Does the Recaro Pole Position seat support the use of a Hans type helmet restraint system? Or not.
I am considering purchasing a roll bar, seat and harness in my 997 and wonder if I should get the Hans specific Schroth harness, in case I upgrade to a Hans system later. I realize that the Hans harness uses narrower shoulder straps, is this a problem as stand alone equipment
The roll bar is the GMG RSR and the harness is the GT3 specific Schroth SR 91127A-0.

 

Is this for a track car or one that will see street duty too?

 

Street and track, mostly street. But some events I want to participate in require safety equipment, like the roll bar and harnesses

 

I too have a streetable Turbo and spent quite a bit of time this past winter trying to decide if I should change out seats, put in a roll bar, harnesses, etc. and in the end did not do it. My reasoning:

1. If you put in a seat that is not DOT approved (which, I think, all non-airbag seats are), your insurance company may deny coverage in the event of an accident. Should your passenger be injured and your liability is ruled not in effect, you could be really, really screwed. This isn't always the case but I know several guys that have been dissuaded by this (or alternatively they have turned their cars into trailered, track-only vehicles). DOT approved Porsche GT2 seats run $6,500 + which I found to be prohibitive.

2. Roll bars are great protection when you are wearing a helmet; not so much when you're not. If you're like me, you wouldn't wear one around town. In the event of any kind of incident, should your head bounce off the bar, the outcome is predictably poor. There's a reason car manufacturer engineers develop crush zones and safety reinforcement in the manner they do. Wearing a 6pt harness might mitigate that risk but they are not DOT approved for street use and the insurance risk once again comes back into play. Also, would you bother to harness up to run down to the store or wherever? The 3pt belt does not hold you securely enough to mitigate this risk in all situations.

3. A HANS device saves lives and prevents injury. There's no doubt about it and to use one requires the seat, bar and harness setup to work. A Hutchens device is similar and is designed to work with a 3pt OEM belt system. I bought one and used it for the first time this past weekend. It appears to be effective, comfortable and is approved by the appropriate sanctioning bodies for competitive racing. Here's the link: http://www.safetysolutionsracing.com/rage-series
Bottom line, you don't need the other stuff to get equivalent HANS protection.

4. As you point out, some organizations do require seats, bars, harnesses to run in an advanced group or to run at all if your car is deemed too powerful or modded too much. Turbos fall into those categories. I am fortunate that my home PCA region does not subscribe to those requirements. If those requirement were in place, I would likely try to find other groups to run with or failing that, invest in a track-only vehicle rather than make track modifications that I have deemed to be inappropriate for a street vehicle. You, of course, may come to a different conclusion and I wish you well regardless of how you proceed. Go fast, stay safe......

 

Thanks for your reply, I have been trying to figure out whether this is a good idea or not, I thank you for helping me make that decision; it is not a good idea!
Common sense has prevailed. Also, I like the look of that Hutchens device!

 

As Steamboat said, better than I could have, is why I bought a dedicated track car.

 

I just installed a roll bar in my Cayman S, Hans Device, Harnesses and I use Recaro Pole Position seats. Works great, just make sure the harnesses sit on top of the Hans device and you will be fine. You can go with thinner Hans harnesses, but I prefer the wider straps, if you tighten them and make sure they are on top of the Hans device, they will be fine. The seats are great, not too uncomfortable for street driving. I just take my harnesses out between track days. If you want, PM me your email and I can send you pictures of my whole install.