Another Race Suit Question

[HRG Le Mans]

Is this suit useless now? its hardly used but I fear out of date!

[Al Weyman]

End of the year in this country I believe, bit silly is'nt it as I have just got a new one and I swear it looks identical to the old one which is still usable.

[midgetman]

It's already out of date on the continent :-) Yes, end of the year in the UK.

[HRG Le Mans]

Arse :-(

[Al Weyman]

Midgetman will cut you a good deal, he did me. :-)

[socram]

Picket the national body!!! We have had a running battle regarding FIA seatbelt expiry dates. Many, many cars have belts that do 4 or 5 meetings a year and are always garaged, with seat belts as good as new, but expired.

The powers that be have at long last accepted a 5 year extension, subject to them being in good condition. The same should apply to race suits. If undamaged, and in obviously good condition, they would probably be 95% as efficient as a new suit, but that is just an educated guess from a manufacturer!

As far as I know, no one has carried out legitimate, scientific testing on an old suit, but material does age and degrade with time, and exposure to UV.

Your fire resistant (NOT fireproof) underwear is your last line of defence...

I'll see if I can get an old knackered suit and use the old butane blow lamp trick on it and compare it with a new, unwashed/dry cleaned sample of the same fabric.

As a selling demo, we go to car clubs and with willing volunteers, get them to hold different fabrics until the heat comes through and is unbearable. Obviously, not with the poly cotton or nylon samples... We just incinerate them.

The difference between plain cotton, single layer, Nomex or equivalent single layer, two then three layer, then plus underwear, is a very convincing demo on the effectiveness of a good race suit.