Nomex Race Suite

[Milesk]

Not quite technical I know, but you know what I am after.

 

Yes I understand you pay for what you get, however I find it hard to justify spending £400 0r £500.

 

I want, I believe a fire proof/retardent suite for track days and may be the odd sprint/hill climb, so does it really need to be FIA approved

 

I can get a new Probane treated suite for £85 to £100 and then pehaps have fire retardent underware - we are then two layer.

 

Or I can flea bay and get a 3 layer suite for £100 but it will be 4 to 7 years old

 

Then lastley I can get a two layer suite new for £160 ish which I am leaning towards

 

Whats the general opinion?

 

Thanks

 

Miles

 

 

[Richard Price]

Miles,

Proban suits loose their fire proofing when washed.

A nomex suit will always be fire proof, even after repeated washes.

 

Proban suit also tend to be quite heavy and stiff in comparrison to a nomex suit.

 

If I were you, I'd try to find a Nomex suit on Ebay. I've bought and sold several suits for my wife, son and daughter to wear, and have paid between £60 and £100 for them, and then sold again for very similar money.

 

My own suit, is now eight season old. I've done an average of 10 sprints and hillclimbs each year, along with a few trackdays/test days. My suit is a sparco sprint 2 layer suit. It's a bit faded, but the material is quite sound. If I were to put it on Ebay, I'd expect to get at least £70 for it. I paid £200 eight years ago. I recon I've had good value out of it!

 

If you were to buy a new proban suit, it would effectively have a very low resale value.

 

Nomex every time!

 

 

 

 

[steve hall]

Regulations in respect of race suits for Sprints and Hillclimbs change at the end of the year. I have had my Nomex Suit for some years but will need a replacement at the end of the year.

Bought my suit from :

http://www.cylex-uk.co.uk/company/advanced-wear---safety-ltd-15595843.html

 

 

[I reply to every thread]

here

 

Not sure they do flameproof though

[CaterBram]

I've just got my suit from EBAY, to the FIA 8856-2000 standard, cost £86.

 

Newbie Owner of Q469 WET Caterham 1.6 Crossflow in Ali except for the red bits.

[Richard Price]

Regulations in respect of race suits for Sprints and Hillclimbs change at the end of the year. I have had my Nomex Suit for some years but will need a replacement at the end of the year.

 

The regulations for racing change for next year, but FIA 86 overalls are still OK for sprints and hillclimbs next year. (There was a proposal by the MSA, but this was later dropped)

 

 

 

[SLR69]

Sparco Sprint suit is probably the best budget range at about £280 and is the most popular suit sold.

 

Nomex suits by the way shouldn't be washed but should be dry cleaned.

[Shaun_E]

It is fine to wash Nomex as well as dry cleaning - I've just double checked the instructions on the DuPont website. Instructions here.

 

Yellow SL #32 - member of Drowned Rat Racing

[SLR69]

Sorry I should have been more precise that you can wash your suit but apparently it won't last as long as dry cleaning.

 

Dry cleaning is recommended, see cleaning instructions from the Sparco website re their suits:

 

"Sparco recommends dry cleaning your suit to preserve the life of your safety garment for as long as possible. Your Sparco Race suit should be treated with the same respect as your Sunday Suit. After each driving session, please remove the suit whenever possible and hang dry to remove moisture and to prevent grease/oil from staining the suit while working on your car.

 

Washing instructions: If you wash your suit, Sparco recommends hand washing or washing it on a delicate cycle in the washing machine with COLD water. Please make sure that the belt and collar are closed on the suit, to prevent the velcro from causing damage to the nomex fabric. Woolite soap is recommended as it is a non-abrasive detergent. DO NOT use bleach or anything similar. When drying the suit, always let the suit drip dry, indoors (out of the sunlight)"