Helmet talk......

I'm finally gonna be ready to start hitting the track soon, but those pesky tech guys are going to require I have some sort of noggin protection. So I will have to purchase a helmet and am looking for some advice on what to look for.

Of course I could buy the best and most expensive but that wouldn't be the GRM way (i.e. I'm cheap)

According to car club's site I will need a helmet that meets or exceeds Snell M85 or SA85 ratings. I'm not entirely versed in ratings and what is better or worse than these. Any advice?

Edit: I'm looking for a full face helmet.......

I had to buy another helmet for LeMons. M rated helmets are good for impacts, but aren't fire retardant. SA rated are better for that reason. There is a small price gap between sa2000 and sa2005 to me it was worth it for a helmet that spec wise is 5 years newer.

btp76 wrote: I had to buy another helmet for LeMons. M rated helmets are good for impacts, but aren't fire retardant. SA rated are better for that reason. There is a small price gap between sa2000 and sa2005 to me it was worth it for a helmet that spec wise is 5 years newer.

Im not sure if this applies to all dated Snell lids, but I recall reading in Rider,IIRC, that the 2000 specs where so good that there was no important changes in 2005. That was specificly Motorcycle helmets, not sure about the others.

My $.02

Not sure anybody here would argue with you for buying the very best helmit you can get. I feel safety is the one place you should not be cheap.. especially when it comes to your head

get the best you can....

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc278/flood1_01/MassasHelment.jpg

I've been very happy with my open face SA2005 GForce helmet for $150. But, I've never had to...um...test it. If you're running open track, a good helmet is much more critical than autocross I would think. The there's the open face / full face argument. I went open face since I have an active airbag in the car and I tend to be very hot natured. Because the car also has good AC...

Okay, if I am deciphering this correctly: M= motorcycle rating and SA is for car and is more fire retardant? And the number is the year of the rating?

The helmet will be used more for auto-x at first but I don't want to have multiple helmets or have to worry about upgrading if I chose to move into other types of racing.

As far as buying the most expensive helmet I can..... I've read before (concerning other types of helmets, mostly DOT and CSPC rated ones) that as long as a helmet meets the minimum rating it will protect just as well as a more expensive helmet with the same rating. At some point you start paying for the name/paint/graphics/comfort/lightness/ect. ...... not for additional safety protection. Is this the wrong train of thought for a race helmet? I'm not trying to get by with the bare minimum, I'm just looking for a basic no-frills helmet at a great price.

Can you still buy SA2000 helmets?

It makes sense that some helmets will only just meet the minimum standard of protection and some will offer more. But how do you tell? I have no idea.

So concentrate on fit. Like shoes, different manufacturers have different ideas of what shape you are. Stop by an autocross and ask people if you can try on their lids. You might find that Bells don't fit but G-Force does, for example. And remember that at the track you'll be wearing it for a long time.

I wear a Bell helmet myself (or a Peltor in the rally car). My wife uses G-Force. No complaints about either although we've never stress-tested them.

zoomx2 wrote: I'm finally gonna be ready to start hitting the track soon, but those pesky tech guys are going to require I have some sort of noggin protection. So I will have to purchase a helmet and am looking for some advice on what to look for. Of course I could buy the best and most expensive but that wouldn't be the GRM way (i.e. I'm cheap) According to car club's site I will need a helmet that meets or exceeds Snell M85 or SA85 ratings. I'm not entirely versed in ratings and what is better or worse than these. Any advice? Edit: I'm looking for a full face helmet.......

Snell M85 or SA85 ?

Get newer than 85. Try to get M2005 or SA2005. Sure, that one group may only require an 85, but lots of groups will require one from within the past 10 years. the 2010 ratings will be out soon, so you'll be limited to 05 or newer.

If you're just doing HPDE, I'd say get an M2005 for now. Use that for 2-3 years. Then pick up an SA2010 when you're thoroughly addicted and ready to start doing TT or wheel-to-wheel.

Oh, and the real reason for a closed helmet is to not look like a moron in any pictures. In a closed helmet, you can't help but look cool. My dad looks like Wallace (from Wallace and Grommet) in an open helmet, and is an excellent illustration of this:

zoomx2 wrote: As far as buying the most expensive helmet I can..... I've read before (concerning other types of helmets, mostly DOT and CSPC rated ones) that as long as a helmet meets the minimum rating it will protect just as well as a more expensive helmet with the same rating. At some point you start paying for the name/paint/graphics/comfort/lightness/ect. ...... not for additional safety protection. Is this the wrong train of thought for a race helmet? I'm not trying to get by with the bare minimum, I'm just looking for a basic no-frills helmet at a great price.

nothing to really back this up.... but... I think that with the more expensive helmets you do get a little more than name/paint/graphics... the other //'s would be worth paying for (comfort/lightness)

as mentioned by someone else.... comfort.... try it on

my auto-x helmet is fine for short times.... for track days it starts to pain me on my forehead , so I've started to look for a more comfortable helmet

try to find a shop that sells the localy and go try them on.. yes the pri e does go up with a "better " name but the comfort doe aswell, ventalation and vision and overall shape change.. I have a Impact wizard witch is a great helmet for the money it doesn't fit aswell as I would like and now after about 10 days at the track with it I'm wanting to upgrade to something better and with a hose input for a cold air system.

Open face helmets let you show how cool you are, though! Check this guy out. No stress at all.

I use a closed face for most of my driving, mostly because I tend to drive convertibles and my Seven doesn't even have a windshield when driven on the track. My wife does the same. In the closed rally car, we both wear open face. Me because, well, Peltors are expensive and that's what I found and her just in case she succumbs to the navigator's arch-enemy, nausea. None of our cars have airbags.

Simpson helmets have never fit me very well. Bell and Gforce do better for me. Find a place that has helmets and try them on before you buy. A lot of the difference between cheap and expensive helmets is weight of the helmet itself. A pound or two is BIG in helmets.

I don't have the experience with car helmets I do with motorcycle helmets and Paintball masks, but generally speaking get the best you can afford and the most up to date you can afford. My dad swears by shoei, when it comes to bikes, personally I like the fit and feel of arai's, though untill a buddy of mine convinced me to try on his, I was a solid shoei fan . Paintball masks are the same way, the cheapo no name mask I got when I bought my marker isn't all that comfy and has a narrow range of vision, but it doesn't fog for the most part, and I can count on it. Now the 50$ Proto mask I snagged off CL for 15$ feels great, has a HUGE field of view, and fogs up at the slightest sign of heat (not good when it's your job to watch the field and communicate what's going on to the front guys), not to mention I have a hard time wearing glasses under the proto mask, with contacts I'm golden but the glasses tend to give me a headache after playing all day. Point is get what you can afford, paintball masks start at next to free and max out around 100$, Driving helmets start cheap and can end up $$$$$ for full carbon fiber, nomex lined, etc.

fastmiata wrote: Find a place that has helmets and try them on before you buy.

Plus eleventy-billion.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to TRY ON any helmet before you buy it. What's incredibly comfortable for one of my friends was a helmet that I distinctly remember having a rather uncomfortable pressure point for me. Comfort is king in helmets. What's mildly uncomfortable on a 30 second test fit turns into "ARGH, I HATE THIS HELMET!!!!" when you have to wear it for 20 minutes or more.

Sizing varies from brand to brand, as well.

Having a full-face '05 rated helmet will give you the most flexibility in the future. I know of no form of racing that disallows full-face helmets, yet I can think of a few that would require a full-face.

fastmiata wrote: Simpson helmets have never fit me very well. Bell and Gforce do better for me. Find a place that has helmets and try them on before you buy. A lot of the difference between cheap and expensive helmets is weight of the helmet itself. A pound or two is BIG in helmets.

In my case, Simpsons are very comfortable while Bells just don't fit my head - this is exactly why you need to try the helmets on and wear them for a while before you buy. You can sometimes make limited adjustments to the fit of the helmet by trimming the pads or adding foam (I think some helmets even come with adjustable pads) but you don't want to mess with the helmet so much that it won't be safe.

In my case, I used the Simpson only for one season of road racing and it put so much pressure on my cheeks and forehead that I got another helmet almost immediately. I still use the Simpson for autoX and am reminded about how uncomfortable that helmet is. Simpson's may look cool but they dont work on round faces.

My head is apparently square which is why Simpsons fit me.

Know your size? Find a great gforceoutlet.com or find even better prices (but slimmer selection) on their ebay store at http://motors.shop.ebay.com/merchant/gforceoutlet. I picked up my SA2000 helmet before last season for $99.

Just a note on SA vs. M rated helmets from Snell:

The SA standard was designed for competitive auto racing while M standard was for motorcycling and other motorsports. The K standard was released to accommodate helmets used in karting. There are three major differences between them:

The SA standard requires flammability test while the M and K standards do not.

The SA and K standards allow for a narrower visual field than M standard (Some SA and K certified helmets may not be street legal).

The SA and K standards include a rollbar multi impact test while M standard does not.