Racing helmets
 

Im sure this has been discussed before but i did a search and did not really find any exact answer to what i would like.

I am getting ready to finnaly start breaking into auto-xing the evo. have not really done it before and im pretty sure all events require them . my question is where and what kind of helmet would be best to get. I dont even know how much they run so if someone can give me a few options that would be great.

I got mine from helmetshop.com for about $120 shipped. As far as I've seen, you just have to have a SNELL rated helmet with a 1990 certification or better. Most groups will let you race with motorcycle helmets (M rated) and the year depends on the group. Mine is a KBC "Galaxy" (or kb-8) full faced, yellow with black visor M2000 rated (rating sticker is under the first layer of mesh). You can get open faced for most groups, too (i've seen those for as little as $65). I'm of the opinion that you wouldn't need one if the insurance companies didn't require one. You won't flip your car at these speeds (if you DO, go buy a lottery ticket because the law of averages is tilted toward you). See if your group has loaners. A guy in my club spent $500 on a Simpson SA2000 rated helmet (special applications = auto racing, like LeMans style racing) and he's only been to the track once.
I would avoid eBay just because it's hard to know if the helmet is really new and whether it's really SNELL rated.

good luck bro!!

nm, what he said /\

nm /\ he was posting while I was posting :lol:

heh, yeah, i saw what you'd written and i had written the same thing pretty much but you articulated it much better.

these post are prolly right on, if you later decide to do some road track days, they may want you to have a SA helmet. If you get a 2000 series it won't be outdated.
after all your head is kinda important.


also you should try them on, different manufactures fit different shaped heads. you don't want a round head helmet if you have a head shaped like kerry.

Thanks for the reply guys., engineer you were right on the money of what u was lookin for !

There are several kinds of helmets. The cheapest are "DOT approved." These suck and will not be allowed by most clubs. The quality helmets have ratings from the Snell Foundation. Snell uses two ratings: "M" for motorcycle and "SA" (special applications) for cars.

M rated helmets have to pass a single impact test (like your head hitting the sidewalk). SA rated helmets have to pass a multiple impact test (like your head knocking around inside a car). This is the fundamental differentce between the M and SA rating. However, most SA rated helmets also have fireproof liners, whereas no M rated helmets do.

Clearly, SA rated helmets are safest for motorsports. In fact, most organizations (BMW CCA, PCA, FOC, SCCA, etc.) will NOT allow you to do high-speed track events (like HPDE advanced driving schools) without an SA rated helmet. But you can get away with M rated helmets for low-speed events like auto-x. So you might as well just get a proper SA rated helmet and be done with it!

As for the numbers...don't even think of getting anything besides a "2000." The 1990 models have been outdated (and thus banned from use) for 4 years. They are worthless. And the 1995 models will be outdated at the end of this driving season...so you won't be able to use them next summer. Get an SA-2000 and you'll be good for a long time. Or hold out for the SA-2005 models to hit the market. They should be out soon.


The cheapest SA-2000 rated helmets, like the G Force (sold through Racer Wholesale) can be had for around $250. Bell helmets are more expensive (like $350-500). You can get M-2000 rated helmets much cheaper. Maybe $150-200 for a good one.

HTH,

Emre

I agree. I would go with one of the Bell helmets such as the M2 or the Sport III. They can both be had for about $300 and can be purchased through sites such as www.upracing.com or www.saferacer.com. The benefits of going with one of these helmets is that, as hasbeen pointed out above, they are approved by the sanctioning bodies for track racing so shoudl you decide later on to do so, you don't need another helmet. Buy something which will cover all your potential uses.

As has also been stated, go to your nearest race shop and try on some helmets first. Auto x is not so bad cause you aren't in the car long, but if and when you do decide to get track time, 30+ minutes in an uncomfortable helmet can be very distracting.

Here are some links that might interest you:

Snell Foundation
Sparco
Arai

ellaborating on what kayaalp said, I would recommend getting a discontinued motorcycle helmet for like $100 (M2000 rating) for now, so you can save a bit of cash and get an SA2005 model next year. Some clubs only allow the most recent rating, others allow as much as 10 and 15 years back. Also, I strongly discourage buying a used helmet, unless you really know how to inspect it for damage (besides, you'll have to clean all that sweat off, yuck!)