Race suits

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T-34
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Race suits

Post by T-34 »

Can anyone tell me if two piece suits are allowed? Reading the rules I can see that for my class the suit requirements are SFI 3.2A/10 or /5 with full Nomex underwear However, there doesn't seem to be any reference in the rules to whether two piece suits are allowed / disallowed.

Also, reading into the SFI ratings, it appears that the TPP value (or half of it) relates to the time that the suit will prevent second degree burns. So for SFI 3.2A/10 suits (a minimum TPP of 38) this equates to 19 seconds, whereas for the SFI 3.2A/5 suit (Minimum TPP of 19) this is 9.5 seconds. Does this mean that for a SFI 3.2A/5 suit and Nomex underwear combo, the underwear have to have a TPP rating of 20 to make up the difference? Most of the underwear I've seen only has a TPP rating of 10.

I know that buying a SFI 3.2A/10 rated suit is obviously the best option, but the difference in price will go a long way towards purchasing a HANS system.

Thoughts / recommendations welcomed.

TIA

Mick.
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T-34
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Re: Race suits

Post by T-34 »

Ahhh, think I might have found (part of) the answer.

This is a good read about SFI ratings - http://www.profoxracing.com/pdf/SFI-Fou ... rticle.pdf

It mentions air gaps between layers offering additional protection - perhaps this makes up the shortfall between an SFI-5 suit with Underwear and the SFI-10.

Can anyone confirm this?
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penny
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Re: Race suits

Post by penny »

regarding air gaps in suits , many years ago funny car drivers would be burn marked where the belts ran across their chests and not in other areas of the "loose suit " .
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Dr Goggles
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Re: Race suits

Post by Dr Goggles »

T-34 wrote:Can anyone tell me if two piece suits are allowed? Reading the rules I can see that for my class the suit requirements are SFI 3.2A/10 or /5 with full Nomex underwear However, there doesn't seem to be any reference in the rules to whether two piece suits are allowed / disallowed.

Also, reading into the SFI ratings, it appears that the TPP value (or half of it) relates to the time that the suit will prevent second degree burns. So for SFI 3.2A/10 suits (a minimum TPP of 38) this equates to 19 seconds, whereas for the SFI 3.2A/5 suit (Minimum TPP of 19) this is 9.5 seconds. Does this mean that for a SFI 3.2A/5 suit and Nomex underwear combo, the underwear have to have a TPP rating of 20 to make up the difference? Most of the underwear I've seen only has a TPP rating of 10.

I know that buying a SFI 3.2A/10 rated suit is obviously the best option, but the difference in price will go a long way towards purchasing a HANS system.

Thoughts / recommendations welcomed.

TIA

Mick.
There is pretty good buying in 2nd hand suits in the US, buy a Deist and you can get it recertified by Deist for about $60, just make sure they don't express post it to you( $240)
...few understand what I'm trying to do , but they vastly outnumber those who understand why..
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