36 replies to this topic

[Tom Scheifler]

Carl, just a side note from another driver. In my Spec7/ITA car I had a Kirkey ??? model. When selecting seat for my Spec Miata and comparing Kirkey to UltraShield Pro Road Racing seat, Ultra Shield got the nod because one's ribs are the weakest body part other than the head and I liked the lesser amount of rib wing wrap around. One time in life I had 5 fractured ribs and oh my breathing was very sensitive for a long time. Don' want to go there again.

Is your concern that the seat allows shoulders to have more lateral movement that the rib-area?

[Bench Racer]

Post from June, 2015:

 

"For my 2 cents, ribs are the weakest body part taking lateral loads when leaving the neck and head out of the equation."

 

I'd prefer my hips and shoulders (much stronger) than my ribs taking lateral loads.

[Tom Scheifler]

Post from June, 2015:

"For my 2 cents, ribs are the weakest body part taking lateral loads when leaving the neck and head out of the equation."

I'd prefer my hips and shoulders (much stronger) than my ribs taking lateral loads.

Right. I get that. But this seat has lateral shoulder restraints. Are you saying those do not sufficiently reduce the lateral load on the ribs?

[Eric Orton]

I'd prefer my hips and shoulders (much stronger) than my ribs taking lateral loads.

Could be wrong here, but doesn't this actually increase the risk of abdominal injuries in a wreck? If you have adequate support in the hips and shoulders but not enough in the mid section, your mid section is what's going to act like a spaghetti noodle in a side impact.

[Carl]

The 71 series seat shoulder restraints should reduce (if not completely eliminate) the concern about the rib damage.  They significantly wrap around your shoulders.  The rib wraparound is enough to keep your midsection from moving around (I don't have quite as much midsection to move around as some drivers so YMMV), but is not so big to get in the way.  The rib things look big in the picture, but are not intrusive for me

 

I totally agree with David about the rib restraint if there is nothing keeping your shoulders from moving (like the "Spec Miata" design).  Our "team" ChumpCar has that kind of seat with even bigger wings (spread wide to fit those with a bigger midsection).  I won't drive in that car anymore.

 

[Tom Scheifler]

Thanks again Carl. That's what I was expecting.

[Bench Racer]

Guys, lets start with step one, do we agree the ribs are the weakest part of the body being supported other than the head and neck? Answer yes or no and if no, what do you believe the weakest part of body not mentioned is?

 

My body part list which may be supported by the seat are:

 

Head

Shoulders

Ribs

Pelvis

 

Calf/Shin/Ankle???

 

Check out the load tests for these specifications. http://www.fia.com/s...racing_seat.pdf

 

Lateral Test Load:

 

Head

Shoulders

Pelvis

 

Rearward Test Load:

 

Head

Shoulders

Middle (middle is approx. half the distance from the shoulder to the pelvis)

 

Hmm, no test load for ribs.

 

I'm going to look for more test process.

[Tom Scheifler]

Uncle.

[Ron Alan]

Uncle.

What an Uncle Tom...

[Bench Racer]

Uncle.

Tom, not really. We all know the ribs area don't accept a lot of crash energy before mussel issues or they fracture. Was only trying with FIA to back up my personal thoughts.

[Steve Scheifler]

But I think you miss their point. If the hips are very snug, and the shoulders are next closest in terms of fit, and probably the helmet next, then the rib restraints are not what take or transmit most of the force. No one is suggesting that they serve as the primary restraint, obviously the ribs are comparatively fragile, but depending on your body size & shape they can help keep your mid section from trying to extrude between the upper & lower restraints. I have no idea whether that actually add much protective value, but I think it was one of the points being made.

[Bench Racer]

My 2 cents from reading between the lines of the FIA specifications, if there was an issue of one's ribs squirting out of one's body FIA would surly address the issue.  Bring a fact back about a rib issue when using the latest and greatest FIA seat.  Steve, not to get into a words pi$$ing match with you, but, supposition does not generate a rib issue.

[Ron Alan]

I've only ever heard of broken ribs in seats with rib protectors! 

[Steve Scheifler]

Perhaps you missed it, but I wasn't arguing any side of this, just trying to clarify what I think some of the arguments were. Once again I make the mistake of posting anything, because no matter how carefully worded there will be people reading something totally different into it.

But since you are making assumptions about what the FIA would or wouldn't state, if significant evidence existed that the rib wraparounds were a bad thing don't you think they would explicitly exclude them?

[Bench Racer]

 

Everyone have a great day and fantastic season.

[CruzanTom]

Words rarely seen together in the same sentence regarding Miata drivers

 

  All drivers are fit and lithe.  

[Bench Racer]

I know I posted the dead horse, but this is entertaining. Copied from another site seat war.

 

"I had read a very compelling article by the Detroit Region SCCA I think (have not been able to find it again), several years ago that had an OEM engineer guest speaker talking about racing seats. He referred to the rib protectors as "rib breakers". He explained that our ribs are not built to withstand force - as an example if you were going to break down a door you would use your shoulder (anatomically designed for force) or hip, you would not raise your arm and ram the door with your ribs! that made a lot of sense to me."