Steve Skinner

British Racing News magazine

What a Nifty Idea!

Credits Steve Skinner (writing) and Ken Grey (photos)

Anyone that races cars knows that one of the most important aspects is your seating. I have spent many an hour sitting on dustbin bags as that disgusting smelling, and very warm seat foam moulds to my every contour, but however laborious the making of the seat, the final product is essential to your comfort and performance.

Similarly, belts are often viewed as purely a safety device, when in actual fact they are also the crucial system that holds you firmly in place and makes you ‘at one’ with your car. Only when you are firmly a part of your car can you feel everything that the car is telling you, and only when you feel everything can you begin to pedal quickly!

I recently tested the device around the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in a range of exotica, and completing laps with the CG-Lock ‘activated’ and ‘idle’ the difference was staggering.Steve Skinner British Racing News magazine

Race cars, one and all, adopt full harness belts and closer fitting seats to integrate driver with car, but when it comes to road cars, however sculptured the seat, inertia reel seatbelts will always prove to be the Achilles heel as their ‘one design to fit all’ system does little to pin the driver into the seat unless called upon in an accident.

For normal road driving this is ideal. One doesn’t want to be restricted like a race driver when travelling hundreds of miles up the motorway (although I believe this could dramatically reduce injuries in road traffic accidents), but with the explosion of off-road and ‘Track Day’ activities, a genuine need has arisen to better integrate driver with car.

Arrive the CG (Centre of Gravity) Lock!

This rather nifty little device (crash tested to US and UK FMVSS 208 safety standards) fits to the buckle of an existing inertia reel seatbelt, and when activated enables the driver to tighten the ‘lap belt’ to his/her heart’s content. With the CG-Lock, a driver is finally able to ‘pin’ him/herself into their seat at the waist, which fixes their centre of gravity, prevents ‘dive’ under braking, and gives a far greater feeling of the car.

I recently tested the device around the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in a range of exotica, and completing laps with the CG-Lock ‘activated’ and ‘idle’ the difference was staggering. Anyone that participates in track days or goes ‘off road’ should seriously consider the small investment in a CG-Lock as, when activated, the device finally affords some of the benefits of more complex belt systems without the complications.