My 17 year old son and I are going to start AX this summer! What brand helmet should we get and where to buy?

Regards

James

Not sure about a helmet but it was good meeting you and your son today at Jeff's.

I need a helmet too. I prefer an open face but I'm not sure if that's allowed everywhere.

It would be a good idea to find out what the sanctioning body requirements are. Be unfortunate to get stuck with a helmet you can't use. Expensive, too.

The Cap'n

Some guys at work were talking about auto racing helmets and they mentioned three places:

Wine Country Motorsports - Sonoma
http://www.winecountrymotorsports.com/index.php

LPI Racing - Livermore
http://www.lpiracing.com/

Competition Safety Gear - Campbell
http://www.cs-gear.com

The local PCA (Zone 7, LPR, GGR, Diablo, etc.) require a Snell-rated helmet (M or SA) of the most recent certification or the immediately previous one. If you buy a new helmet that is Snell rated, it will almost certainly be the latest one. (I think that's 2010?)

I used an M-rated open face helmet for years. I went through three of them, and probably need a new one again, or will soon. I bought cheapie ones, usually from HJC (a Chinese company) at local cycle shops. I know the saying "buy a $20 helmet if you have a $20 head", but I figure that autoX is low enough risk that I can get away with an inexpensive helmet.

I'm not sure what the local SCCA requires. You can probably find out on their website.

--DD

I don't know of any sanctioning bodies that allow anything less than a SNELL 2005 right now. I wore an open face helmet for an autocross once, never again. I spun once, and had a mouth/face/eyes full of dust, dirt, and rubber bits. since I needed a helmet for Formula car stuff, I didn't feel the pain of buying a quality full face helmet. Just each of you buy your own balaclava and share the helmet...


Look into Bell's line of full face budget helmets. They're not that expensive, and they're really nice quality.

Do you have any sanctioned race events in your area ? Usually there are vendors setup selling safety equipment this is a great way to try on what you are buying. You want the helmet to fit snug. Open face or closed is a personal decision and trying the helmet on will help with that decision. I personally like Bell helmets but there are many good brands out there. Buy a helmet with a Snell rating dated 2010. It also wouldn't hurt to go to the AX you plan on running with and see what others are using and where they purchased them. Have fun.

There is also

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/category/Racing

Correct fit is an important part of the protection. For my first helmet I bought it in the Bay Area in 1994 at the same place as the fire suit because, for the first one I wanted to be fitted by someone who knew what they were doing. After that I knew my size and could try ordering them online with better results.

I've had Bell, Shoei, Arai and G-Force. The Shoei and Arai are the most comfortable to me but that's more important on a track than at the AX. But you might want to do a DE at some point as well.

Most AX regions will allow M helmets but they aren't allowed on race tracks in some places. So I always buy SA (built-in fire resistance) helmets just in case it becomes an issue somewhere. That way if a DE crops up the helmet will never be a problem.

Have fun!

2010 is the latest but you can still use 2005. Open face is fine. I have used both M and SA rated helmets. For a while Redwood Region was trying to say M rated was not good enough but that seems to have been clarified...

I really like my Bell Sport. It's made in China, but one of the few exceptions to the rule - great quality, fit and comfort.

Wine Country Motorsports is great, and there are discount coupons online if you search for them. Plus they'll install HANS posts for free if you buy them from them.

I go through a lot of helmets with motorcycles and strongly suggest that you NEVER buy a helmet you haven't tried on. There are a couple of different head "types", from long watermelon shaped to round canteloupe. For example Arai's are typically more round shaped, Shoei enlongated. If you buy the wrong shape you'll have pressure points on your head as you wear it, you won't want to have it on very long and will have a lower level of protection. I use Shoei, my head can't stand Arai, but even in one manufacturer's line the fit and sizes will vary slightly from model to model, so you really have to try them on. Don't be afraid of lower-priced helmets, in real world testing the motorcycle people have found little or no correlation of price and level of protection. And from what I've seen Bell is a pretty good balance of quality/value.

Oh, and generally motorcycle helmets have evolved into shapes that aren't necessarily helpful for automotive use. They use aerodynamic shapes, vents, etc. that make perfect sense when you're turning to look over your shoulder on a motorcycle at faster than freeway speeds and don't want that helmet trying to turn on your head, but are pretty worthless inside a car. The simpler (and cheaper) models are probably better for automotive use than the fancy (expensive) ones.

Mike

It was nice to meet you and your wife as well. Hope see you at one of the pancake breakfast or ax

Regards

James

Personally, I prefer Simpson Helmets. I have a fat head and size varys from snell certification period to the next. Some years the Bandit style is best others the Voyager style is more comfortable.

I buy mine from http://www.speedwaymotors.com

I order three up, the size i think plus the size larger and smaller with a new backlava.

Put it on for 30 minutes and makes sure it is comfortable, but not too loose,

Test fit for comfort and there happy to take the return within a few days at no charge

Good place for misc speed parts too.

Disclaimer: My dad is inducted into the Nebraska Motorsports hall of fame for his photography, which is located in the Smith Collection by Speedway Motors.

http://www.narhof.com/inductees.asp