Is it time to replace your race suit? Let’s get you track-ready. Bell HP77 Evo IV And HP10 Evo-II: The Full Face Is For Open Cars
Bell has updated three of its carbon helmets for 2026 and all three are now live on the site. The HP77 Evo IV, the HP10 Evo-II and the HP10 Evo-II Rally WW.
The most common mix up on this particular set has nothing to do with money. It is about shape.
The full face helmet in this group is the one designed for cars with no roof. The two open face helmets are the ones designed for cars with a roof. That sounds backwards the first time you hear it and it is the single most useful thing on this page, so it is worth explaining properly before we get to the products.
What is on this page
Why the open cockpit car gets the full face helmet
In a single seater there is nothing between your face and the track. No windscreen, no bodywork above the waist, no cage. Whatever comes off the car in front arrives at you directly, at whatever speed you are both doing. That is why open cockpit racing runs full face helmets and why the top of the standard has a ballistic element to it.
The HP77 Evo IV carries FIA 8860-2018-ABP. The ABP part is Advanced Ballistic Protection, the standard that came into Formula One in 2019 after a run of debris incidents. It is an extra requirement on top of 8860-2018, aimed specifically at objects hitting the helmet rather than the helmet hitting something.
In a rally car or a GT car, that threat mostly is not there. You have a windscreen, a roll cage and a roof. What you have instead is heat, dust, a co-driver you need to hear, an intercom, and in rally an extraction problem if it goes wrong. An open face answers all of those better than a full face does. You get more air, you get better peripheral vision, you can hear, and the medics can get to you.
So the shape follows the car, not the budget. It is worth saying that plainly because the HP10 Evo-II costs less than half what the HP77 does, and people assume that means it is the lesser helmet. It is a different tool for a different car, and for a rally or GT driver it is the better one.
Bell HP77 Evo IV Carbon
This is the top of Bell’s range and it is priced accordingly, from £4,432. It is an ultra light carbon composite shell in a matte finish, developed with Formula One drivers, and it is the one that carries the ABP approval.
The change for 2026 that you will actually notice is the visor mechanism. Bell has revised it to a system they call Smartlock, which works one handed. That sounds like a small thing written down. Sitting in a single seater with gloves on and a fifteen second window is exactly when a two handed visor catch becomes a problem, and every driver we have handed one of these to across the counter has done the same thing: opened it, closed it, then done it again.
It also has a double screen anti-fog visor as standard, factory fitted FHR posts, low profile air intakes, and a fleece lined helmet bag in the box.
The sizing is the thing to check before you get excited. It comes in two shell sizes, D+ covering 54 to 56+ and E+ covering 57 to 59. The plus on a size means half a centimetre larger, so a 56+ is 0.5 cm up on a 56. That gives you a precise fit within the range, but it also means the range stops at 59. If your head is 60 cm or more, this helmet does not come in your size and no amount of wanting it will change that.
- FIA 8860-2018-ABP approved
- Carbon composite, two shell sizes, 54 to 59 cm
- Smartlock one handed visor mechanism, new for 2026
- Double screen anti-fog visor, FHR posts fitted
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From £4,432.00 Excl. VAT Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £1,998.00 Excl. VAT Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Bell HP10 Evo-II Carbon
The open face version, from £1,998, and Garreth’s pick of the three for most people reading this.
Full carbon shell, FIA 8860-2018 approved, and it goes from 54 all the way to 61 and then 61+. That is a much wider size range than the HP77 and it covers a lot of heads the HP77 cannot.
The peak is carbon and adjusts without tools, which matters more than it sounds. Low sun in the last hour of a winter test day is genuinely dangerous and being able to drop the peak a few degrees while you are sat on the grid is worth having. It comes with an ML red mirror sunscreen fitted and a dark smoke one in the box, so you have both without an extra order.
The cheek pads are removable multi-density units, which means you can fine tune the jaw fit instead of living with whatever came out of the box. If you are between sizes, that is often the thing that solves it.
Standard interior is grey. Other colours are available for a small extra cost, but read the next paragraph before you get tempted.
- FIA 8860-2018 approved
- Full carbon shell, sizes 54 to 61+ cm
- Tool free adjustable carbon peak
- Two sunscreens supplied, ML red mirror and dark smoke
A word on custom interior colours before you order one
Both HP models can be ordered with a coloured interior lining instead of the standard grey. White, red, purple, blue, green, tan, pink, orange and neon yellow.
They look excellent and I understand why people want them. What you need to know first is the commercial reality, and we would rather tell you now than at the point of order.
A custom interior makes the helmet a special order. That means a 100 per cent non-refundable deposit at the time of purchase, no returns, and a lead time of roughly seven to eight weeks. So if your first event is in six weeks, order the grey one. If you are planning ahead for next season, fill your boots.
This catches people out often enough that it is worth its own section.
Bell HP10 Evo-II Rally WW Carbon
The rally version, from £2,519, and the most interesting of the three from an engineering point of view.
Same carbon shell and same 8860-2018 approval as the standard HP10 Evo-II, with a ZeroNoise intercom system built in from the factory instead of bolted on. High output speakers, a noise cancelling microphone, sound insulating ear cups, and a wireless module and battery inside the helmet. Paired with the ZeroNoise Fearless WW amplifier it switches between wired and wireless automatically, so you keep talking to your co-driver when you get out of the car at a service halt.
It also has a fast removable carbon half chin bar, which gives you some face protection while still allowing quick airway access if it goes wrong.
Now the detail we want you to take away from this whole page, because it is buried in the spec and it will bite somebody. The battery has to be charged even when you are running the helmet wired. Not “should be”. Has to be. If you have the wireless module in the helmet and the battery is flat, a wired connection is not a get out of jail card. Charge it the night before like you charge everything else.
It will also run wired into any amplifier with a Nexus connector. You only need the Fearless WW if you want the wireless half of it.
- FIA 8860-2018 approved
- Integrated ZeroNoise intercom with wireless module and battery
- Automatic wired and wireless switching with the Fearless WW amplifier
- Fast removable carbon half chin bar, sizes 54 to 61+ cm
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From £2,519.00 Excl. VAT Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Getting the fit right matters more than picking the model. A loose helmet moves under braking and lifts at speed, and one that is too tight gives you a headache within twenty minutes. Shell sizes differ between these three, so a medium in one is not a medium in another. Try one on if you can before you commit.
I had this wrong myself for a long time. I used to order by the size I had always worn and assume the number meant the same thing everywhere. It does not. The cheek pads are the part that decides it, and they bed in a little after the first few sessions, so a helmet that feels firm on the shelf is usually right and one that feels comfortable straight away is usually a size too big.
The three side by side
| HP77 Evo IV | HP10 Evo-II | HP10 Evo-II Rally WW | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shape | Full face | Open face | Open face, half chin bar |
| Approval | FIA 8860-2018-ABP | FIA 8860-2018 | FIA 8860-2018 |
| Built for | Open cockpit single seaters | Closed cars, saloon and GT | Rally, stage use |
| Sizes | 54 to 59 cm, two shells | 54 to 61+ cm | 54 to 61+ cm |
| Intercom | Not included | Not included | ZeroNoise, wired and wireless |
| Peak | No | Adjustable carbon | Adjustable carbon |
| FHR posts | Fitted | Fitted | Fitted |
| From | £4,432 | £1,998 | £2,519 |
Bell does not publish shell weights for these three, so there is no weight row. We are not going to put estimates in a table and have them quoted back at us.
Common questions
Can I use a full face helmet in a closed car?
Yes. A full face is accepted anywhere an open face is, so if you run both an open car and a saloon, the full face covers both and saves you buying twice.
Does the HP10 Evo-II share visors with the HP77?
They are different shells, so the visors are not shared. Order the visor listed against the helmet you own, not by eye.
What is the Rally WW version for?
It is the same helmet prepared for intercom use, so it suits a crew who need to talk to each other. If you never run an intercom you do not need it.
How long is the approval valid?
FIA helmet approvals run from the date of manufacture, not the date you bought it, and the label inside carries the date. Worth checking before buying anything second hand.
What we would actually buy
Single seater, sprint or circuit, and your head is 59 cm or under: the HP77 Evo IV, and it is not really a debate. It is the only one of the three with ABP and it is the right shape for a car with nothing in front of your face. If you are over 59 cm you need to look at a different Bell full face and we would rather size you properly than sell you something that does not fit.
Saloon, GT, closed cockpit circuit racing: the HP10 Evo-II. Wide size range, both sunscreens in the box, and the money you save over the HP77 buys the FHR device and a season of tyres.
Rally, or anything where you are talking to somebody in the seat next to you for hours: the Rally WW. The integrated comms are genuinely better than adding a kit to a plain helmet, the ear cups do a real job on stage noise, and if you already run ZeroNoise the wireless side is worth the difference on its own. Charge the battery.
One thing Garreth will admit to getting wrong for a while: he used to steer rally customers towards a plain HP10 plus an intercom kit on cost grounds. Having had both apart on the counter, the integrated version is a tidier bit of engineering and he stopped doing that.
Final thoughts: pick the shape, then pick the budget
Work out whether your car has a roof and a windscreen. That decides the shape. Then look at what you can spend, and then come and try the thing on, because shell shape varies between manufacturers and a Bell does not fit every head.
Browse the full range in full face motorsport helmets and open face motorsport helmets. If you are also sorting comms, we wrote up the systems we fit most in this piece on ZeroNoise intercoms. Bell also refreshed its other carbon full face helmets earlier this year, covered in our look at the XR7, XD7 and HP6 Evo-II range. Bell’s own technical pages are at bellracing.com.
Send us a message, and bring your head measurement in centimetres.