Safety Equipment Options?

Hi all, I'm taking my '99 996 cab to the Silver State Classic and, according to the rules, need some safety equipment which I'm not all that familiar or comfortable with, cosmetically speaking. IOW, can these safety features be temporarily installed and without permanently compromosing the car's otherwise pristine interior? SAFETY REQUIREMENTS: A 5- or 6-point safety harness system that includes three-inch shoulder and lap belts. What does this involve? User-installable? Require new seats? A competition-approved roll bar. I do have the optional hard top, so this is probably not mandatory. Nonetheless, I'd love the option of racing my 996 topless (and it might add some rigidity). Need this be "hard-wired" or can it be temporarily installed and, again, without trashing the interior? Any help is greatly appreciated. Dave

I am surprised to hear that SSC requires a 5-6 point harness and bar,...it's a lot of money for an event (DAS bar and a pair of decent 6-point is at least $1500), if you are only going to use it once. OTOH, it's the single most important thing for DE's, forget about safety, it keeps you in place and really help improve your driving. I don't know how the bar works for a cab., but I have DAS roll bar, schroth 6-point harness and gt3 seats. The harness will only work well with a proper sport seat (I've seen 5-point with standard seats, using BK (Brey-krause) attachements. You certainly need a harness bar (like a BK harness bar) or a roll bar (DAS sport) to attach the shoulder belts. Majority prefer a roll bar, as it can get real ugly in a roll onveras your torso will be held upright by the 6-point. DAS bars just bolt on and leave no marks, the alternative is a porsche tequipment bar. Good luck

In fact, one can run with stock belts and no roll bar, but will be strictly limited to a maximum speed of 124 mph. 124 mph?! I'd be disqualified in the first 30 seconds. Dave

Driving a cab at those sustained speeds without a rollbar would be really dumb. Get the Tequipment bar with the crossbrace, GT3 seat and 6-point harness. You can remove everything afterwards and no one will ever know it was in there. (Check first whether the Tequipment bar meets their standards.) Also, my understanding is that rookies are limited to certain speeds in the SSC.

Thank you for the terrific advice! I'll call SSCC to determine if the tequipment bar will pass muster. According to the rule book, first-timers of this event, regardless of skill level, are required to attend the Qualifying Session in Las Vegas. In addition, if a first-timer is running in a fast class (165 mph+), you'll need to present a recognized competition license. That said, the website further ellaborates that your speed class is determined not only by the driver's comfort level and the vehicle's safety equipment, but also by the driver's "experience level." I suppose this is determined at the Qualifying Session. I'm thinking that the Grand Touring Class is right for my stock 996; target average speed = 115, 120 or 125 mph, max speed = 140 mph. I know she can exceed that, but not by all that much. And I've never seen this road (a video will be provided) so it's hard to say how top speed really factors in. [By the map, it looks pretty darned straight.] Thanks again! Dave

Which Schroth harness did you get? The Hybrid looks interesting to me. Of course I'm thinking of a HANS, also, and wonder if I can get the HANS-specific harness and temporary blet guides until I see if I will really get the HANS. I have GT3 seats and plan on the DAS Sport rollbar.