I’m in the market for my first DE/Autocross helmet and possibly installing a fire extinguisher in my ’07 997 C4S with adaptive sports seats. Based on what I’ve read, these adaptive sports seats don’t work with some of the F/E brackets I’ve seen online. I live in Northern Virginia and will head up to OG Racing on Friday to Saturday to look around and hopefully, at a minimum, come home with a helmet.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good first helmet? I wear glasses, so in the helmets I’ve borrowed at Autocross events I have noticed a difference between helmets in which ones seem to allow for the shaft and earpiece of the glasses between my head and the helmet.

I’m new to DE, so is there anything else I should consider purchasing at OG or elsewhere before I head to the track?

Thank you for the guidance!
Craig

 

good starting helmet is a question of choosing from Bell or Arai and you need to decide if you want full face or open face one.

for AX definitely open face is better as honestly no one needs helmet for Ax to begin with - it is a formality, for DE - well, a lot of folks use open face, all instructor and advanced people use closed face as they want to keep all their teeth intact.

on hot summer days closed face is a pain, in rain it is also a pain as visor gets fogged. if you also do karting or ever want to drive open wheelers- you will need closed face.
I have open face but every season think of getting closed face, my helmet is bell sa2005 and as it will expire I will get a closed face for sure. only way to get a good helmet is to go to big autosport store and test fit them all. then you can either buy one there or search onlyne for this exact model on sale.

i got mine from this store - http://www.saferacer.com/, I asked them to ship me 2 helmets in medium and large and returned 'large' one after I tried them on.

for fire ext -
http://www.speedtactics.com/porsche_extinguisher.php

for AX - this is what I have.
http://www.saferacer.com/bell-sport-...productid=1857

 

OG Racing is fine. I suggest an open face helmet, they are much better for ventilation and, in my opinion, they accommodate eye/sunglasses better as well. My preference is Bel Mag4 or Mag5 (they also call it SportsMag). I used to use a full face helmet and found it excessively confining. Some people here will tell you that it is safer, and this is true, however, for what you'll use it, an open face helmet is the way to go.

 

Utkinpol: Outstanding link on the fire extinguisher bracket! Thanks. Also, thanks for both of the replies on the open face helmet. The price point on the Bell is much better than what I was guessing I would be spending as I assumed the closed face was the only way to go. Gloves or anything like that needed/useful now that I may have a little extra money to spend?

 

gloves/suits are for fire protection, not grip. decide for yourself if you need it. people in upper driging groups are required to wear them, so, if you are not there yet - I would not bother.

what you will benefit from are good driving shoes. saferacer had a sale on lico shoes for $39 -
http://www.saferacer.com/high-fire-r...productid=1945

I got a pair out of curiosity and they are of acceptably fine design from what they look, i did not try to drive in them yet, they just probably do not have any/proper fire protection but imitate piloti shoes. but for $39 I think they are better than your regular sneakers and if they will fall apart within one season - it is OK with me. I would drive barefooted if I could but it is forbidden.

good sparco or piloti shoes cost different money.

 

All good stuff. On the fire extinguishers, I see a huge range of prices for the 2.5 lb. The Speed Tactics who makes the bracket sells one for $149 made by HalGuard™. However, OG Racing here near my house sells a “sodium” 2.5 lb model for $49. Any reason to go with any particular kind to justify the price difference or other places I should look?

 

pyrotech has good stuff that is fairly cheap in price too. apex performance which is a site sponsor offers wonderful service as well a great 6speed discount.

for those that wear glasses, open face is easier to put on/off. if you do time trial or racing, i'd go full face. if you just want to do DE and AX, open is enough.

 

I have had good luck with Gforce equipment.

I have a full face but I will get an open face too. It is true that the full face in the car feels sometimes too much...

 

as i was told - only before you smack your open face at your steering wheel or get an incoming of a random flying object into your face from outside.
speaking about that - always wear sunglasses with open face, or have visor lowered in full face. it is nasiest thing to get a bug in to your eye before corner.
for me driving in full face at 80+ degree weather is a torture.

 

In case you were still looking for a fire extinguisher, we have them listed on our site here:
http://www.suncoastparts.com/product//FEK9X7.html

This is a factory option from Porsche.

For auto x I use a Bell Mag 4 helmet and it works great, especially here in the Florida heat.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

How do one know if current helmet has expired?

 

'current' helmets are snell SA2005 and SA2010. SA2000 just got expired.
SA2010 were only recently introduced and are quite pricier than 2005.
it is also a good ide to upgrade helmet every 5 years so, decide for yourself which one you want to buy.
helmet has a sticker saying this snell rating on it in big bold letters. if it does not have such a sticker i would be suspicious and it will probably cause questions at tech line.

 

I have couple of different helmets, Shoe, HJC they both are DOT and SNELL approved and are fullface that I use for my Motorcyle rides. I can perhap use one for DE. It does have 2005 sticker inside.

 

PCA DE allows usage of snell M2005+ and SA2005+ i beleive. same for SCDA. not sure about other organizations.

 

This is a great Thread guys...thanks for all the information....

Ryan from Suncoast....Can you be specific on which 997.2 seats the extinguisher mounts. Thanks in advance.