New here, Safety Question, not sure if this is in the right place... ?

I just signed up for the forum. I recently came into a some health knowledge that has been making me think about safety and whether or not my situation would benefit from modernizing my cars, and I'd like some feedback from people who love cars and like to drive as well as do track days.

My situation is, I found out that I may be more fragile than I thought in the case of an accident. I don't want to go into the details, but I am concerned that my recovery time could be significantly longer than a normal persons if I were to smack a wall or get into an accident otherwise, and the risk to non-recoverable injury is greater.

I put a lot of miles on my cars every year. I've got an FJ cruiser that sees a lot of highway miles. I've got an S2000 that sees only 1-2k miles a year. It's a pretty cherry AP2 that I take to track days when I can. And my wife drive's an Acura sedan circa 2013, which I also drive from time to time. 

I was thinking about upgrading the FJ cruiser to a Lexus LX or GX in the 2011-2013 model years, but then I'm wondering if going more modern would create an improvement in the case of collision. I know Land Cruisers are supposed to be very safe. I could probably get a 2024 4runner also, or the new land cruiser despite my allergy to depreciation, but I don't know if the new builds will actually be better in a collision than a 10-12 year old land cruiser.

I kind of drift towards Japanese because I have an obsessive personality when it comes to flaws in cars. I do a lot of preventitive maintenance early and do some extra mods for longevitiy or other things that could have been better from the factory to make the cars last. Although I like to drive them, my biggest nightmare is a German car with a fatal flaw just waiting to expose itself (which is why I got the S2000 and not a 996 911 10 years ago). 

I was also thinking about changing the S2000 to a Civic type r just for the crash protection in case of collision. I'm assuming the Civic type r would be a significant upgrade in relation to crash protection, but I don't really know other than hard top v convertible. I love the S2000 but I'm just about to start modding it, and I'm not sure if I want to do it now. The s2000 had excellent crash protection ratings when it was tested, but that was how many years ago, and now I all I see around me on the highway are bigger cars with inattentive people driving them. 

I'm sure there are other cars out there, these are just the ones that gravitated into my attention given the ones I already own. I do drive offroad a bit, so I need an SUV. i don't need a convertible, I just like the S2000, and I was planning to keep it forever. I would, if a parking spot didn't cost $300/mo where I am at. 

This is really a pickle for me, I hate all of the tech and crash avoidance crap in modern cars. I drive at most with GPS for tech, and all of my cars are manuals and require constant driver engagement because I like to drive. I've seen a few times recently where someone has blown through a red light and tboned someone else, and a few people on the track that take it a little too hard and crunch their cars. I don't fight for 10ths, but I do like driving and the track urges you to go faster, and I'm solidly in the intermediate group at TNIA events and am quite proficient in balancing my S2000 on the edge of grip on sweepers. So if I'm honest with myself, I'm taking a little more risk here than I probably should beand need to push myself more to the safety side, I just don't know the real metrics behind the choices I've made and am considering making....

Additionally, I'd thought about getting a full face helmut for the S2000 on track, I'm currently driving with open face because it was my AutoX helmut and someone that builds rally cars told me not to wear a closed faced helmut when you have airbags in the car. 

I'd appreciate anyone's knowledge here. I never thought I would be that guy that's thinking about safety first like "Danger Aaron". I think I may have lived long enough to start hating myself...

Newer cars have to pass much more stringent safety tests than older ones did, so for cars of similar sizes I'd expect newer ones to be much safer. The CTR would have much better crash safety than the S2k, it's not only a much newer car but also a much larger one.

Current best info is that there's no reason not to wear a full-face helmet with airbags, you should also use a HANS (or hybrid HANS for use with a 3pt belt) to improve safety further. Putting a NASCAR-style cage in the car could give you another big safety boost, arm restraints would help too.

I race vintage cars.........yet I drive a modern car as a daily driver.

A modern car is going to be safer on track them my fully caged Datsun.

My thought is get a Civic Type R and go have fun.

Type R is the answer.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Thanks. The full face helmet was more to protect the face & eyes on track, I've had grasshoppers hit my mirror and shoot over and hit my cheek. Good info on the HANS, I'll look into it. The car is too cherry to pull apart and cage. 

I agree with the newer Type R, full face helmet, and hybrid HANS device.

Issue with a cage is that it'll be less safe unless you're also harnessed in a fixed-back seat so you don't hit the bars. Also the car would then be less of a street car.

Roger that on having a visor. Once I was following a car and it kicked up dirt using a little more track than was available and got in my eyes, it's always visor down since then.

GameboyRMH said:
Current best info is that there's no reason not to wear a full-face helmet with airbags, 

I hadn't heard this but always want to know the latest and greatest.  Any source?   Would love to read about some examples of bags going off while wearing helmets.  I'd be surprised if it hadn't happened but I've never heard about it.