The Arai Corsair X is a premium track/road helmet designed by Arai from the ground up. It is touted as one of the first helmets to integrate PVSMC II shell technology.
It is found in the top tier of the helmet market. The Corsair X also doubles as your everyday helmet.
Make no mistake about it, the Corsair X is a full-face premium helmet designed for use by track enthusiasts as well as everyday riders. Unlike some full-face helmets, the Corsair X uses a pair of EPS (expanded polystyrene) liners inside the helmet. Each and every unit is handmade.
But just how great is this helmet? Does it have what it takes to pass our scrutiny? This article is a full review of the Arai Corsair X Motorcycle Helmet.
Ratings
Comfort:
Visibility:
Coolness:
Ventilation:
Quietness:
Overall rating:
Specifications
Outer shell material : Composite Fiber
Shell size : XS – L (Covers XS-XXL)
Liner : Multi-Adjustable Inner Lining
Weight : 3.11 lbs
Pinlock : Pinlock Max Vision
Strap System : Double D-ring Buckle
Safety Ratings
DOT : Yes
ECE : Yes
SNELL : Yes
SHARP : 5 Star rated
FIM: Yes
93% of impacts the faceguard remained fully locked
Shape and materials
The Corsair X is constructed from EPS foam with a honeycomb structure inside. EPS is a synthetic material often seen in mountain bike helmets, but has also transitioned over to motorcycle helmets in recent years.
The idea of EPS is that it is more durable and it is meant to be more durable than other materials. The helmet uses a two-piece design, one for the rear which is airtight and another for the front which is also airtight.
Some of the different elements of the Arai Corsair X Motorcycle Helmet are: the nose protector, rear shell, memory foam, cooling foam and visor.
Straight from the showroom floor, you can be hard pressed to find a prettier full-face helmet.
The Corsair X is made for fast and quick transitions between track, road, dirt and wet weather riding.
If you want to wear a helmet with the familiar appearance of something you would see in a garage or work-vehicle, this is the choice for you. It's not the best looking helmet on our list, but it definitely ranks among the more attractive and masculine helmets.
The Corsair X has a molded-in chin guard that seamlessly transitions to the cheek pads of the helmet.
Things I liked
Things I don’t like
OVERALL COMFORT
The Corsair X Helmet is Arai's first production model since 2002, and it looks to be an improvement in almost every way. The helmet comes with a standard Arai fit, which consists of the most important head measurements.
In other words, the measurements that Arai recommends fit the helmet to you. The Corsair X is available in two sizes, the XL (Large) and the XXL (Extra Large). The XXL is a full size larger than the XL. Arai states that the XXL provides a few inches of additional comfort.
This makes it a comfortable helmet to wear during long rides. Once put on, the airflow through the helmet is excellent. The helmet does feel light, but that is because the design is so minimal.
As far as fit, since the helmets are individually handmade, we don’t think you'll have too much of a problem getting the size you need. The inner liner is adjustable both up and down for a supreme fit.
The upper-arm ventilation isn’t so spacious but it is functional and it works well to control the sweat and excess moisture. The helmet is large, making the fit more comfortable.
There is a lot of padding in the chin and side shields that help prevent scratches from the inside. The padding also adds to the overall comfort.
The helmet itself features a ventilated, rounded feel which makes it easier to fit and take off over your head. The helmet has a very snug feeling to it which made it great for the test rider.
There is a decent amount of adjustability, too, but we found ourselves thinking it was slightly more snug than we would’ve liked. It isn’t a significant fit issue, but definitely just a slight point.
VISIBILITY
The Corsair X does have a chin bar with a special pinlock, so you can lock it in place. It’s quite comfortable and yet stable at the same time.
In addition to the chin bar, there is a cheek piece. The top part of the Corsair X is the face shield and allows for the use of visor liners.
The visor liner which has a UV protection film. Being that the visor liners are modular, you have the option to remove a visor and simply use the liner you prefer.
There are four different visor liner styles to choose from. They come with a spacer to adjust the size of the liner. The Corsair X has a MIPS liner which is a helmet liner designed for impact protection.
The Corsair X provides you with a very good range of vision, allowing you to see any and all directions in the world while riding.
Do you want to be able to see everything on the road as you ride? The Corsair X uses a Pinlock Max Vision visor right out of the box. Plus the visor pops out super easy when you need it to.
QUIETNESS
The integrated air intake system that is used on the Corsair X allows the user to open the air intake as much as they want during any time they choose. If you want to lower the volume of your helmet on the ride, all you need to do is press a lever on the right rear of the Corsair.
All full-face helmets are designed to help reduce the noise that is emitted by the rider’s face into the environment around them. The Corsair X tries to do this in a few different ways.
It uses a 30 mm large-front window (wider at the top than at the bottom) with the thickest part of the plastic window (at the top) set into the plastic brim to absorb some of the noise.
This will help to reduce the wind noise at the top of the windshield, but it will also significantly reduce the sound of the wind hitting the helmet at the bottom (and middle). It also uses a very rigid shell, which is intended to absorb shock and reduce noise from hitting the road when going over bumps.
The Corsair X helmet comes with two vents, two air outlets, and one directional air intake system. This allows you to adjust the flow of air coming out of the helmet by pulling on the left or right vent levers.
All of this gives the helmet a very quiet ride.
VENTILATION
There are a ton of vents on the Corsair X. At the top are three main vents. All of them are adjustable. Then there are ventilation channels on either side of the helmet and also on the top brow of the shell.
The top of the shell also has a central air vent, which releases air down to the inside of the shell.
A blue “eyepatch” has been added to this central air vent for additional ventilation. All three vents work together to draw air from the inside of the helmet to the outside of the helmet, creating a nice open air channel.
It is also worth noting that there is an excellent chin vent in the bottom of the helmet. This keeps the entire helmet from taking on too much heat.
There are also exhaust ports along the sides and rear of the helmet..
Inside the Corsair X's face pad, there is an innovative airflow management system called the Active Air Flow System (AAS). The side-mounted air-flow vents have a small twist mechanism on them that can move air to either side of the helmet to improve the overall air flow in the helmet.
This is a first for a full-face helmet. There are three thicknesses of AAS air flow cover available with the Corsair X.
The top is a matte aerodynamic cover with a flat surface that helps cut through wind, the middle is a mid-air air-flow center with a larger profile and a domed top that helps cool the head on hot days, and the bottom is a matte black windowed polycarbonate cover with a flat surface to reduce wind turbulence.
SAFETY
The outer shell of the Corsair X Motorcycle Helmet is made of multiple layers of impact-resistant EPS. The outer shell of the Corsair X Motorcycle Helmet is made of multiple layers of impact-resistant EPS.
A close up of the leading edge of the Corsair X's EPS is shown. A close up of the leading edge of the Corsair X's EPS is shown.
The liner of the Corsair X is made of 5 layers of impact-resistant EPS. The liner of the Corsair X is made of 5 layers of impact-resistant EPS. The Arai Corsair X Motorcycle Helmet comes with the APVSMC II shell technology. That basically means it can take the toughest of impacts to protect you.
It’s extremely rare to find a helmet that is DOT, ECE, SNELL, SHARP and FIM certified, but the Corsair X handles all of these ratings with ease. Arai really knows their helmets!
Conclusion
The Arai Corsair X brings to the market what will hopefully become the ultimate full-face motocross helmet. There are many excellent full-face helmets on the market today, but all of them require a purchase of a separate visor and padding set.
However, the Arai Corsair X does away with this by using an all-in-one system with EPS foam.
The bottom line: Arai has kept its promise with the Corsair X. Although it’s not perfect, we can say that it is worth EVERY penny. This is probably the best helmet for most people. We can’t rate this helmet high enough!
Where to buy this helmet :