Standard Seats Vs Buckets and Harnesses

[Eeyore]

So ive been wondering. Which is the safest in the even of a crash.

With standard seats its been good for thousands of other cars and you have pretensioners that go off and hold you tight and maybe some lovely air bags from the steering wheel and sides of the seats to cushion the blow.

or...

is it better to be strapped in tighter with 3 point harnesses into a bucket seat. Youre strapped in tighter than normal but there is no pretensioner to tension it during a crash so is it in fact actually looser? And having your shoulders so well held in means your head will never hit the airbag from the steering wheel. Of course we have already said goodbye to any seat airbags at this point.

I was wondering what peoples thoughts are. Id like to think my bucket seats and harnesses are safer (especially when the airbag light is on who knows which one wont deploy during a crash). But are they?

[Grant]

Correctly fitting harnesses should be tight and 'pin' you to the seat anyway. The only reason pretensioners are present mainstream is because people are able to sit forwards in the seat. It pulls you back in.


Harnesses are safer all day long, but aren't used commercially as tbh they can be a pita for day to day use

[tigerstyle]

Throw into the mix the thousands of ill fitted, poorly bolted down, and incorrectly angles harnesses, standard seats are probably a lot safe than you think.

[Just Sean]

Harnesses and buckets are far safer. Just need to look at Motorsport for that answer

Tight harnesses on a daily are a pita tho. Cant reach the stereo/heater controls.

For short trips i used to just put the shoulder straps on and not buckle up. Not ideal i no but still held you in fairly tight

[Toms306]

I'd think you're more likely to snap your neck with shoulders held in tight but without the wheel airbag tbh. But atleast your guts will all still be held in place with the tighter harnesses.

[Grant]

Whiplash is more likely tom yes, but then you could argue you should be wearing a neck brace and hans device

[Ruan]

The amount of siutations that could cause instant death with one seat, but the other seat could save your life is just unreal...

It's an almost impossible question to answer... Done properly with a cage, HANS, correctly angled harnesses etc, buckets probably are safer than your regular seats - however there are CERTAIN situations where yes, stock seats would actually be less likely to cause injury...

The same goes for airbags - how on EARTH they think an airbag can be a UNIVERSAL thing I don't know, if everyone is the same proportions - then yes, I can completely understand how they are totally suitable for everyone, however:



OR:



How can you possibly say the requirements are the same - the seats have probably 40cm of adjustability - you aren't telling me the airbag position is correct for that whole range... A lot of the time I've a feeling airbags can cause more injury than they do good... Has anyone on the forum who WAS wearing a seatbelt when they crashed actually hit the airbag with their head... If I'm wearing a seatbelt, am sat correctly and I have an accident - if my face manages to get NEAR the airbag I can categorically state that I will not even remember hitting the airbag, since my head will have fallen off - or my legs will be so badly crushed, they'll have come off also...

6'6 person with 36" inside leg measurement or my 5'6 mother.... According to every car manufacturer today, they're the same... That's why Euro NCAP is usually a total load of trash...

But lets face it, do stock seats look racecar?

No. No they don't.

[Grant]

But lets face it, do stock seats look racecar?

No. No they don't.

/thread

[silverzx]

If you have a bucket seat that doesn't hug your shoulders/head too much you could leave the standard seat belt in and use that when plodding around.

[Grant]

If you have a bucket seat that doesn't hug your shoulders/head too much you could leave the standard seat belt in and use that when plodding around.

So swap seats depending on how you're feeling driving that day?!

[silverzx]

If you have a bucket seat that doesn't hug your shoulders/head too much you could leave the standard seat belt in and use that when plodding around.

So swap seats depending on how you're feeling driving that day?!

Sorry no thats not what I mean!

Some bucket seats don't get in the way of the standard seat belt, so you can still use the standard seat belt should you desire.

You can also add harnesses when you know your going to need to be strapped in.

Only problem with 306 seats IIRC is that the seat belt clip is attached to the actual seat so you'd need to attach it to the bucket.

[ben306]

Been in a crash in both buckets with harnesses and standard. Crash with buckets was the worst I'd had, came away unhurt. I was in much more pain from a crash at half the speed with standard seats/seatbelt

[Grant]

Ah i see. Yeah the buckle is on the seat subframe itself.

Harnesses get my vote all day long

[Poodle]

Every time ive crashed a car the airbags have failed to go off, except once where the charge had a go at starting a fire. The seats themselves are all shockingly bad for me, yet another instance of the whole world being built aroud fecking midgets. :p As ru says, the airbag is three feet away if im in a comfortable position, the head rest is just right to snap my neck at full extension and the seatbelt almost runs flat across my chest so the pretensioners would be bugger all use too. So yeah, buckets every time, assuming tey haven't been installed by an idiot.

[adamm306]

just don't crash then it wont matter what you're sat in

[C.A.R.]

In a nutshell; for a harness to be safer than OEM equipment it has to be so restrictive that it would be impractical for day-to-day use. In a 306, you can't reach the dashboard / stereo in a properly adjusted harness.

[Jake]

French electrics.. Dont rely on airbags... . Mine didn't go off when I crashed!

[silverzx]

just don't crash then it wont matter what you're sat in

Getting hit by someone is sometimes unavoidable!

[Dum-Dum]

Long story short but assuming they are all correctly fitted:
- if you keep your wheels on the floor buckets,
- if you roll it (without a cage and helmet) standard seats as you can lean sideways out the seat to prevent becoming your own roll bar wheread with buckets the top of the seat and/or your head will defo become part of the roof.

[Grant]

it would be impractical for day-to-day use. In a 306, you can't reach the dashboard / stereo in a properly adjusted harness.

Ill agree that its a farce for day to day use, but I can still reach my dashboard switches (and stereo should i have one) with my harnesses all done up properly.

If you cant reach the dash you are either a gangly mother fucker, or you have your seat too far back. How does every racing driver manage to get to the switches on the dash when they need to use them?

[Lolben91]

Depends on the situation of the crash, roll over = harness, frontal impact = airbag and OEM belt (if adjusted to manufaturers design, so not driving with your face on the airbag)
Harness will keep you in place but it wont help decelerate you so your organs may take a bigger hit
OEM stuff is designed to help protect you, doesnt give a guarantee you will be fine, some people suffer life long injuries in minor shunts, and others walk away from the car being ripped in two
IMO, watch crashes from races, car rolls over and flys to bits and the guy walks away, id say if you can afford it and dont need the rear seats then a bucket seat with a harness is probably the best option in most situations

[Eeyore]

Some interesting points going on here. Glad to see its a discussion and not an arguement!

[bingham123456]

Iv crashed cars with both and would have to say the buckets are the better ones. (my personal opinion).

like others have sed with regards to race cars, 99% of the time that walk away, also think about the way the belt sits on s normal car seat vs buckets. There 2straps with normal ones and that could lead to nasty cuts/bruises and occasionally broken ribs (happened to me, broke 8ribs and my wrist (airbag got my hand and snapped ut like it didn't exist)

the buckets with properly fitted belts has more points of contact and should do less damage (should).


in my experience the full harness/ buckets work best, aslong as a retard hasn't fitted them.

that's my thoughts on it, and haveing had experienced with both i know what i would prefer to be in/on,