Racing Helmets (Snell SA, by brand/size)

A racing helmet is not legal because it looks like one - it is legal because its listing states the rating your rulebook names. This page pulls together the helmets in our catalog whose own listings state a Snell SA rating: 24 helmets from RaceQuip, Zamp, OMP, G-FORCE Racing Gear, Allstar Performance, Bell, Pyrotect, Simpson, Sparco, Stilo and Impact, from $223.95 to $2,299.95 - 22 listed as Snell SA2025 and 2 listed as Snell SA2020 (flagged as such wherever they appear below). Open face, full face and mid-air styles, one stated size per helmet. Every helmet listed is in stock and ready to ship, and every order over $200 ships free.

OUR RACING HELMET PICKS

Helmet	Rating (as stated in the product listing)	Style and size (from the product listing)	Price	Why it is here
Helmet Open Face Medium White SA2025	Snell SA2025 (per listing)	Open face, head and neck support ready, white, size Medium	$223.95	The floor of this page: RaceQuip’s open-face OF25 is the lowest-priced helmet here whose listing states a Snell SA rating - SA2025, printed in its own feature list - for closed-cockpit racers who prefer an open face.
Helmet RZ-57 Large White SA2025	Snell SA2025 (per listing)	Full face, head and neck support ready, white, size Large	$246.95	The full-face value pick: Zamp’s RZ-57 puts a current SA2025 rating in a closed helmet for under $250 - the starting point most first-time racers actually need.
Allstar Performance Series 50 Mid-Air Helmet Gray Large SA2025 - ALL942584	Snell SA2025 (per listing)	Mid-air (forced-air ready), head and neck support ready, gray, size Large	$399.99	The mid-air pick: Allstar’s Series 50 is built for a fresh-air system, and it was our deepest-stocked SA helmet when this page was built - 37 on the shelf in this size alone.
Helmet Bandit Large White SA2025	Snell SA2025 (per listing)	Full face, head and neck support ready, white, size Large	$599.95	The icon: Simpson’s Bandit, whose own specification block states Snell SA2025, full face, head and neck support ready - the helmet profile generations of drag racers recognise on sight.
Helmet ST6 GT Large Carbon SA2025	Snell SA2025 (per listing)	Full face, carbon fiber shell, head and neck restraint ready, size Large	$2,299.95	The top pick: Stilo’s ST6 GT in full carbon fiber - the lightest-construction end of this page’s ladder, for racers who count every lap’s neck fatigue.

SNELL SA2025 OR SA2020? YOUR RULEBOOK DECIDES

Snell SA is the auto-racing helmet standard - per the Snell Foundation, the SA standard adds fire resistance, roll-bar impact and head-and-neck attachment requirements that motorcycle (M) and DOT road standards do not carry. Most helmets on this page are listed as SA2025, the current standard, which took effect in October 2025. Two are listed as SA2020 - the G-FORCE Nova Open and the Pyrotect Ultra Mid-Air - and they are labelled SA2020 in their titles and in the list below, not quietly mixed in. Whether an SA2020 helmet still passes your tech inspection is set by your sanctioning body and your class, not by this page: sanctioning bodies set their own acceptance windows for each standard, so check the current rulebook before you buy either standard. One lifespan note that applies to every helmet here: the Snell Foundation recommends replacing a helmet five years from its date of manufacture, and a helmet that has taken a hard impact should be retired, not re-worn - ask us about a specific unit before you order if the dates matter for your season, and call us at 213-549-4279 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm PT).

SIZING: EVERY LISTING HERE IS ONE SIZE - MEASURE FIRST

There is no size dropdown to rescue a guess on this page: each product above is a single stated size, so the size in the title is the helmet you receive. Measure before you order - the standard method is a cloth tape around your head about an inch above your eyebrows, at the point that gives the largest circumference - then match that measurement to the maker’s own size chart for that model. Watch the three sizing languages on this page: most helmets here are sized Small through 3X-Large, the OMP helmets print centimetres alongside (58-59 for a Medium, per their titles), and Bell’s XD7 and RS7 are sized by hat size (7-1/2 and 7-5/8 on the helmets listed below). A new racing helmet should fit snug - firm, even pressure with your cheeks pushed in slightly, and no sharp hot spot on your forehead. A helmet that moves on your head is the wrong size, however good the price looks.

OPEN FACE, FULL FACE OR MID-AIR?

The listings state the style per helmet, and the choice is a real one. Open face (the RaceQuip OF25, OMP GP-I, G-FORCE Nova Open and Bell MAG below) leaves the face open - popular with closed-cockpit racers who want the airflow and an easier fit with glasses. Full face (everything else here) adds a chin bar and a shield - the default for open-cockpit cars and anywhere debris reaches the driver. Mid-air helmets (the Allstar Series 50 and the Pyrotect Ultra) are full-face helmets built to connect to a fresh-air system that feeds filtered air across the shield - worth it in enclosed cars, endurance races and dust; the listings state the mid-air design, and the blower system itself is separate equipment, so plan the whole setup before you order. Whether an open-face helmet is accepted in your class is, again, your rulebook’s call - this page states styles, it does not grant permissions.

HEAD AND NECK READY - AND SHELL MATERIALS

Every one of the 24 listings on this page states the same readiness line in its own feature list: head and neck support ready (Simpson and Stilo word it head and neck restraint ready). That is the listing’s claim, quoted as printed - what anchor hardware your specific head-and-neck device needs is a separate check, so confirm the posts or anchors your device requires before race day rather than at the track. On shells, the listings are specific where they state a material: Bell’s MAG, M8 and K1 are listed as composite, Zamp’s RZ-67D as gloss carbon fiber, Bell’s XD7 and RS7 as carbon composite (both also listed as FIA Approved), Sparco’s Stealth as fiberglass and its Stealth Carbon as carbon fiber (both also listed as FIA Approved), and Stilo’s ST6 GT Carbon as carbon fiber. Where a listing does not state a shell material, this page does not guess one. Carbon costs more than composite at the same rating - what it buys is a lighter shell, which is a comfort and fatigue question over a long stint, not a higher Snell rating: every helmet here is built to the SA standard stated in its own listing.

AN HONEST NOTE ON WHAT IS NOT ON THIS PAGE

The wider Helmets range linked below also carries helmets this page deliberately leaves out, because their listings do not state an adult Snell SA rating: youth helmets rated SFI 24.1 (RaceQuip Pro Youth, Bell GP2 Youth, G-FORCE Rookie) belong to junior racing’s own standard, G-FORCE crew helmets are pit-crew helmets with no SA rating stated, and Simpson’s Americana Speed Bandit listings state no Snell SA rating, so they are not presented here as SA helmets. If your rulebook names SFI 24.1, FIA 8859 on its own, or another standard, shop the wider range for that exact rating - and if a listing anywhere does not state the rating you need, treat it as not stated, not as implied.

QUESTIONS RACERS ASK US

Will a motorcycle or DOT helmet pass tech at a car race? Do not count on it. Snell SA is a different standard from Snell M and from DOT - per the Snell Foundation it adds fire resistance, roll-bar impact and head-and-neck attachment requirements the road standards do not carry. Sanctioning bodies write their acceptance lists around the SA standard (some also accept FIA ratings), so an M or DOT helmet is the wrong purchase for a car, however good it is on a bike. Match the rating in your rulebook to the rating stated in the helmet’s listing.

Is an SA2020 helmet still worth buying? It can be - the two SA2020 helmets here are priced under their SA2025 equivalents and the standard itself did not become unsafe the day SA2025 arrived. The real question is your sanctioning body’s acceptance window: bodies phase standards out on their own schedules, so a helmet with fewer accepted seasons left is only a bargain if those seasons cover your plans. Check the current rulebook, and weigh the dates before you buy.

How do I know my size if I cannot try it on? Measure your head about an inch above your eyebrows at the largest circumference, then use the maker’s chart for that exact model - size letters are not perfectly consistent across brands, and this page mixes letter sizes, centimetre sizes and Bell hat sizes. Each listing here is one size only, so if your measurement falls between two sizes on the maker’s chart, ask us before ordering rather than guessing.

Do these helmets come with head-and-neck anchor posts fitted? The listings state head and neck support ready - readiness, quoted exactly as printed. They do not state that anchor posts for a specific device are included, and this page will not upgrade ready into fitted. Check what your device needs and confirm the hardware for the exact helmet before race day.

Shopping the wider range? Browse the full Helmets collection, read our guides on the News & Builds blog, or see the page that came before this one: Certified Fuel Cells (FIA & SFI Rated).

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