mount the two side/hip restraints too? Do you replace the factory seat belt holder bolt with the eyelet and same with the buckle/clasp bolt??
Where do you bolt the 5th crotch strap to under the seat?

PASHN8 wrote:Where do you mount the two side/hip restraints too? Do you replace the factory seat belt holder bolt with the eyelet and same with the buckle/clasp bolt??
Where do you bolt the 5th crotch strap to under the seat?

One hip restraint will replace the factory lower seat belt mount, the other will need to be mounted against the transmission tunnel, near the base. (since the seat belt buckle is seat mounted on NB's)
As for the 5th one this will require it's own mounting point, on my 6 point there are 2 mounts with backing plates on the floor behind the seat so they don't restrict the seat being moved forwards or backwards.

Ok, so the transmission tunnel mount will need to be drilled and fixed with a backing plate? Do you need to get in there from under the car?
I've mounted it to the factory seat belt buckle mount but it seems a tight fit against the trans tunnel