I am planning on buying a 350z in the near future. I stumbled upon this forum and have been reading a lot the past days to understand how people are modding and using their Zs. I have learned a lot so far! However, one mod I couldn't quite grasp was proper seat+belt race modding.

My plan is to use my Z for racing (track days) on tracks near Montréal, Canada. As I understand it, the stock car seat + seat belt are far from optimal for track use because the driver is simply not properly restrained to the seat, for tight cornering etc.

Apparently, some people use a CGLock on their 3 point stock seat belt + stock seat to improve on this. It fixes the seatbelt by preventing it from slacking while driving, keeping the driver fixed in the seat. Others install a third party race seat like Sparco and a 4 or 5 point racing harness. However, with the race seats, there seem to be issues with the airbags system. It seems some air bags get disabled when installing such a seat? Also, apparently it isn't safe to use only a race seat with a race harness? Because on rollover, there's nowhere for the head to go but through the roof, since the upper body is fixed, unless you also have a roll bar/cage.

Am I therefore right to assume I should only use CGLock (airbags on) OR the race seat + harness + roll bar (airbags off)? And of course, in both cases the helmet and suit. And what about when I am driving my car on public roads to the track? Is it street legal to drive with the second configuration?

Thanks in advance!

 

I'll let the track guys chime in but what I can tell you for certain is the seat is very much preference and will change with different builds and types of bodies.
As far as the air bags the early cars had air bags in the seat as an option while it was standard on the newer ones (HR)
I have Recaro seats and a K-bar but I don't think I'll ever use harnesses cause I it basically keeps you tight to the seat all the time and to me the seat + stock belt feels good/secure.

 

Thanks for the reply

I didn't know that some seats (HR default) had airbags integrated. That's neat! Therefore, wouldn't getting rid of the stock seats with airbags compromise the safety of the driver, at least on public roads? I think I also saw somewhere that no third party seat maker makes seats with airbags included?

 

First, unless you're planning on racing wheel-to-wheel, stick with the stock three-point harness and seats. The harness will lock up as cornering forces lock up the inner mechanism. In our HPDE classes in Colorado, there was enough lateral support to keep the driver fairly well-planted and allowed the factory safety systems to operate properly. Save your money to purchase a good SA-rated helmet for track use and reconditioning your Z to begin the learning process.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'll then start by racing with stock seating and 3 point seat belt. Once I've had enough classes with a racing instructor and become more serious, I'll install a racing seat, harness and roll bar

 

Good luck! And be sure to learn how to properly install the racing seat and seatbelts at the proper angle. Usually this means a custom roll bar with the harness bar set to prevent compression of the shoulder harness.

 

Mine has a rollbar, race seats and harness. Then a head and neck restraint is also needed for this