New member w/ questions

[Peter S]

I am a new member but have visited before. Does anyone have info on adding competition harness with stock seats for AX use? Also...has anyone out there done PSS9 suspension modification and what are your thoughts. I am doing AX now and want to start doing track days as well. My ride is a Speed Yellow Boxster S '02 and thus far have added Vosstek competition pedals and B&M short throw shifter. Suspension is next so advice is welcomed.

[Tom M]

Here's the harness installation that I did a while back.



You should check to see what type of installation is allowed for your planned use before doing anything.

[Kevin C. (Saratoga, CA)]

They work great on the track. Perhaps a bit harsh on the street but I like the precision they give me there as well. When you start autocrossing and tracking on the stock suspension, you will find that you wear the outsides of the tires very quickly due to a lack of negative camber in the alignment setup. In order to get more negative camber you need to lower the car. The PSS9 coilovers give you flexibility in tuning ride height and shock stiffness. Another good (but less radical) solution would be to use H&R lowering springs along with Bilstein SP shocks.

[Peter S]

Kevin

Thanks for the feedback. How much did you lower the car? Do you find you are adjusting the shock settings between street use and track/AX use as much as you expected to and how easily accessed are the adjustment knobs? Also, do you have any pics of your car available?

[Peter S]

Tom

Thanks for the harness install info. How satisfied with the set-up have you been and have you had to make any changes since? When you are using the harness do the shoulder belts feel like they are sitting properly across your shoulders? How are the seats wearing and did you have any issues with the hardware scratching/gauging the seats or tunnel? Also, what length belts did you use? It seems like there can be alot of extra shoulder belt length to have to deal with. Lastly, how do the anti-sub belts work when attaching to the lap belt anchor points and how do they sit in relationship to the seat bolsters? It's hard to tell from the photos. Sorry about the million questions but I have gone back and forth between putting in a race seat vs. not and would prefer at the moment to keep the stock seats over springing a small fortune for GT3 seats or "downgrading" the aesthetics for an aftermarket seat. Any additional input would be helpful. Thanks!!

[Kevin C. (Saratoga, CA)]

I lowered the car about an inch. (The tops of the fender arches are about 25" from the ground - a little more in the rear.) I usually just leave the shocks in the track position (the 3rd sifffest position out of 9). The ride is a bit smoother in the softer position, but the stiff springs and swaybars keep it pretty firm and, with the shocks in the softest position, the car is underdamped and bounces a bit over bumps.

The adjustment knobs are at the bottom of the struts. They are easy to get to while swapping to the track wheels. I think you can also get to them without removing the wheels.

I will try to post some pictures after I wash my car in a little while.

[Tom M]

I have since removed the setup and sold it to Viktor. The harness worked fine for me when I used it on the track. As far as the seat wear goes you just need to be careful when installing. I chose the anti-sub install I did to avoid the issue with pulling down the front of the seat when using the anti-sub belt.

[Kevin C. (Saratoga, CA)]

Go for the race seat. I put in a Sparco Evo-2 seat on the driver's side for a total cost of about $800 (self installed). I think it looks great. It's a fantastic improvement on the track and I actually find it more comfortable than the stock seat on long drives. You can always switch back to the stock seat with a quick 4-bolt swap.

[dougmack]

I installed a harness in the Boxster S that my wife and I autocross. It was a significant benefit for us because we no longer needed to work so hard to stay in the seat and could focus more on driving.

I use a four point harness (don't use the sub-belt) and it works fine for autocross. I used the Brek-Krause fittings and Tom's directions - easy install.

The one thing I added to Tom's setup is a thing called and angel harness. Its a loop of harness material that goes over the headrest and contains two loops to support the main harness shoulder straps. It keeps the shoulder straps closer together so I don't slide out of them in the event of an incident. It also makes it easier to find the shoulder straps when I'm climbing into the harness.

Doug

[Peter S]

Thanks kevin. Pics would be great when you get a chance.