Pro Car Rally seats and Schroth 4 pt

[raf0419]

Hello all. I'm trying to build a great cruiser which can pull double duty as an AutoCrosser. I'm hoping to do the occasional open track day as well.
From the cruiser perspective, I'm trying to keep as much of a '60s feel to the the interior as possible. As such I'm interested in the Procar Rally seats. From the Auto-X and track day perspective I do not want to sacrifice safety. The vehicle does have a cage similar to the DSE setup. I've debated a removable crossbar so that I could use a 5pt, but I really like the idea of being able to use something like Morris belts while cruising. This led me to researching the Schroth 4 point setup (Rallye 4).

So here is my question/dilemma. It appears the Schroth system is dependent on the strength and height of the seat backs. Now I'm only 5'7", but from what I can tell, the seat backs must be as tall as my shoulders for the Schroth 4pt to work correctly. Will the ProCar Rally front seats provide enough protection?

If not can anyone recommend a "retro" looking seat which would work for my application?

or

Would I be better off installing a detachable crossbar and swapping seats for race/track days?

Thanks in advance for your input and advice!

[raf0419]

Hmmm. I'll ask this another way. Is anyone using Procar Rally seats with the Schroth system? If so what has been your experience?

Thanks!

[NOT A TA]

I used the Schroth 4 point Rallye harnesses with ASM in my car. At the time I had OEM seats similar to the Pro Car Rallys. I'm about your height and they worked fine for me (never crash tested thankfully). Because of the ASM feature they do not require a fixed back seat like most 5-6 point harness manufacturers recommend. The 4 point Rallye harness is designed to allow controlled body movement during an impact while the 5-6 point harnesses are typically designed to have very limited body movement.

When I first installed the Schroths I also kept the stock seat belts (lap only) but quickly found myself using the schroths exclusively so I removed the stockers. The only drawback I noticed was that the schroth shoulder harness wanted to slide off the seat and fall out the door so as you can see in the pic below I used a zip tie just to prevent the belt from melting on my side pipes.

A fixed back race seat with back support to the roll bar combined with 5-6 point harness attached to a harness bar of a roll bar will offer more protection. I started spending more time on road courses and going to land speed races so I put safety equipment in my car for ludicrous speeds. I've had several brands of harnesses in various cars but I liked the Schroth Rallyes so much I bought their 6 points when I switched setups. Also very happy with their 6 points.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/09/The14Carinterior001-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/07/The14Carinterior003-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/05/bird003-1.jpg

[raf0419]

John,

Thank you so much for the input! The information (and bonus photos) you shared is exactly what I was to figure out. I'm still a bit undecided, but I'm leaning toward the setup I mentioned earlier until such time as I start spending more time on road courses. Thanks again!

Raf