# Track Day Camera Mounts for the R35



## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

I am trying to get a decent mounting sorted for my R35 to mount a bullet cam, I came across one of these Ultimate Trackday Mount 2nd hand and have been told it is a "no go" at most UK circuits.

I want a mounting point for a bullet camera between the 2 front seats and would like to know what other people use?

I may well end up having to fabricate something the way things are going.


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## Rich-GT (Apr 2, 2008)

Yes a lot of UK tracks now reject anything with a suction mount, however good it is. 

Rich


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

Rich-GT said:


> Yes a lot of UK tracks now reject anything with a suction mount, however good it is.
> 
> Rich


The thing is Rich is you could bodge something up and screw it to plastic and that would be OK, you would think with a tether the one above would be OK.


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## s2gtr (Jun 30, 2001)

Good range here:

Fast Films - Camera clamp and roll bar mounts

Dave.


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

s2gtr said:


> Good range here:
> 
> Fast Films - Camera clamp and roll bar mounts
> 
> Dave.


Yeah, I have looked those over in detail already Dave, the problem I have is I don't have a roll bar


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## s2gtr (Jun 30, 2001)

Could you not strap a bar across the back of the headrests & clamp to that?


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

s2gtr said:


> Could you not strap a bar across the back of the headrests & clamp to that?


I am looking into that option but the Recaros that are fitted to the GT-R do not have vertical bars to clamp to do have harness slots so I was looking at some kind of bodge to mounts a piece of wood across the 2 seats.


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## Zed Ed (Oct 24, 2007)

This fits on the rear view mirror stalk

Super Clamp for ContourHD Helmet Camera and I think has a standard gauge screw bit

To be fair to TDOs even the best sucker ones can fall off


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

Zed Ed said:


> This fits on the rear view mirror stalk
> 
> Super Clamp for ContourHD Helmet Camera and I think has a standard gauge screw bit
> 
> To be fair to TDOs even the best sucker ones can fall off


Thanks for that Ed but I want to mount between the 2 front seats, looking at perhaps using the rear drink/cup holder as well as mounting between the 2 seats.


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## Rich-GT (Apr 2, 2008)

How about the Sparco Harness bar?










Sparco Harness bar, R35 Nissan GT-R, Sparco_30018G/S


Might also be handy for a harness? 


Rich


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

Rich-GT said:


> How about the Sparco Harness bar?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That would do it Rich but I am not keen on harness bars for well ... harnesses as they seem way to flimsy and it is too late when you have head butted the dash!


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## CT17 (Mar 25, 2011)

Can you get your passenger head rest off?

If so you can make up a length of wood with holes in to slot over the head rest mounts, then you put the head rest back on and you have a fixed platform.

Have it long enough to reach half way between the front seats, fit a camera mount to it and bingo.

I've seen this done and accepted by track days in the UK.


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

CT17 said:


> Can you get your passenger head rest off?
> 
> If so you can make up a length of wood with holes in to slot over the head rest mounts, then you put the head rest back on and you have a fixed platform.
> 
> ...


Unfortunately not, the Recaros have fixed/integrated head rests, I am formulating a bodge to fix a piece of 1in square wood/ally between the seats, just want to make sure the leather etc is not marked.

Bit of a faff but should work OK.


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## GTR_chris (Jan 25, 2010)

none will be as good as our bodge effort at elvington


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

GTR_chris said:


> none will be as good as our bodge effort at elvington


LOL! That was a classic Chris  Pity we did not capture the rain at the end of the day, that was something to see.


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## Chris956 (Apr 11, 2010)

If you`ve got a proper bullet cam attachment then you can get away with duct taping into the rain gutter on the roof facing whichever way you want. Done this in the past with no problems. Or if your really posh you can point one forwards and one backwards then waste half your life editing a video to show you are better than Mr Schumacher !!!!


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## enshiu (Aug 20, 2010)

MIRROR HIDDEN SECURITY CCTV CAMERA SONY CCD | eBay UK

this one could do the job


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## andreasgtr (Jul 2, 2003)

Speaking from my own experience...why bother with expensive mounts and stuff? 
Just go and buy a GoPro HD camera. Full HD at 30fps or supersmooth 60 fps at 720p resolution at 170 degree wide angle.

There's plenty of mounting stuff available including a suction kit which can be attached outside or on the inside of the windows etc...

Or you just mount it to your helmet, or or or...


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

andreasgtr said:


> Speaking from my own experience...why bother with expensive mounts and stuff?
> Just go and buy a GoPro HD camera. Full HD at 30fps or supersmooth 60 fps at 720p resolution at 170 degree wide angle.
> 
> There's plenty of mounting stuff available including a suction kit which can be attached outside or on the inside of the windows etc...
> ...


The problem is that MSV will not allow a suction mount and I want to get the view through the 2 front seats etc. I already have a HD PVR kit so buying a GoPro now would not be a good investment.


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## Rich-GT (Apr 2, 2008)

Although a pain I think that making something up is probably the best way forward. I would look at an n shaped bracket fixed under the inner rear seat belt mounts and coming over the centre console for the camera mount?



Rich


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

Chris956 said:


> If you`ve got a proper bullet cam attachment then you can get away with duct taping into the rain gutter on the roof facing whichever way you want. Done this in the past with no problems. Or if your really posh you can point one forwards and one backwards then waste half your life editing a video to show you are better than Mr Schumacher !!!!


I will give that one a miss Chris!


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

Rich-GT said:


> Although a pain I think that making something up is probably the best way forward. I would look at an n shaped bracket fixed under the inner rear seat belt mounts and coming over the centre console for the camera mount?
> 
> Rich


I agree Rich, that would make for a better long term solution expecially as I don't use the rear seats apart from holding my helmets 

I will play around with it today and see what I can mock up.


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## TAZZMAXX (Mar 9, 2010)

You could try a pipe "test bung" into the rear cup holder with a camera support stalk off the top of it. The bung is an expanding rubber doughnut tightened up with a large wing nut. Maybe a solution without having to have lumps of metal or wood to damage the interior?


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

TAZZMAXX said:


> You could try a pipe "test bung" into the rear cup holder with a camera support stalk off the top of it. The bung is an expanding rubber doughnut tightened up with a large wing nut. Maybe a solution without having to have lumps of metal or wood to damage the interior?


Not a bad idea, I was thinking of using that "hole" but the column would still need to be supported, perhaps to the rear seat belt mounting bolts.


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## andreasgtr (Jul 2, 2003)

Arcam said:


> The problem is that MSV will not allow a suction mount and I want to get the view through the 2 front seats etc. I already have a HD PVR kit so buying a GoPro now would not be a good investment.


Ah I see. 

I mounted my camera on the metal head rest mounts of my rear seat with this mounting device which is bomb proof, maybe something similar could work for you too.


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

andreasgtr said:


> Ah I see.
> 
> I mounted my camera on the metal head rest mounts of my rear seat with this mounting device which is bomb proof, maybe something similar could work for you too.


Thanks for that andreasgtr, unfortunately the R35 does not have metal head rest mounts as the head rests are integrated into the seats, but there are slots for a harness to pass through which is one of the options I am looking at.


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## Chris956 (Apr 11, 2010)

Arcam said:


> Not a bad idea, I was thinking of using that "hole" but the column would still need to be supported, perhaps to the rear seat belt mounting bolts.


I think that is the way forward for what you want. Under the rear seats are all sorts of mounting points and hard surfaces to use. It looks like a bespoke system with a little " Heath Robinson " will be required.

I have seen a guy use a camera on a tripod where the two front feet go into the passenger footwells behind the front seats and the 3rd leg was secured shorter and on the base of the rear seats ( maybe near the cup holder in our case ). The whole lot was then secured by using his rear seat belts but I would prefer a slightly more engineered solution. Maybe of some help in the right kinda direction........


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## enshiu (Aug 20, 2010)

I have Gopro HD and it's still the best.


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## andreasgtr (Jul 2, 2003)

@Chris's idea. I think a suction thing would be much more stable than a tripod secured by the rear belts. So I can't imagine this would be allowed.
What about that cup holder between the rear seats?

I could imagine a piece of PVC or teflon or something durable and stable and on top of that you could put a monopod.

Or if you want to use the gaps in the front seat the only thing I can think of is a *Joby Gorilla Pod*. These things stick to everything and should be very tight. Although that would depend on the weight of your bullet camera.


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## Chris956 (Apr 11, 2010)

Like this but not so tall :









Held down like this :










Or something like this thats purpose built :


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## S99ANE (Apr 3, 2011)

Does the MY2011 have the slots in the seat backs for harness like the 2010?

If so how about a length of say aluminium slotted throught the passenger seat slots and the driver seat slots. This can be teathered or secured with strapping. Mount the camera in the middle. Should look something like the harness mount affair.

Althernatively add cross members from the floor of rear passenger side to the back of the driver seat to add ridgity?

Anyhow wanna see some in car when you are done.
When do you head off to Spa again?


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## S99ANE (Apr 3, 2011)

Just found this...

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/130924-how-mount-video-camera-skyline-cheaply-easily.html


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

S99ANE said:


> Does the MY2011 have the slots in the seat backs for harness like the 2010?
> 
> If so how about a length of say aluminium slotted throught the passenger seat slots and the driver seat slots. This can be teathered or secured with strapping. Mount the camera in the middle. Should look something like the harness mount affair.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your thoughts on this Shane 

I am off to Spa next weekend 

The 2011 still has those slots and I tried to cobble something together today with a 1in square bar and cable ties etc but I could not get it all tight enough to stop it moving completely without leaving marks in the seats, I would also need an adjustable mount to get the right angle of the dangle.

There is some potential in the rear cup holder area as the holder can be un-screwed from underneath and perhaps a plate made to replace it and then screw a camera mount to the plate, but I have a feeling it would wobble too much.

I must admit to feeling a bit lazy at the moment, I have to do my 4 wheel alignment tomorrow and I am saving my energy for that


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## michaelkei (May 21, 2011)

I am also using GoPro and had difficulty finding a good spot to mount the cam inside the R35 with good view. I ended up mounting it on my helmet...

http://youtu.be/DglxNUZ56GI






M


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

michaelkei said:


> I am also using GoPro and had difficulty finding a good spot to mount the cam inside the R35 with good view. I ended up mounting it on my helmet...
> 
> YouTube - ***x202a;Track Day Korea fun ride 5th June Nissan GTR R35***x202c;‏
> 
> M


That mounts seems to work quite well, the white balance is off in places but a nice and steady shot non the less :thumbsup:


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## Chris956 (Apr 11, 2010)

Hmmmm , needs a solid mount to get good footage. Too much camera shake makes for hard work watching it. Eddie , have you thought about somehow using the hole for the sunglasses holder. I think you have a blank on the MY11`s but if you pop that cover off you`ve got a nice big hole to rig something up.


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

Ed, apologies as I'd promised to look into this, but life gets in the way!

I'm of the mind that we can use the seatbelt mounting points combined with the track day mount that we both have. 

On it's own the suction mount works flawlessly (i'll edit and post some video later on tonight) it's keeping the H&S numpties happy...


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## CT17 (Mar 25, 2011)

What about something like this?

BlackVue DR300 Black Box Video Recorder

The mount sticks to the screen (not suction) up behind the rear view mirror so it's not in the way.


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## enshiu (Aug 20, 2010)

CT17 said:


> What about something like this?
> 
> BlackVue DR300 Black Box Video Recorder
> 
> The mount sticks to the screen (not suction) up behind the rear view mirror so it's not in the way.


good choice as long it is 720p at least


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

charles charlie said:


> Ed, apologies as I'd promised to look into this, but life gets in the way!
> 
> I'm of the mind that we can use the seatbelt mounting points combined with the track day mount that we both have.
> 
> On it's own the suction mount works flawlessly (i'll edit and post some video later on tonight) it's keeping the H&S numpties happy...


No sweat Andy, I will probably fabricate something along the lines of using the B post seat belt mounts and the rear upper ISO fix to keep it taunt, stuck it on the back burner for now as I have not settled on the recording system.


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## Grimblin Gibbon (Jul 16, 2009)

Ultimate Trackday Mount

This one looks like it could do the job.


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

I have this one but some tracks (run by MSV) won't allow suction mounts at all, even tethered ones like this. I'm at donnington on Wednesday so I'll see how I get on.


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

charles charlie said:


> I have this one but some tracks (run by MSV) won't allow suction mounts at all, even tethered ones like this. I'm at donnington on Wednesday so I'll see how I get on.


Who's that with Andy as I fancy a Donnington session next week, is it the full circuit?


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

Grimblin Gibbon said:


> Ultimate Trackday Mount
> 
> This one looks like it could do the job.


If you read post #1 on this thread you will see that was the one I was looking at.


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

Arcam said:


> Who's that with Andy as I fancy a Donnington session next week, is it the full circuit?


Not sure buddy.

I'm tagging along with a patient and his clients for the day but I'd assume bookatrack.

I have that same HD bullet cam you returned mounted up and the image is pretty good.

Hopefully I'll get some footage on Wednesday and post it up.


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

charles charlie said:


> Not sure buddy.
> 
> I'm tagging along with a patient and his clients for the day but I'd assume bookatrack.
> 
> ...


Just checked it Andy and they are all sold out, pity


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## PETERJH (Nov 14, 2010)

Hi Eddie,fit a rear bolt in cage with a harness bar and you can fit more cameras than at a royal wedding:thumbsup:
If I knew how to post the photos then I could show you the cage that I finished installing today.
I look foreward to meeting you at the Ring next month.
Peter


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

PETERJH said:


> Hi Eddie,fit a rear bolt in cage with a harness bar and you can fit more cameras than at a royal wedding:thumbsup:
> If I knew how to post the photos then I could show you the cage that I finished installing today.
> I look foreward to meeting you at the Ring next month.
> Peter


I have/did consider fitting a half rear cage so I could use harnesses and have decent camera mount options but so far I have not seen I cage I really like. I will be interested to see your cage and to meeting you next month at the Ring also Peter.


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## Anders_R35 (Jul 20, 2011)

Eddie,

Any luck finding a camera mounting solution, or did you make your own?

The Sparco harness bar looks the best off the shelf solution so far, but for the price including postage from the States I'm sure a local metal fabricator could knock something up purpose designed.

I've got a Panasonic HDC-SD800 camera which creates stunning 1080p video, shame not to use it for in-car video...

Anders


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## enshiu (Aug 20, 2010)

Anders_R35 said:


> Eddie,
> 
> Any luck finding a camera mounting solution, or did you make your own?
> 
> ...


Are the Gopro suction mounts allowed?


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## Anders_R35 (Jul 20, 2011)

enshiu said:


> Are the Gopro suction mounts allowed?


From the research I've done, suction mounts are no longer allowed. 

Has anyone used the Gopro ones at Silverstone recently?

Anders


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## Chris956 (Apr 11, 2010)

Anders_R35 said:


> From the research I've done, suction mounts are no longer allowed.
> 
> Has anyone used the Gopro ones at Silverstone recently?
> 
> Anders


Last time I was there recently , no suction mounts allowed


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## lawsy (Feb 25, 2009)

Anders_R35 said:


> Eddie,
> 
> Any luck finding a camera mounting solution, or did you make your own?
> 
> ...


An extendable shower curtain rail would be fine with some customer threads on either end. I am going to make/design something. I will post up results. 

Got to get a car first:runaway:, hopefully be back in a GTR v v soon.


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

The easy bit is getting a horizontal pole.

The hard bit is coming up with a hard mount, my preference is to use the seatbelt mounting bolts on the B-pillars.

I've had other things on my plate but I may look into this again, at least to provide the bracket which you can attach whatever curtain pole/shower rail/broomstick you fancy.


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

Anders_R35 said:


> Eddie,
> 
> Any luck finding a camera mounting solution, or did you make your own?
> 
> ...


Sorry Anders I did not complete one in the end ... too busy doing track days 

I do have a few ideas and over the "off" season will put some effort into it, the Sparco bar is a solution as you quite rightly state, but a little expensive just for a mount.


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## CT17 (Mar 25, 2011)

Another thought I had, as the rear screen comes up so far... was to put a 3m sticky mount on the top of the rear screen, then attach the GoPro and have it pointing through the car.

Sticky/bonded mounts are allowed. And when the camera is not there you probably won't even see the foot.


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## Anders_R35 (Jul 20, 2011)

Arcam said:


> Sorry Anders I did not complete one in the end ... too busy doing track days
> 
> I do have a few ideas and over the "off" season will put some effort into it, the Sparco bar is a solution as you quite rightly state, but a little expensive just for a mount.


Something along the lines of this, the bracket would sit behind the seatbelt mounts. A spacer might be required to clear the plastic trim, I've not checked for clearance on the trim or passenger seat.

Not too bothered if it means no passenger as the bracket should be a 10-15 minute job to fit/remove.

Anders


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## charles charlie (May 3, 2008)

You will need more lateral stabilisation otherwise you'll have incredibly shaky footage.

Believe me when I say I've tried a lot of differing ideas, and I'm sticking with a bar between the b pillars.


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## Anders_R35 (Jul 20, 2011)

Here's another harness bar option 

Nissan GT-R News - GTRBlog.com | Speedware Motorsports Harness Bar for Nissan GT-R

Looks like a proper fit, from what I've read the Sparco one is for an Evo and the support bars mark the front of the rear seats.

Anders


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## David.Yu (Jun 28, 2001)

I'd just like to point out that a harness bar could be used for, you know, mounting a 5 or 6 point harness, not solely as a camera mounting point!

Makes a lot of sense and is what I had in my Z06. Not sure I like the sound of an hour's worth of bolting or unbolting per track day. Surely there are more simply mounted options?

Car has the cutouts for harnesses and we could do with the extra support under braking and cornering.


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## Anders_R35 (Jul 20, 2011)

David.Yu said:


> I'd just like to point out that a harness bar could be used for, you know, mounting a 5 or 6 point harness, not solely as a camera mounting point!
> 
> Makes a lot of sense and is what I had in my Z06. Not sure I like the sound of an hour's worth of bolting or unbolting per track day. Surely there are more simply mounted options?
> 
> Car has the cutouts for harnesses and we could do with the extra support under braking and cornering.


I've been pondering just that, back seats are fairly useless anyway and my car is weekend / track toy so might as well stick some harnesses in :thumbsup:

I was sliding forward in the seat at Silverstone on heavy braking and I noticed my passengers suffering that problem too.

I'll make some enquiries on the Speedware bar, anyone else interested?

Anders


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## Anders_R35 (Jul 20, 2011)

Arcam said:


> Sorry Anders I did not complete one in the end ... too busy doing track days
> 
> I do have a few ideas and over the "off" season will put some effort into it, the Sparco bar is a solution as you quite rightly state, but a little expensive just for a mount.


Eddie,

Did you have any luck on a solution, track days coming up soon.

Anders


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## Arcam (Jun 30, 2009)

Anders_R35 said:


> Eddie,
> 
> Did you have any luck on a solution, track days coming up soon.
> 
> Anders


I came back from Japan with some ideas, a Carbon Fibre one is made out there but still trying to find costings etc. I was considering have some made over here to offer in the Club shop but sadly I have not done anything about it as yet, sorry.


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## nikodemus (Sep 27, 2011)

I was in a shop the other day and the guy selling the go pros was showing me that if you use 2 of them, theres actually the capability to video it in 3D.

I thought that was just awesome. A slight tangent, but thought id share it with you


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## andreasgtr (Jul 2, 2003)

The carbon fibre ones that ARCAM was talking about really fit perfectly, at least on those special R35 versions that we saw. Don't know if they would fit the regular rear seats or if they have to be removed...


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## Anders_R35 (Jul 20, 2011)

Thanks for the update, have you got a link to the mount they sound perfect?

With the costs associated with track driving, it's a shame to have no video of the day.

Anders


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