doug in nc
Spectator
In a glance back at the last Streetwise Drift Pro-Am event I've found myself scratching my head a little when it comes to some of the items we saw rolling through tech. One of the areas needing attention was the absence or wrong roll bar padding. Now, please take all of my post as constructive criticism or advise and not a slap in the face to those that needed some work done to get through tech. If you were with us in Atlanta then you saw first hand what we're trying to accomplish with this series. If you haven't raced with us, please hold judgement until you've actually gone through our tech process and understand why we do things the way we do.
So I'll start off with:
The 2009 Pro-Am Rules
http://www.evergreendrift.com/wp-content/uploads/20092_pro-am_dcs_crr.pdf
The 2010 Pro-Am Supplement
http://streetwisedrift.com/pdf/10-FD-Rules-2010 ProAm Baseline 100223-2.pdf
And follow it up with the section regarding roll cage padding:
26 Version 2009.2 3/30/2009
7.4 ROLL CAGES
Roll cages are required.
7.4.1 BASIC DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
A. The basic purpose of the roll cage is to protect the occupant if the car turns over, runs into an obstacle, or is struck by another car. It shall be designed to withstand compression forces from the weight of the car coming down on the rollover structure and to take fore/aft and lateral loads resulting from the car skidding along on its rollover structure.
B. Forward braces and portions of the main hoop subject to contact by the occupant’s helmet (as seated normally and restrained by seatbelt/shoulder harness) shall be padded with non-resilient material. Ethafoam® or Ensolite®, or other similar material with a minimum thickness of one-half (1/2) inch and conforming to SFI spec 45.1 is required
The area in question is specifically section B. There were a number of folks that rolled through with the pool-noodle style padding in the driver's head area. The concern we had was that it did not have a specification on it and as many of you are finding out, items with ANY spec on them tend to cost more and that may be a reason why. The other reason why is probably a mis-interpretation of the rules.
Summit racing sells roll cage padding and it's pretty easy to see on the first page when you bring it up:
http://www.summitracing.com/search/...gacre-ProTecto-Roll-Bar-Padding/?autoview=SKU
Key things most people pick up on are 1. the price (cheap) 2. the wording "roll cage padding" and 3. "flame-retardant" which leads you to believe this fits the bill and you proceed to check out. This is where the problems begin because these pads do not carry an SFI certification and as such they fail to comply with the FD Pro-Am rules for padding specifically to be used in the area where the head may contact it. The cheap padding is perfectly fine for door bars, down bars that are in the area near your feet.
On the page below, you'll see the SFI rated padding that you need.
http://www.summitracing.com/search/Department/Safety-Equipment/
It's the stuff specifically labeled "SFI 45.1 Roll Bar Padding" and will meet the requirements for the padding needed in the areas that will come in contact with the head. The SFI rated padding is "High impact, high density", " fire-resistant and gets denser as it's compressed". Where as the pool noodle stuff is "Medium-density padding".
When it comes to safety features in racing and standard automobiles, the ability of a component to absorb, slow or deflect a particular motion is how the driver and passengers stay safe. The SFI padding is $25.95 for a 3ftx5inch thick section compared to less than $5.00 for similar dimensions of the pool noodle. While the SFI rated padding may feel harder to the touch, cost 5 times as much and may not be as easy to work with, it's ability to properly decelerate the driver's head as it contacts the padding is what makes the difference between comfortable to the touch (pool noodle) and capable of absorbing impact (SFI rated padding).
Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions regarding this thread topic.
Doug Moseley
So I'll start off with:
The 2009 Pro-Am Rules
http://www.evergreendrift.com/wp-content/uploads/20092_pro-am_dcs_crr.pdf
The 2010 Pro-Am Supplement
http://streetwisedrift.com/pdf/10-FD-Rules-2010 ProAm Baseline 100223-2.pdf
And follow it up with the section regarding roll cage padding:
26 Version 2009.2 3/30/2009
7.4 ROLL CAGES
Roll cages are required.
7.4.1 BASIC DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
A. The basic purpose of the roll cage is to protect the occupant if the car turns over, runs into an obstacle, or is struck by another car. It shall be designed to withstand compression forces from the weight of the car coming down on the rollover structure and to take fore/aft and lateral loads resulting from the car skidding along on its rollover structure.
B. Forward braces and portions of the main hoop subject to contact by the occupant’s helmet (as seated normally and restrained by seatbelt/shoulder harness) shall be padded with non-resilient material. Ethafoam® or Ensolite®, or other similar material with a minimum thickness of one-half (1/2) inch and conforming to SFI spec 45.1 is required
The area in question is specifically section B. There were a number of folks that rolled through with the pool-noodle style padding in the driver's head area. The concern we had was that it did not have a specification on it and as many of you are finding out, items with ANY spec on them tend to cost more and that may be a reason why. The other reason why is probably a mis-interpretation of the rules.
Summit racing sells roll cage padding and it's pretty easy to see on the first page when you bring it up:
http://www.summitracing.com/search/...gacre-ProTecto-Roll-Bar-Padding/?autoview=SKU
Key things most people pick up on are 1. the price (cheap) 2. the wording "roll cage padding" and 3. "flame-retardant" which leads you to believe this fits the bill and you proceed to check out. This is where the problems begin because these pads do not carry an SFI certification and as such they fail to comply with the FD Pro-Am rules for padding specifically to be used in the area where the head may contact it. The cheap padding is perfectly fine for door bars, down bars that are in the area near your feet.
On the page below, you'll see the SFI rated padding that you need.
http://www.summitracing.com/search/Department/Safety-Equipment/
It's the stuff specifically labeled "SFI 45.1 Roll Bar Padding" and will meet the requirements for the padding needed in the areas that will come in contact with the head. The SFI rated padding is "High impact, high density", " fire-resistant and gets denser as it's compressed". Where as the pool noodle stuff is "Medium-density padding".
When it comes to safety features in racing and standard automobiles, the ability of a component to absorb, slow or deflect a particular motion is how the driver and passengers stay safe. The SFI padding is $25.95 for a 3ftx5inch thick section compared to less than $5.00 for similar dimensions of the pool noodle. While the SFI rated padding may feel harder to the touch, cost 5 times as much and may not be as easy to work with, it's ability to properly decelerate the driver's head as it contacts the padding is what makes the difference between comfortable to the touch (pool noodle) and capable of absorbing impact (SFI rated padding).
Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions regarding this thread topic.
Doug Moseley