4-point harness

[lotuspassion]

Hi guys
I was thinking, given how the new seats of the lotus emira are built, will it be possible to install a 4-point harness to have fun on the track with maximum safety?
it seems impossible because there are no spaces in the seats .......

 

[2Lotus]

Hi guys
I was thinking, given how the new seats of the lotus emira are built, will it be possible to install a 4-point harness to have fun on the track with maximum safety?
it seems impossible because there are no spaces in the seats .......

Good question, I plan on doing 4-5 track days a year.

 

[timbo999]

My advice would be... be careful. Fitting 4 point harness without a roll cage can be dangerous as if the car turns over and the roof is crushed you can't get out of the way as you can with ordinary seat belts. Just my tuppence worth after 20 years of track days.

 

[Wolfram]

I would say definitely not with the standard seats. The general consensus seems to be, however, that a standard four point harness is very dangerous compared to a standard three point seat belt, for a number of reasons, including:

1. In a frontal impact, your body will submarine under the lap belt which will pull up, with your soft lower abdomen taking the full force of the impact. This can cause devastating internal injury.

2. Your shoulders are immobilised, so the full forward force of the impact is on your neck, which will snap forwards (remember the additional weight of your helmet) - if you are not wearing a HANS device.

My Elise has a four point harness (badly) fitted; I have never used it. Schroth Racing do make a four point anti-submarining harness that addresses the safety concerns by allowing one shoulder to rotate forwards in an impact - exactly the characteristic that makes a standard three point belt so safe and effective. I'm thinking of maybe getting these fitted.