Is it time to replace your race suit? Let’s get you track-ready. Everything we get asked, in one place
Sizing, fitting, regulations, orders and delivery. Most of what people ring up about comes down to two questions: will it fit you, and will your championship accept it. Both are worth settling before you buy, because a helmet that has been worn outside cannot come back and a suit made to your measurements never could.
Size from the manufacturer’s own chart, not a generic one. Check what your regulations accept before you buy anything dated. Try helmets and suits on if you possibly can. Free UK and European delivery over £100.
Sizing a helmet
The one thing worth getting right in person if you possibly can.
Measure around your head about a centimetre above the eyebrows, at the widest point, and work from the manufacturer’s own chart. Sizing is not consistent between brands, and a medium in one make can be a large in another.
If you fall between two sizes, take the smaller one. The liner beds in with use, so a helmet that feels merely snug when new will be loose within a season, and a loose helmet is the one that moves under braking.
A correctly fitted lid should move the skin on your forehead when you rotate it, and should not shift independently of your head. It will feel tight for the first twenty minutes. That is normal and it is not the same as pressure points, which are not.
Try it with whatever you actually wear underneath. A balaclava changes the fit, and in most competition it is mandatory anyway.
Sizing a suit, boots and gloves
Size the suit with the underwear on
Nomex underwear is mandatory in most competition and it adds real bulk. Size the suit over what you will actually wear, or you will end up with a suit you cannot get the layers under.
Work from the manufacturer’s chart
Chest and height together, not chest alone. Suits are cut for a driving position rather than a standing one, so a suit that feels short in the arm when you stand up is often correct when you sit.
Boots run small and thin
Racing boots are deliberately thin soled so you can feel the pedals, and they run narrow. Most people take a half size up from their street shoe. If your pedal box is tight, that thinness matters more than the size does.
Gloves should be snug when new
Leather stretches and the palms bed in. A glove that is comfortable on day one will be loose by mid season. External stitching is more comfortable and internal stitching is more durable, and neither is wrong.
Dating, standards and what your championship accepts
We sell the kit. Your regulations decide what you are allowed to wear.
Helmets, suits and head restraints all carry standards with expiry dates, and championships set their own limits on how old an approved item can be. Those limits are not the same across series, and they change.
Read your own regulations first. If a piece of kit is going to be looked at by a scrutineer, the standard on the label is what matters, not how new it looks. We will tell you what a product is rated to, but we cannot tell you what your championship will accept.
If you are unsure whether what you already own is still in date, send us a photograph of the label. That is usually quicker than trying to describe it, and it is free.
Head restraints
A head and neck restraint is not a standalone purchase. It has to work with your seat, your harness and your helmet together, because the shoulder strap angle and the shoulder cut of the seat both decide how the device sits and whether the straps stay on it.
We hold 26 products across devices, hybrids and the accessories that go with them, including the posts and tethers that fit to the helmet. Anchor posts are helmet specific and are not always included.
The practical advice is to buy the seat, the harness and the restraint as one decision rather than three. Ring us with what you already have and we will tell you what works with it.
Seats and fitting
The practical end: what bolts to what, and what you need beyond the seat.
The seats themselves, the harnesses, the frames and the cages all live on sportseats4u.co.uk, which is the same company and the same phone number. The guides are here because the questions arrive here.
Specialist services
Things we do that are not obvious from a product page.
Orders, delivery and returns
The showroom is by appointment, Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 4.00pm, and it carries stock from across the group. On helmets and suits it is worth the trip, because thirty minutes trying things on settles what a week of size charts will not. Book at calendly.com/gsm-performance.
Tracking your parcel
One app, whichever courier is carrying it.
Shortly after you order, you get an email and an SMS carrying your five digit invoice number and an estimated delivery time. From there the parcel is tracked through AfterShip.
We use it because we ship through several couriers and nobody wants to learn four different tracking sites. AfterShip pulls them all into one place, from FedEx through to DHL, and the app is free with no adverts in it. You get push notifications as the parcel moves, it works out which courier is carrying it on its own, and tracking links are easy to pass on to whoever is actually in for the delivery.
If a parcel goes quiet, ring 0115 9893488 with your invoice number rather than waiting it out.
Our three stores
Same company, same phone number, three catalogues.
Helmets, racewear, HANS devices, steering wheels and BC Racing suspension are all here on this site. Seats and harnesses live on sportseats4u.co.uk and brakes on bigbrakes4u.co.uk, because the filters that suit a brake kit are no use at all for a racing suit.
If you want to know who you are dealing with, there is about us and meet the team.
Terms and policies
The pages people need occasionally and should not have to hunt for.
The free gift promotion, including the RC car, runs on sportseats4u.co.uk rather than here. It is the same company, but the offer and its thresholds belong to that store.
Common questions
How do I know what size helmet I need?▾
Measure around your head about a centimetre above your eyebrows, at the widest point, and work from the manufacturer’s chart rather than a generic one. Sizing is not consistent between brands. If you are between sizes, go to the smaller one, because the liner beds in and a helmet that is loose when new will be far too loose in a year.
My helmet is FIA rated. How long does it last?▾
Helmet standards carry an expiry set by the standard and by your championship, not by us. Snell renews on a five year cycle and FIA standards have their own end dates. Check what your regulations accept before you buy, because a lid that is fine for trackdays may not pass scrutineering. There is a guide to reading the label in the fitting and regulations sections above.
What size racing suit do I need?▾
Go by the manufacturer’s chest and height chart, and factor in what you wear underneath. Nomex underwear adds bulk and it is not optional in most competition. If you are buying a suit and underwear together, size the suit with the underwear on.
Do I need a HANS device?▾
Your championship regulations decide that, not us. Where one is required it also has to suit your seat and your harness, because the shoulder strap angle and the seat shoulder cut both affect how it sits. Ring us with the seat and the harness before you order the device.
Where do I start if I have never bought a bucket seat?▾
Read whether bucket seats are comfortable first, because it sets expectations, then the seat frame installation guide so you know what else you need beyond the seat. After that, book the showroom. Twenty minutes sitting in four or five shells tells you more than any guide can.
How long does delivery take?▾
Stocked items are usually a few days. Custom suits, embroidered kit and anything made to order run to several weeks. Send us the product code before you buy and we will give you a realistic date for that item.
Is delivery free?▾
Free on UK orders over £100. Below that a small item charge is applied at checkout. We cannot ship outside the UK through the website, so contact us for a bespoke quotation instead.
How do I track my order?▾
Shortly after ordering you get an email and an SMS with your five digit invoice number and an estimated delivery time. We use AfterShip, so every parcel appears in one place whichever courier is carrying it. If a parcel goes quiet, ring 0115 9893488 with your invoice number rather than waiting it out.
Can I change my shipping address after ordering?▾
No. In line with PayPal selling regulations and FCA requirements on credit applications, we can only deliver to the address given at checkout, and it cannot be changed once payment and the security checks have gone through. Check it before you pay.
Something is wrong with my order.▾
Ring 0115 9893488 with your invoice number, or email Sales@GSMPerformance.co.uk. If a photograph would help, WhatsApp the same number. Do not send anything back before speaking to us.
Do you keep my card details?▾
No. Card details are handled by the payment provider and we never see or store a full card number. That is also why we cannot take card details over the phone and type them into an order for you.
Can I return a helmet or a suit?▾
Stocked items in unused, as new condition with all tags and packaging intact can come back within 14 days. Anything made to order, embroidered or customised cannot. A helmet that has been worn outdoors is not returnable, so try it indoors.
Do you ship outside the UK?▾
Yes, but not through the website. We cannot ship overseas from the site, so contact us before ordering and we will put together a bespoke quotation. That applies to Europe as much as anywhere else. Quotes are priced individually on destination, size and weight.
How quickly will someone get back to me?▾
Ring 0115 9893488 and CallyAI answers straight away, at any hour, and can settle most things on the call. Email to Sales@GSMPerformance.co.uk is picked up on working days.
Do you have a shop I can visit?▾
Yes, a 2,500 square foot showroom in Nottinghamshire, by appointment, Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 4.00pm. See the showroom page for what we can do while you are there.
Can I try things on before I buy?▾
Yes, and for helmets and suits it is by far the best way. The showroom is by appointment, Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 4.00pm, and it carries stock from across the group.
Do you write these guides yourselves?▾
Yes. They come out of questions we get asked on the phone and in the showroom, which is why they cover the awkward practical things rather than the specifications you can read on a product page.
My question is not covered here.▾
Ring 0115 9893488. CallyAI answers at any hour and can either settle it on the call or take it to us. If it is a fitting question, book the showroom instead, because those are far quicker in person.
Tell us what you drive and what you race in
Sizing, fitting and regulations are all quicker on the phone than in writing. Ring us, or come and try things on. Neither costs you anything.
Call 0115 9893488Book the showroomMessage us