Racecar Safety

[Dieselboy]

This topic arose in my build log and I think it deserves its own thread. This thread should be specific to E8X/E9X series cars. Please post photos and discuss your safety setups including: Harnesses and harness mounting, roll cages, fire suppression, gear (helmets, HANS, suits, gloves, etc.) and what series you race: AutoX, Track Days, TT, etc..

Hopefully we can generate a consensus and I will update the following post to include specific information and photos for each topic.

[Dieselboy]

**These are my suggestions for safe race car setups based on several racing organizations rulebooks**

Harness

-Recommended Harness Type

-The safest harness configuration currently available is the 6-point harness. This harness will keep you fully in place in the seat. The additional pair of straps between the legs helps to prevent the driver from submarining, a 6 point harness offers a significant improvement over a 4 point harness.

-A 2 inch harness belt fits better over the wings of the FHR device, helping to keep it firmly in place.

-Proper Belt Angles

-Shoulder straps should sit between 0° and 20° below horizontal when used with an FHR device. The closer to 0° the better.

-Looking down on the seat, the shoulder straps should be mounted between 20° - 25° from each other. If the mounting point is of sufficient distance away, belts will need to be crossed to achieve the desired angle. Shoulder straps over 200 mm long are permitted but not recommended..

-Lap straps should be mounted between 50° and 70° from the horizontal in a backwards direction from the seat when looking at the side.

-The sub straps should be mounted between 0° to minus 20° from the vertical center line when looking at the side of the seat.

-Mounting Points

-It is recommended that Lap and Sub mounting points utilize OEM safety belt mounting points.

-If unable to utilize the OEM mounting points while maintaining the correct belt angle, add mounting points by using load spreader plates to the body. For each new anchorage point created, a steel reinforcement plate with a surface area of at least 40 cm2 and a thickness of at least 3 mm must be used.

-Ensure the eye bolt ring is pointing in direction of pull (stress direction)

-To achieve optimal restraining function the belt strap lengths must be as short as possible.

-Resources

Schroth Installation and Operating Instructions for Racing Harnesses

Roll Cage/Bar

-In road racing or time attack, the term ‘cage’ for a roll-over/safety structure that extends forward of the driver’s seat, and includes door bars/side impact protection. Anything that is exclusively behind the seat is generally considered a ‘roll bar’.

-Bolt-in roll bars are a good intermediate step between no additional roll over/crash protection and a full cage. Bolt-in roll bars offer additional roll over protection (especially important if the car is equipped with fixed back seats) and provides mounting provision for the shoulder straps on six-point harnesses.

-Full roll cages should only be used in dedicated track cars that see no street use. Roll bars are recommended for cars that see track and street use.

[Dieselboy]

Fire Suppression

-All vehicles shall have a device (such as a fire bottle/fire extinguisher/fire suppression system) securely mounted with metal mounting brackets of the quick-release type within reach of the driver to suppress fires. Fire extinguisher bottles made of plastic or aerosol-type cans are prohibited.

-Fire extinguisher bottles should meet the following specifications:

-Halon 1301 or 1211, 2 pound minimum capacity by weight.

-Dry chemical, 2 pound minimum. Chemical: 10BC or 1A 10BC Underwriters Laboratory rating.

-All fire bottles should have a gauge indicating their charge status.

-It is highly recommended that a fire system be installed in addition to a securely mounted fire extinguisher. An on-board system uses lines routed through the car with a single actuator to engage in case of emergency. (Onboard fire systems will be required as of 01/01/2023 for NASA.)

-An on-board system shall use Novec 1230, Halon 1301, 1211, or Halotron I, hexafluoropropane, HFC-236a, CC0610, FE-36, five (5) pound minimum, with a minimum of two (2) nozzles (one (1) in cockpit and one (1) in engine bay) with manual or auto release.

-All system cylinders should be securely mounted with bolts.

-If an electric solenoid or switch is used to activate the fire suppression system, it should not lose power when the electrical master switch or vehicle ignition switch is turned off

-Vehicles with a fire extinguisher or suppression system must display one (1) “E” decal on the outside of the vehicle identifying the location of the fire extinguisher or fire suppression activation switch.

-Resources

SCCA Time Trials Safety Rules

NASA Club Codes and Regulations

Safety Gear

-Helmet

-All helmets must meet the latest or two immediately preceding Snell Foundadtion standards (SA2020, EA2016, SA2015) OR SFI standards 31.1/2015, 31.1/2020, 41.1/2010, 41.1/2015, 41.1/2020 OR FIA standards 8859-2015, 8860-2010.

-ECE 22.05 and R22.05 will be accepted until 12/31/22 but will not be accepted after that date. Following that date, ECE helmet standards will no longer be accepted.

-If using or planning to use a HANS device, be sure your helmet includes HANS anchors or a threaded insert for anchors to be added.

-HANS (Head And Neck Restraint)

-Use of a head and neck restraint system or device, carrying an SFI 38.1, FIA 8858-2002, or FIA 8858-2010 (or higher) certification label is recommended.

-Driving Suit

-Suit should cover your entire body except for hands, feet, and head. Driving suits shall be one piece carrying an SFI 3.2A/5 rating or higher (3.2A/10, 3.2A/15, or 3.2A/20) OR FIA 8856-2000 or 8856-2018.

-Gloves

-Gloves made of leather and/or accepted fire-resistant material containing no holes. Must leave no exposed skin when worn with the driving suit.

-Shoes

-Shoes, with uppers of leather and/or nonflammable material. Shoes must cover the entire foot so that there are no exposed areas of skin.

-Underwear/Socks

-Socks made of accepted fire-resistant material.

-Underwear certified to SFI 3.3 or FIA 8856-2000 is strongly recommended, but only required if using a 3.2A/1 SFI rated suit.

[Dieselboy]

Removing/Coding out Airbags

[amg6975]

This is going to be a great thread. The airbag topic is going to be spicy. I'd add a big red disclaimer "DO NOT EVER DO THIS!"

My personal opinion is I think with the proper track safety set up the airbags can/will do more harm than good so I completely removed the entire system from my car but to each their own.

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by amg6975

This is going to be a great thread. The airbag topic is going to be spicy. I'd add a big red disclaimer "DO NOT EVER DO THIS!"

My personal opinion is I think with the proper track safety set up the airbags can/will do more harm than good so I completely removed the entire system from my car but to each their own.

Do not ever do what?

[amg6975]

Originally Posted by DRLane

Do not ever do what?

Disable/Remove airbags.

I posted about it before when I was building my car and now I get PMs "My airbag sensor failed, can you tell me how to disable the whole system so the light turns off."

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by amg6975

Disable/Remove airbags.

I posted about it before when I was building my car and now I get PMs "My airbag sensor failed, can you tell me how to disable the whole system so the light turns off."

Fair - Just don't want to field the questions?

Your post above suggests that you're in agreement about removing from a proper spec'd track car. Which I agree with.

[amg6975]

Originally Posted by DRLane

Fair - Just don't want to field the questions?

Your post above suggests that you're in agreement about removing from a proper spec'd track car. Which I agree with.

Yes, for a properly equipped track car sure. I have people asking me how to disable them on their stock road car because they have a faulty sensor or something and don't want to fix it. Super sketch.

[mabrahams]

Man this brings me back to the good old days of bimmerforums when there were people debating plinth boxes and how "best" to design a roll-cage.

As you noted, it really depends on the ruleset of the organizing racing body but also the class (as well as budget). I also always look to the pro-teams to see how they approach designs (with a no limit budget right) but also from a safety stand point. https://www.motorsport24.de/bmw-e90-320si-wtcc/ for example.

I don't believe BMW Motorsport raced the E8X cars overseas but I know in the states there was a stint of ST cars (https://racecarsdirect.com/Advert/De...-st-bmw-1-seri and https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1027375

When it comes to fire suppression; I still remember the days when local club racers only having the bottle in their cars. Having the right locations of the suppression nossles (IE: on driver) would be the first critical point, then anything mechanical (IE: engine).

Don't forget the race suit in which they do offer different layers (read: seconds before burn) which should be considered given your budget.

I would also add to this which is we can prep the car(s) all we want but at the end of the day the driver is still in control (until the world ends and we just have autonomous cars racing)... which means, many of us are no pros; which also means (generally speaking) we may not be in the best shape both mentally and physically. I would ALWAYS encourage going through the paces of getting out of a car (including your belts); how to improve the gaps of when you are in trouble to when you take action and identifying signs of fatigue so you are less prone to make mistakes but also put you and others in harms way.

[spidertri]

Originally Posted by mabrahams

Man this brings me back to the good old days of bimmerforums when there were people debating plinth boxes and how "best" to design a roll-cage.

I miss how much activity there used to be on the bimmerforums track section too, there was tons of great information there for people just starting out to guys running in the BMWCCA, NASA, and other race series.

This old thread from bimmerforums has some good pictures of the cage in one of the Mitchum Grand-AM cars.
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...i-Build-Thread

Also, HMS Motorsport has some great videos on their YouTube channel talking about the safety aspects of HPDE and what really happens during a rollover event. It's really interesting stuff that you don't see a whole lot of publicly posted information about.

One of the most repeated misinformation points I see all over, is that stock seats are "designed" to collapse in a rollover event. That is simply not true. Roof structures, seats, and seatbelt mounting points are all supposed to be reinforced and meet a load requirement specified in the FMVSS Standards. That's not to say that the load couldn't be surpassed in a racing incident, but newer cars are held to strict safety requirements.

If the seat were to collapse, that means the stock 3 point seatbelt would not be able to hold the occupant against the seat, and there would be a much greater chance of injury and death.

This is also why Schroth is able to sell the Quick Fit harnesses, HMS Motorsport has done the actual sled testing to prove that certain OEM seats are strong enough to support that style of harness with a steeper shoulder harness angle and not break during an impact. This is also why there are only a few aftermarket seats that are qualified for use with the Quick Fit harnesses, some of the other fixed backs that HMS tested would actually break during their impact testing.

I guess to sum up all my rambling, it's important to carefully select and install safety components as part of an overall system. The stock safety system in the car is very well designed and tested but leaves a lot to be desired on a racetrack where it is extremely advantageous to be securely strapped into the seat, both for overall safety and for better car control. So when you begin to think about getting a 6 point harness, just know that you need to follow the proper belt routing and installation outlined in the second post, it's not just one part, but a whole system of parts to make it work correctly and keep you safe.

[Dieselboy]

Here's the cage design, seat specs, and harness mounting locations for the 2009 Factory BMW M3 GT4 car.

[Dieselboy]

Here's some photos of how I mounted my 6-point harness and roll bar.

[Dieselboy]

So the Sparco harness lap belts use a 6mm SS triangle quick link delta made by Maillon Rapide (MRDI06.0) with a Working Load Limit (WLL) of 450kg and a Breaking Load (BL) of 2250kg.

This may be helpful for those of you looking to use quick links for your harness mounting.





https://www.peguet.com/self-certifie...maillon-rapide