SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/501768
IMPROVING SAFETY THE 5.3 HARNESS FROM PRP SEATS IS A FIVE-POINT, 3-INCH HARNESS WITH EZ ADJUSTERS ON THE SHOULDER STRAPS, A REMOVABLE STERNUM STRAP, AND SEWN-IN PADS. THE EZ ADJUSTERS ALLOW FOR QUICKLY LOOSENING THE STRAPS SHOULD THE OCCUPANT NEED TO REACH FOR SOMETHING OR TO RELAX THE FIT WHILE WAITING IN THE RACE VEHICLE. HANS SHOULDER STRAPS AND A RATCHETING LAP BELT ARE AVAILABLE. WWW.PRPSEATS.COM. carbon production is much more labor intensive than the fiberglass, but the carbon offers a much higher strength-to-weight ratio." Moving one step further into Kevlar molded seat shells is Corbeau's Pro Series seat. Although the seat isn't a big player in SCORE desert racing, the company's Kevlar racing seats are FIA approved and are popular in Europe. But the use of Kevlar and other composites by the company is important to showcase as an example of where racing seat technology is at this moment. "Kevlar and carbon fiber seat shells offer some unique properties that provide lighter weight with added strength. They are more labor intensive, as we use a wet-lay process when manufacturing these seats," said Nate Smith of Corbeau. "The only time we face a challenge is from the clear splinters from laying the carbon fiber or Kevlar, which really hurt!" Seat Suspension: Key In Desert Racing As well as reducing weight, racing seat manufactures also utilize seat suspension systems to further minimize impact and vibrations to the occupants. Studies done by MasterCraft Safety have shown that its suspension systems are one of the most important aspects in seat safety for desert racers. The company's +Z axis Vehicle Slam Down Test replicates the equivalent forces that many off-road racers experience when the vehicle lands hard, or crashes, in the desert. The test involves placing an Anthropomorphic Test Device (Hybrid III test dummy) into a suspension seat and replicating a vehicle impact equal to more than 341 g-forces. The result was that the test dummy in a suspension racing seat only realized 34g's of impact, dramatically reducing the amount of injuries in a severe crash. "The takeaway from our testing and the data is that the MasterCraft Safety suspension seating does a remarkable job of mitigating extreme forces in both a lab and real-world environment." said Pierce. The company manufactures its race line of suspension seats from laser-notched chomoly (4130) tubing. The company's suspension seats utilize proprietary high-resiliency foam that behaves as a crumple zone, absorbing and mitigating the energy while also slowing the time 061 SCORE JOURNAL