Modified helmet visor?

Vince S. · #1 12-30-2009, 11:29 PM

Hey all,

I thought this might fall under this sub-forum.

This past November I attended the WTCC race in Macau. Was fortunate to enough to up close with a lot of my favorite drivers. This in particular was Jörg Müller.

While sorting my pictures, I realized that his visor was modified as shown. It's not exactly a peak visor ala rally style. But a regular full face visor with the center removed. I wished I had the chance to ask him then...

Any one here has any idea why it is modified as such?

kbrew8991 · #2 12-31-2009, 10:02 AM

I run with my tinted visor about half open - keeps it from fogging up and lets me see my gauges more clearly while still tinting the outside world and having it low enough to keep pebbles and tire boogers from having a clean shot at my face. Doesn't help with fire protection, but with my particular car that isn't a very big concern of mine.

That seems like a way to have the visor partially open but without the excess material in the way.

Eric · #3 12-31-2009, 11:55 AM

I'm surprised that they would let them run it that way, specifically for the fire issue.

Vince S. · #4 12-31-2009, 02:48 PM

I have another picture of Yvan Müller and his was cut half-way.

Ken, actually for me, I don't even run a visor. But after researching on the peak visor and what these WTCC drivers did, it got me thinking if having a partial black-ed out top visor helps to prevent glare from affecting the sight during driving. I am unfortunately also one of the few who still wear glasses.

Eric, I made other interesting observation as well at the race. All the windows of WTCC cars are up, never down. NASA mandates ours as the two front down only. Once I rolled down my rear two windows half-way and was told to roll it up for safety. My reasoning was to reduce the pressure build up in the cabin...

Perhaps Ken, you can chime in...the whole idea of front windows rolled completely down is for safety reasons in case of possible rescue effort. Is this correct?

kbrew8991 · #5 12-31-2009, 03:22 PM

I believe the front windows down thing goes to driver extraction / escape issues. I'm not 100% sure as I didn't write it

Skeen · #6 01-01-2010, 12:16 AM

I'm not sure why they run windows up, but it is popular in Europe (and ALMS). I guess there probably isn't a rule, so the teams want the windows for better aero. Because the car becomes a real "closed cockpit" the drivers get rid of the visor for cooling, I would guess. It is nice to have the top portion so you can tilt your head forward to block some sun in afternoon sessions. It also offers one more place to advertise and makes the helmet look cleaner than it would be without a visor at all.

Vince S. · #7 01-06-2010, 12:02 AM

Mike, thanks for your input. Btw, I love your helmet design!

I actually found that Stilo offers what they call a 'short visor' and could well be the only helmet company that has a product like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeen

I'm not sure why they run windows up, but it is popular in Europe (and ALMS). I guess there probably isn't a rule, so the teams want the windows for better aero. Because the car becomes a real "closed cockpit" the drivers get rid of the visor for cooling, I would guess. It is nice to have the top portion so you can tilt your head forward to block some sun in afternoon sessions. It also offers one more place to advertise and makes the helmet look cleaner than it would be without a visor at all.

HawkBat · #8 01-11-2010, 03:34 PM

Jason Plato also runs the same type of visor setup in BTCC. I know in a lot of close top cars it is not required. I am seeing this more and more, especially with cars going to lexan windows instead of a window net. In my personal opinion I would run a tinted visor even if I didn't want a visor....turns into big sun glasses if needed.