HANS

[Yellow491]

ab8 said:

Yellow491 said:

where do you look when you have cocked up and going sideways.

Re this, does anyone have experience of the HANS sliding tethers (vs the Simpson system for a bonus point)?

Sliding tethers are good and work well.
It’s mandatory in modified series of hillclimbing,i have been wearing a hans for at least the last ten years,dont do many track days now,but still wear one if i do.
It goes with out saying hans are safer,watch the hans videos

[Porsche911R]

Yellow491 said:

Sliding tethers are good and work well.
It’s mandatory in modified series of hillclimbing,i have been wearing a hans for at least the last ten years,dont do many track days now,but still wear one if i do.
It goes with out saying hans are safer,watch the hans videos

and allows you to look side to side due to the design having tethers.

[d16rr]

100 per cent wear hans, impacts at minimal speeds can break your neck, fluids do get on tracks and you can end up in any direction and potentially impact into a hard object. better safe than sorry

[JayK12]

I never used to use one on track days, i purchased a 20 degree on for my radical and it was not comfortable at all, moved to a 30 degree and different brand and its way better. Both had a sliding tether but once the fit is correct there is enough in it to move your head. Its all about getting the fit right and comfortable for you. I wouldn't get in my car without one now. No harm in getting one at all.

[ab8]

Thanks all for the continued input. Much appreciated.

[Discombobulate]

HANS every time.

Edited to add: I am biased as ex World Rally team doctor,I and lost my brother-in-law (and his co-driver) to basal skull fractures sustained in a crash. Both would probably be alive today if HANS were used in rallying then. Their deaths helped its introduction.

[Steve Rance]

Porsche911R said:

what issues ? a human has 170 degrees vision, and road cars have mirrors, there really should be no need to move ones head bar to look a few degrees left to check the nearside mirror !!

why are people moving about in a car

driving is about awareness of other cars, and keeping your eyes front (your car goes where you look) , not doing life savers like you were on a bike test !!

I do wonder what people are doing in cars !!

I see. I’ll make sure that I’m not near the pit exit every time you drive into a circuit then.

[Porsche911R]

Steve Rance said:

I see. I’ll make sure that I’m not near the pit exit every time you drive into a circuit then.

No single race driver can do a life saver look due to winged seat design. But every car has mirrors.

So what on earth on you on about ?

As for being near a pit exit on a track day, are you ignoring the white safety line ! Yes some smaller tracks don’t have those, but on a track day cars leave the pits every 20 seconds, so you would be a bit of a dick to be blocking the exit.

Very strange post by an experienced driver. But then so was the front engine comment.

[lowndes]

Porsche911R said:

what issues ? a human has 170 degrees vision, and road cars have mirrors there really should be no need to move ones head bar to look a few degrees left to check the nearside mirror!!

why are people moving about in a car so much !!!

driving is about awareness of other cars, and keeping your eyes front (your car goes where you look) , not doing life savers like you were on a bike test !!

I do wonder what people are doing in cars !!

Not sure about this. For example, the line my instructor gave was to look down Hanger Straight through Chapel, this surely needed more than a few degrees of head movement as I was looking out of the side window.

Photo may not be in exactly that spot but illustrates the principle of needing to move your head more than a few degrees.

[Yellow491]

lowndes said:

Porsche911R said:

what issues ? a human has 170 degrees vision, and road cars have mirrors there really should be no need to move ones head bar to look a few degrees left to check the nearside mirror!!

why are people moving about in a car so much !!!

driving is about awareness of other cars, and keeping your eyes front (your car goes where you look) , not doing life savers like you were on a bike test !!

I do wonder what people are doing in cars !!

Not sure about this. For example, the line my instructor gave was to look down Hanger Straight through Chapel, this surely needed more than a few degrees of head movement as I was looking out of the side window.

Photo may not be in exactly that spot but illustrates the principle of needing to move your head more than a few degrees.

Its alright lowdnes,r is suffering from either pmt again,or had no sex for a month
I can see through my winged seat.

[Steve Rance]

Porsche911R said:

No single race driver can do a life saver look due to winged seat design. But every car has mirrors.

So what on earth on you on about ?

As for being near a pit exit on a track day, are you ignoring the white safety line ! Yes some smaller tracks don’t have those, but on a track day cars leave the pits every 20 seconds, so you would be a bit of a dick to be blocking the exit.

Very strange post by an experienced driver. But then so was the front engine comment.

You are back on the same old pills I see..

[ab8]

We've had some really helpful comments, for which I am very grateful. Please, let's stick to exchanging information and experience, not barbs.

[BillyB]

I used a Simpson HANS for the first time recently and I don’t see any reason not to use one for track days. Yes your head movement is more limited but I found it fine and after a lap to two stopped noticing it (and I get overtaken a lot so I need to be aware of faster cars!)

Then again, I don’t understand the track day fashion police who sneer about “wannabe” racers wearing fireproof suits. It is a form of macho b*****t IMO.

[CanoeSniffer]

Winged seat and Schroth 30 degree HANS for me in my race car. Once on it’s second nature, doesn’t impede at all.

Edited by CanoeSniffer on Friday 6th December 05:06

[breadvan]

What would you do?

I’m keen to track my 991.2 GT3 CS as often as possible next year and safety is very important to me.

A RTC many years ago left me with a neck injury which I want to protect with Hans but I also lost my left eye so I like to move my head a lot for peripheral vision.

Is there a product that covers both next support and head movement?

Cheers

[TDT]

breadvan said:

What would you do?

I’m keen to track my 991.2 GT3 CS as often as possible next year and safety is very important to me.

A RTC many years ago left me with a neck injury which I want to protect with Hans but I also lost my left eye so I like to move my head a lot for peripheral vision.

Is there a product that covers both next support and head movement?

Cheers

Maybe investigate the Simpson unit.

[Dr S]

Steve Rance said:

I see. I’ll make sure that I’m not near the pit exit every time you drive into a circuit then.

Good point. If you take tracks like Ascari, the only way to avoid a crash at pit exit is having marshals. Otherwise there is no way that wearing HANS you can see an approaching car early enough. And many people there - including myself - wear HANS as they are testing their race cars

[foxsasha]

I've got a HANS and wear it in any car with harnesses be it racing or a track day.

[Steve Rance]

geeks said:

Porsche’s will go into a wall in any fking direction!

As for not wearing one in something front engines. This pic shows why that’s pretty fking stupid! Guy in the left no HANS, Guy on right has a HANS!

P.S HANS have been mandatory on Club Racing for some time now with the exception of historic stuff as it’s not much use without actual belts!

Once a 911 becomes out of control - providing there is room - it will generally pivot towards that part of it where the mass is greatest, which is the rear of the car. Hence more often than not they tend to go in bckwards. Either way, like everything its a trade off in mitigation. In my experience, the biggest risk to an accident for a relatively experienced driver at a trackday is becoming involved in someone else's accident or by someone who just hasnt seen you. Personally I prefer to be as unristricted as possible so that my visual range is always optimised. When i'm racing its different. I would always wear a Hans device. Mine has siding teathers but it's still restrictive. it's all a matter of personal preference but for me, the chance of benefitting from a hans fittment at a track day is out weighed by the extra mobility that not wearing one allows me.

Theres no right or wrong but i feel safer without one

[nudgerwilliams]

I bought one having watched an alarming video on the Demon Tweeks site. Shows a rally car having a head on stop in a ditch - co-driver with HANS; driver without. I don't always wear it on track days though as I've found it a bit uncomfortable, and I'm assuming all the airbags in my GT4 will do the same job of stopping my head moving around.