[8695Beaters]

Tuning Myth 11: Racing harnesses are safer than seatbelts.

ABSOLUTELY FALSE!!! Racing harnesses are meant for race cars with rollcages. Rollcages are meant for racecars, not daily drivers. And harnesses have to be securely mounted to a harness bar or to the same locations as the rear seatbelts.

Putting in buckets is going to be really hard to do. First of all, the rear seats are not mounted in any way like the fronts. Most have a couple of tabs that just slip into holes in the frame. The fronts have bolts and brackets and frames that all bolt very firmly into the frame of the car (that section of frame is also heavily reinforced). Also many cars (like the DC Integra and CRX) have their fuel tanks under the back seat (well back seat area for the CRX). So there's no good way to put a seat in there. Also a harness needs a solid point to bolt in the frame so that the straps aren't angled more than 45 degrees over the seatback. In the trunk of a sedan, there's no place to mount the harness safely. And NEVER skimp on harnesses. These things have to save your life and if mounted improperly, can kill you in an accident. My friend installed a 4-point harness into his Mini a few months ago. He did all the work himself (the setup was ingenious. It used the rear seatbelts to mount it, no drilling required!). Anyway, the first time I saw it, I had him sit in the car and I made a few adjustments to the length and angle. Took about 2 minutes. He said it immediately felt better. In a crash, if the harness is mounted at too stepp an angle, then it can compress your spine, and too much of that can severe nerves, which ends up with you using a wheelchair for the rest of your life. From a safety point of view, drop this idea since there is no way to safely mount the seats or the belts.

Also, four point harnesses aren't very safe. In a frontal collision, you tend to "submarine" or slide out from under the harness, since there is nothing holding your legs in place (then again the stock 3-point belt has the same problem, but it comes with the car). If you do upgrade, always ALWAYS go for a 5 or 6-point harness. But then again, like I already said, harnesses are for race cars.