Paul:
I have to disagree with you 100%! The carbon fiber racing seats will NOT
shatter as you think. It takes the impact and absorbs it, it deflects the
impact around the driver and does not allow the impact to concentrate on any
one area, it spreads it out.
Carbon fiber is one of the strongest materials made, why do you think it
would shatter? It is a woven fabric, how is it going to shatter?
The reason(s) NASCAR won't allow it into their cars is pretty simple.
NASCAR wants to cars to remain behind the times with both chassis and engine
and safety technology. They want to remain "the good 'ole boys" of old.
They like that rough and tumble image that is portrayed by the media. They
don't want the clean cut image of F1 and CART. Those series are both
referred to as "circus's", something that NASCAR does not want to associate
with.
The banning of carbon fiber seats has nothing to do with costs. It is
strictly NASCAR steering clear of new technology. Any time someone tries
something new, it gets turned down and has always been turned down. Others
have already pointed out too many times when NASCAR refuses to get with the
times when it comes to safety.
In a crash if a piece of front suspension is directed towards the cockpit of
an F1 or CART car, what sort of seat would you rather be sitting in?
Aluminum or Carbon Fiber? Me? Carbon Fiber! A carbon fiber suspension
part will most certainly go right through an aluminum seat like cutting
through butter. If aluminum is so much stronger than Carbon Fiber then why
are the suspension pieces made from carbon fiber in F1? Because it is that
much stronger than aluminum or any other material that could be used. I am
not saying that NASCAR should switch to exotic materials, that is not what
the series is about. They should allow a driver to use ANY safety device
they feel is warranted for their own well being. It will not create an
unfair advantage over the rest of the field. All of the cars MUST weigh
2,400 pounds, so they would have to add an extra pound or two to make weight
anyway. Who is it hurting by Scott Pruett wanting to use a Carbon Fiber
seat? It is actually hurting NASCAR's own head in the sand image that they
have the safest cars in all of racing!
Larry Joffe
--> I don't think they prohibit carbon fiber race seats due to
--> cost. I think
--> they prohibit them because a heck of a lot of drivers got hurt with
--> fiberglass seats before the aluminum seats appeared. I
--> personally think that
--> metal is a better substance to make a seat from than either
--> fiberglass or
--> carbon fiber because it won't shatter. Besides, I think the
--> primary reason
--> they make seats from the latter two materials is due to
--> weight not that they
--> are safer than other materials. So in this particular
--> regard I believe
--> NASCAR is actually doing the "right thing".
-->
--> Paul Foster
-->
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