-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Joffe <spdrcr5@bigfoot.com>
To: 'team.net' <autox@autox.team.net>
Date: Sunday, February 25, 2001 1:35 PM
Subject: RE: Aluminum Seats
>Paul:
>
>I have to disagree with you 100%! The carbon fiber racing seats will
NOT
>shatter as you think. It takes the impact and absorbs it, it
deflects the
>impact around the driver and does not allow the impact to concentrate
on any
>one area, it spreads it out.
I've been waiting for someone to make this obvoius point. I can see
that the NASCAR boys aren't the only ones with their heads in the
sand. There is no doubt that carbon fiber is a much better choice
than aluminum.
One other added benefit is that it is much more "moldable". Formula
car drivers aren't just using the same old designs when using carbon
fiber. Rather, the latest method has been to mold the seat to fit the
driver's body exactly. They actually mold the seat up toward the top
of the cockpit as far as possible, and mold the seat area farther down
the legs. This enhances the ability of the seat to evenly distribute
the forces. One CART team member told me that if their driver's
weight changes 5 or 6 pounds a new seat may be required.
I think Buddy Lazier might have been the first to use this technology.
He credited it with supporting his previously broken back when he won
the IRL 500 back in 1996.
>
>Carbon fiber is one of the strongest materials made, why do you think
it
>would shatter? It is a woven fabric, how is it going to shatter?
>
>The reason(s) NASCAR won't allow it into their cars is pretty simple.
>NASCAR wants to cars to remain behind the times with both chassis and
engine
>and safety technology. They want to remain "the good 'ole boys" of
old.
>They like that rough and tumble image that is portrayed by the media.
They
>don't want the clean cut image of F1 and CART. Those series are both
>referred to as "circus's", something that NASCAR does not want to
associate
>with.
>
>The banning of carbon fiber seats has nothing to do with costs. It
is
>strictly NASCAR steering clear of new technology. Any time someone
tries
>something new, it gets turned down and has always been turned down.
Others
>have already pointed out too many times when NASCAR refuses to get
with the
>times when it comes to safety.
>
>In a crash if a piece of front suspension is directed towards the
cockpit of
>an F1 or CART car, what sort of seat would you rather be sitting in?
>Aluminum or Carbon Fiber? Me? Carbon Fiber! A carbon fiber
suspension
>part will most certainly go right through an aluminum seat like
cutting
>through butter. If aluminum is so much stronger than Carbon Fiber
then why
>are the suspension pieces made from carbon fiber in F1? Because it
is that
>much stronger than aluminum or any other material that could be used.
I am
>not saying that NASCAR should switch to exotic materials, that is not
what
>the series is about. They should allow a driver to use ANY safety
device
>they feel is warranted for their own well being. It will not create
an
>unfair advantage over the rest of the field. All of the cars MUST
weigh
>2,400 pounds, so they would have to add an extra pound or two to make
weight
>anyway. Who is it hurting by Scott Pruett wanting to use a Carbon
Fiber
>seat? It is actually hurting NASCAR's own head in the sand image
that they
>have the safest cars in all of racing!
>
>Larry Joffe
>
>
>--> I don't think they prohibit carbon fiber race seats due to
>--> cost. I think
>--> they prohibit them because a heck of a lot of drivers got hurt
with
>--> fiberglass seats before the aluminum seats appeared. I
>--> personally think that
>--> metal is a better substance to make a seat from than either
>--> fiberglass or
>--> carbon fiber because it won't shatter. Besides, I think the
>--> primary reason
>--> they make seats from the latter two materials is due to
>--> weight not that they
>--> are safer than other materials. So in this particular
>--> regard I believe
>--> NASCAR is actually doing the "right thing".
>-->
>--> Paul Foster
>-->
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