more sfi in 2013

[worm]

in aarn this week ,kirkey seats selling sfi seats that are mandatory next year starting at 2395.00. there goes the good field of cars at the head. what is next buying the chassis from nascar for the wmt?

[burtmyers1]

The biggest problem with this SFI stuff is that its only good for two years. Running 12-15 races a year, makes them only good for 25 races. After, two years they some how become bad no matter what condition its in. All its doing is taking a way cars.

[Sicklajoie]

So LaJoie seats won't be allowed??

[creyer76]

SFI is for fire.. why cant they just change the padding and cover to an SFI standard instead of buying a new seat?

[Ben Althen]

SFI is for everything safety, not just fire. Lajoie seats should still be allowed as they have been SFI 39.1 certified for awhile now. Butler as well has an SFI 39.1 seat; it appears Kirkey is now selling one.

[rayray28]

Randy Lajoie has a sfi rated seat, just like the othe brands and will work with the weekend warrior more than his competitors, he remembers his roots!!

[worm]

seats only good for 2 yrs then must go back and get re certfied more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. never ends. plus in 2013 quick changes only, this should of been done 20 years ago!

[Leadfoot]

Kind of stupid, if the seat is on fire, you have already burnt yourself, or you have left the seat and are very unlikly to sit back in it while car is on fire. The fire isn't going to come through the alumimum is it? pure money.

[Magicshoes12]

Kind of stupid, if the seat is on fire, you have already burnt yourself, or you have left the seat and are very unlikly to sit back in it while car is on fire. The fire isn't going to come through the alumimum is it? pure money.

And if the driver is knocked unconscious is it still stupid? Would it help minimize the worst of it, or am I wrong?

[Mod Squad]

As stated by another poster in this thread, just to clarify SFI rating is not just for fire, in this case, it tests seat integrity as well.

I tried to link the PDF directly but the SFI site won't allow it. The PDF exceeds The Chrome Horn's attachment limit so I just posted directions to it.

Click on http://www.sfifoundation.com/

Then on the left hand side click on "Specification List"

Scroll Down to “39.1” click on the numbers to load the PDF.

My personal opinion, they're doing it for the right reasons. While the majority of racers are all about safety, I have been to tracks and seen some cars where the maintenance and upkeep of the cars and equipment is not the best. If you have a car that takes a hard hit (or repeated hits) and nobody bothers to check seat mounts, you have the potential for an obvious issue. Not to bring up a sore spot but what happened when DE Sr got killed? Everyone got blamed BUT him (Bill Simpson).

The majority of rules in the book are there because crew chiefs are always trying to get an advantage. Safety rules are in place because somebody has been hurt or killed in the past. Full face helmets and fires suits weren't even written in to the rule book until the last 10 years.

In my field of work (Naval Aviation) we have a set of standardized procedures to execute our mission, our operations and maintenance. Everything we do has guidelines because we have a dangerous job and somebody has been hurt or killed in the past (these publications have been written in blood) is the phrase we use when training the young guns because if something can go wrong it will.

The SFI rating program is a way to standardize safety measures to ensure all the competitors have the safest equipment possible. The way I read the guidelines is if the original manufacturer of the rated component re-inspects it he can recertify it. That way the driver/team owner doesn't have to buy another seat. JMHO.