Instructor helmet with built in comms - Great!

[EricMarc-Aurele]

Hi everyone, this weekend I used my new helmet (Stilo ST6 GT) when taking out students. This helmet was great for instructing for two reasons:
Very quiet. There are ear muff like cups on the interior that cut a lot of noise. They do catch my ears a bit so it needs wiggling to get on without folded ears.
Optional built in speakers and microphone. This option added $150 to the price. My communication with my student was better than typical when I have used the racecom headset. (Chatterbox equivalent) The stilo audio system does make some whine when connected to the racecom that wasn't present with the racecom headset. The more expensive comms options for the helmet may avoid this issue. It was very pleasant to speak to my student and have them understand more and me hear their responses better than with the loose headset. Also donning and doffing the helmet and not having to put the comms in was great, made it easier to get in and out of the car and get to my sessions.

There are other helmet options, this fit my budget, SA2025 available, and the built in comms are a 'must have' for me now.

Stilo ST6 GT con: Have to tell the grid worker to shout, harder to hear them since it's so quiet.

[terryb]

Your excellency, that helmet sounds very nice and apparently reduces enough drag to win TTOD on both days! (<-root beer) Where did you purchase it?

[EricMarc-Aurele]

I ordered mine online at winding road racing, $1,100+$150+$65 for helmet, comms, and hans anchors installed. Fortunately, it fits extremely accurately to my measured head size of 63cm. I don't know what head form they use, so if you have a different shape head with the same circumference it might not be as good for you. There is very little padding around the crown, it is shaped well, but doesn't have thick padding.

[pcaram]

I recently ordered a new SA2025 helmet with built-in comms as well. Looking forward to trying it this weekend at CWVR. I went with Zamp (zamp-racing.com).

Helmet: RZ-66C $640 + dual speakers $107 + Mic with IMSA connector $113 + pre-install $17 + HANS anchors $56 = $933. They are other options and helmets available at various price points.

Zamp also offers FIA rated helmets. At least under current PCA Racing rules, FIA-2018 rated helmets don't expire. Of course, those rules could change in the future so I went with SA2025 instead.

From what I can tell so far the helmet blocks a lot of external sound with the speakers installed in the ears just like what Eric experienced. I hope that doesn't end up being a big problem.