Tested: Schroth Quick-Fit Harnesses
I attended an SCCA autocross school last year, and after about 4 continuous hours of autocrossing, I was feeling sore in extremely weird places the next day. Then it hit me: I was using various body muscles to hold myself into my seat while pulling Gs in the corners. I also heard from various seasoned road racers and autocrossers that a proper seatbelt setup can actually shave seconds off your laps/runs.
I initially considered replacing Project Mustang 5.0’s stock seats with racing buckets, adding a harness bar, and bolting in some 6-point harnesses. However, this created several problems. First of all, the stock Mustang seats have airbags; replacing them with aftermarket units requires a bit of wiring harness modification (or use of a very hard-to-find dealer diagnostic tool) in order to prevent an annoying light on the dash. Secondly, Project Mustang is driven on the street at least as often as it’s “raced.” And finally, the stock seats are heated, and I like my heated seats.
So that eliminated 5- and 6-point harnesses. However, a problem with 4-point harnesses still remained: I’d need to either add a harness bar or eliminate the rear seat. Fortunately, Schroth has a solution to this with their Quick Fit and Quick Fit Pro 4-point harnesses.
The harness installed in Project Mustang's drivers seat.Available for select Ford, BMW, Mini, Audi/VW, and Subaru platforms, Schroth Quick Fit harnesses offer all the benefits of “standard” harnesses, but with the added convenience of being able to install and remove them in less than 5 minutes. This means you don’t have to modify your car’s interior, you can still use your back seat, and—best of all—you can keep your butt warmers!
Schroth offers two versions of their Quick Fit Harnesses. The main difference is that that Pro version includes provisions for HANS devices. Since I don’t use a HANS device for autocross, I went with the standard units.
Schroth offers all of their harnesses in four colors: black, silver, red, and blue. I chose silver for being noticeable, yet consistent with the colorless overall style of Project Mustang 5.0.
The Quick Fit harnesses do require an initial installation that will take about an hour. However, after that, you can easily remove or install both harnesses in under 5 minutes. Let’s take a look at the initial installation.
Here are the harnesses laid out on the ground. I ordered an optional “harness grip” that makes the belts easier to tighten when you have gloves on, or if you’re just a klutz like I am.
These are the grips. They simply insert into loops at the ends of the belts…
…to make it easier to grab them. 
