2009 Motorsports Holiday Gift Guide - Part 3

Saving the best for last ($500 and up):

Hans Device:

By now we should all be pretty fluent with what a Head and Neck Restraint is and how it is a key (if not the most important) piece of motorsports safety equipment. If your loved one still is not using one, they should. If YOU are not using one, then buy yourself a gift this holiday season. We still like the Hans Device for its simplicity and ease of use. We also like that it's still the most popular device on the market meaning there is lots of support when you need it, and that it starts at only $695.



Data Acquisition System:

Data acquisition systems were all the rage this past year, with a countless number of companies popping out of the woodwork. As it should! The quickest way to improve lap-times is not by buying thousands of dollars worth of equipment to make the car faster. Rather, the key to faster times is attacking the source - the driver. Data Acquisition systems allow the driver to see which exact skill-set needs to be improved. We like the Racepak line of systems due to their seemingly infinite expandability and top-notch customer support (see our write-up here).



Video Camera:

A good video camera guarantees that your loved one brings back all of their racing adventures so you can watch them together for days/weeks/years to come. Make sure to do some research before purchasing - not all cameras are suited for harsh race-car environments (Read here for a guide on what to look for in a Motorsports Camera). We still like the VIO camera systems for their ease of use and overbuilt, bomb-proof construction:



Driver Cooling System:

As much fun as we have, racing can be a grueling sport. We're suited up in a thick insulated suit, with a helmet that doesn't let air in. Then we're strapped into a car without any AC, and drive around on 100°+ days on melting asphalt! A good Cool Suit system will make any racer happy. These devices pump cooling water through a shirt that is worn under the driver's fireproof suit. After all, a happy driver is a safe driver!



Driving Suit:

Take a look at the suit your loved one is using. Chances are they've been wearing the same suit for the past 10, 15, even 20 years! Maybe now is the time to treat them (or yourself) to a fresh outfit. Even though no rules govern it in the states, even Nomex suits lose some of their protective ability as they are used over time. Not only that, but the newer styles are much lighter (not to mention look much better.) We still like Sparco suits for their quality, design, and fit.



Click here to view the entire Gift Guide

Dog Days of Summer

The thermometer shows a number somewhere in the high-90's. By mid-day it feels like it's in the triple-digits. Here you are, standing next to your car, in the middle of hundreds of idling engines, with your 3-layer Nomex suit (and underwear). You swear that your race shoes are melting to the surface of the track and your $$ race tires are turning into pools of rubber goo. Ever ask yourself, Why am I here?

Here we are again - the hottest time of the year. All we can hope for is to get the car moving so at least a tiny semblance of a breeze starts to come through the window. Will relief ever come? Even though the only sure way to stay cool on track is to wait for the Autumn months, there are ways to try and beat the heat. Here's a short and hopefully helpful list:

1. Fitness & Health (Free!!): The big concern with racing in such high heat is taking care of yourself and making sure you don't succumb to heat stroke. We all hear the warnings and all know the precautions, so stay properly hydrated (hydrated meaning with water, not beer). One should also stay in shape, especially during the racing season - activities in such extreme temperatures places a huge burden on the body; staying physically fit gives a huge advantage in overcoming such physical duress. Read more here: http://racingfitness.com/blog/

2. Fresh Air Systems Cool Suit (complete systems start at $398.00): The Fresh Air Systems Cool Suit is a simple t-shirt worn under your driving gear. The shirt is lined with 50 feet of small water tubing sewn onto the front and back. This tubing is connected to a remote cooler that circulates plain old tap water through the shirt. The shirt creates cooling zones on the body that help lower your core temperature throughout your race. Fresh Air Systems also offers kits with fresh air helmet attachments; a blower fan takes air from outside, shoves it through the same cooler (yes, like an intercooler) and blows fresh, cool air into your helmet.

3. Technical Underwear (balaclavas start below $50): There was a time when all Nomex underwear was constructed from the same, itchy waffle-weave fabric. However, the future is here and new technical fabrics are being engineered for every sport out there. It's about time they came into the motorsports world! 2BKool, a company from New Zealand, has released a complete line of Nomex blended underwear with a very unique quality. Tiny polymer micro-capsules permanently embedded within the fabric absorb and store excess body heat as it is created, dispersing the excess heat when necessary. It might sound like something made for astronauts, but this stuff really works!

If that's seems a little over the top, Sparco offers 2-lines of technical underwear, ICE and Carmyth. Both are treated to the same X-Cool chemical treatment that also helps draw heat away from the body (and it smells minty-fresh.) Carmyth has the added bonus of offering the highest flame resistance of any driver underwear AND the convenient side-effect of true wicking properties. Yes, sweat WICKING from driving gear!

4. Lighter-Weight Driving Suits: By reducing the weight of your driving suit, you're going to stay much cooler during the summer months. It's sort of like choosing between a light t-shirt VS a heavy wool sweater in the middle of summer. Lightweight doesn't necessarily mean a compromise in protection neither. The 3-layer Sparco X-Light HC Driving Suit ($1595 retail) is 25% lighter then many other similarly rated driving suits on the market. Plus, it is already treated to the same Carmyth and X-Cool breakthroughs as listed above.