I just finished my first track weekend and had a ton of fun. Among the things that I learned and need to continue to work on I learned that I simply do not fit in my car when it comes to being on the track. I can wiggle the seat around and fold myself into a suitable shape for driving on the street, but having a helmet on just throws all of that out of the window. I come to you, now, for advise.
The shortest telling of the story is that I'm too tall. My initial attempts to adjust my seat had me with the seat way too far back, which just promoted me slipping around in the car and using the steering wheel as a brace. After a few runs I gave up on trying to keep the top of my helmet off of the roof and moved the seat as close to the wheel as possible and still be able to swivel my head.
At the same time I had finally learned the trick of moving the seat way back, getting the seat belt to lock and then moving the seat back up into my driving position to hold me in the seat. This didn't help the main problem so much, but it did help me feel more comfortable taking corners.
Even with moving the seat back up and having my knees (probably a little too) close to the dash my arms were nearly straight when I was holding onto the wheel. Which, as you fine gentlemen know, just wont do.
Because I want to keep going to HPDEs and really enjoyed this past weekend, its something that I want to keep up. But with my seat position being what it is, I cant see myself getting comfortable enough to be able to progress.
Do any of you have recommendations of cars that might suit a person of height better (I'm 6'6" by the way)? My friends who I was with at the track were recommending switching out the seats, which I'm ok with the idea of, but just not in the car I have currently. The interior is in very good shape and if I'm going to start down that road I want to do it to a car with an interior that is worn. I've tried hopping into an e30 with race seats and I ran into the same issue. My friends e36m wasnt very bad. I'd possibly be open to a manufacturer switch if it would mean a significant increase in comfort without a drop in performance\handling.