I've been wanting sparco racing seats and harnesses for my Corolla XRS. Does anyone else have them? Would it be better to just buy the harnesses and not the seats?
Any input is appreciated.
By
DaltonKRS, October 28, 2010
I've been wanting sparco racing seats and harnesses for my Corolla XRS. Does anyone else have them? Would it be better to just buy the harnesses and not the seats?
Any input is appreciated.
Unless you mount a harness bar for the Sparco harnesses (a bar that runs behind the seats, generally integrated in a roll cage) - don't even bother with the harnesses. Quite a few people have actually been severely injured by an improperly mounted racing harness (ie, mounted onto the floor or on the original mounting points). While they are well made, if you do not set the rear attachment point level and behind the occupant's shoulders, even a minor impact will cause them to compress your spine. OEM belts and their routing actually "give" a little bit in an impact, racing harnesses by design do not.
As for the Sparco seats - you can get them to fit. Generally that means you'll have to fabricate or purchase a bottom seat rail to mount the seat into the car. If your car is equipped with side airbags, you'll have to make the necessary modifications to avoid a SRS warning light or get Sparco seats with side impact airbags installed.
So there's no possible way to have the harnesses without the bar?
Not in a safe way with running harnesses in the car, no.
At the minimum, have to use an attachment to a roll cage or add something like this: http://www.sparcousa.com/harness_bars.asp
Without the bar, it is a waste to get harnesses - once you actually see the racing harness, you'll see what I mean. If you plan on tracking the car at all - you'll immediate fail safety if you are not running a harness bar with your harnesses.
If this is just for show - then it doesn't really matter too much.
Dan_H
I have seen several people running 3 point harnesses (both shoulder belts merge behind the driver and mount at a single point) that were bolted above or below the rear seat back. These cars also had roll protection (see next paragraph). As Fish mentions, you don't want a low mounting point in a front end collision, because pulling forward on the belts also results in the belts pulling downwards on the shoulders. Strong mounting points above the rear seat back probably don't exist in any Corolla, and as far as I know the drivers I saw doing that had a frame mounted bar back there.
There can also be an issue running a harness in a car that does not have a roll bar/cage. If you manage to roll it, and the roof presses down, you would not have any forward/sideways wiggle room. Now imagine that without a helmet.
To simply stay 'more planted' in the seat, devices like the CG-Lock are a reasonable compromise. I've had one in my 'rolla for about three years. For my roll-caged car: six way harness. For my daily driver: CG-lock on standard shoulder belt.
If you're looking for something to use at track days, autocross, etc-- get a hold of their tech chief and ask about the requirements before spending any money.
^^^ Good stuff there. Interesting link to the CG-Lock, looks like something very simple to implement, inexpensive, and not alter the car too much (ie. easy to return the car to stock).
As for the rear mounting point - I also saw others running to the LATCH attachment points on the rear deck plate. Same place where you can hook the LATCH from a baby seat. But I'd be surprised if that help much of any weight, wouldn't trust it for any serious strength, especially when there are other options available.
I hate to see someone spend hundreds or thousands of dollars in equipment for that "racing" look, but not take advantage of the equipment. More upset if they install it incorrectly, as they will only bring injury to themselves and others in an accident.
