Hey all,
I'm looking for a full containment seat for my caged dedicated race car. I'm 6'4 and fitment is always a little tricky. I just received a Racetech RT4200 Tall and i'm afraid its not tall enough.
First, I read something somewhere i think from the FIA that says your eye line should be between the top and bottom of the "wing" of the containment seat. Is this generally agreed upon? is this published anywhere else? I think i've seen people sticking up a little taller, but can't say for sure from memory.
If that's so, i'm a bit too tall for my seat. Even with no bottom cushion, my eyes are just over the tops of the wings. Do any tall folks have recommendations for a a containment seat that may fit? I might have to go with a custom aluminum seat, but that seems to be its own can of worms.
Thanks!
I'm 6'6", slightly more torso than legs:
For custom aluminum I have an Ultra Shield. It's a nice seat, the removable pad is okay, though how I had to mount it does not make for the best comfort. More leaned back mounta may help, but I didn't have the space in my car
For off the shelf I found that Cobra Pro-Fit seats can fit me if I remove the bottom seat pad when wearing a HANs and 5 Point harness, it just barely gets my shoulders into the harness openings
Minor rant: Seat manufactures should make their shoulder openings taller. There's plenty of room above to add a couple inches that would let seats fit taller people, but instead they keep them low so that only average people fit. At least short people can use boosters. I can't lower the bottom of the seat to get my shoulds lower
Does Racetech have a tech support line? They may be able to advise you on sizing and/or whether they offer a larger seat.
FIA definitely says what you quoted, and to me, you logically don't want to be sitting with your head any higher because then instead of the halo functioning to limit head movement relative to your neck, the halo becomes the fulcrum about which your head can pivot, relative to your neck. Snips below from FIA standards:
Edit to add: I'm 6'0" and have the Racetech 4100 tall and I don't think I could be 4" taller and be anywhere near fitting the halo portion correctly. I assume the 4200 is similarly dimensioned. You might be in aluminum seat territory, or some other "custom" fit?
^ah thanks. I've seen the first page of that FIA document but not the second. Today i sat in the Racetech seat with no bottom cushion and my eye line is just a bout at the top of the halo. I think its borderline ok, but not ideal.
I also ran a Cobra seat with no bottom cushion for awhile and it worked out pretty well. Wasn't a containment seat, though.
I got the seat from Bimmerworld and they're being helpful. They want to compare my seated measurements with James Clay's. ha! That's why i buy from them even though i haven't had a BMW in like seven years.
