The SFI Foundation

The SFI Foundation, Inc. (SFI) is a non-profit organisation established to issue and administer standards for the quality assurance of specialty performance and racing equipment. The SFI Foundation has served the automotive aftermarket and the motorsports industry since 1978. Our service to the industry is a system of developing and administering various standards, certifications and testing criteria for use in motorsports. SFI strives to equally serve the manufacturers, consumers, sanctioning bodies, racers and government agencies through fairness, efficiency and respect.

The primary users of SFI standards, or specifications (specs), are equipment manufacturers whose products are tested and self-certified to the appropriate procedures. SFI Specs are included as part of the rules of race sanctioning organisations. Ultimately, the consumer benefits from the SFI program because it establishes recognised levels of performance or quality for a given product which results in a safer racing environment.

SFI has an international presence with approximately 100 member sanctioning bodies and well over 300 individual equipment manufacturers who participate in more than 85 specification programs. While the heart of the certification program is the development and administration of the specification programs, it always comes back to the great people at SFI who make it all work. We recognise the importance of our role in the racing industry. Our passion and respect for motorsports lets us do our jobs efficiently and to our fullest potential.

History

In racing’s early years, motorsports equipment was often pushed to its performance limits. Catastrophic parts failures would cause damage and sometimes cause injury to participants. In response, a group of racing product manufacturers formed an association in 1963 known as the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association, or SEMA. The original organisers deemed the central purpose of the association to be the development of product specifications for use by the suppliers of equipment used in racing. The product performance specs would be among the chief functions of SEMA, with the intent to raise the bar for performance quality and reliability of the racing products, which would hopefully translate to safety on the track.

In those early days, SEMA’s pioneers struggled with the development and implementation of various product specifications. Many “unknowns” faced the innovative entrepreneurs in areas of design criteria, testing and promulgation of specifications. But their dedication to the industry and racing won out and it wasn’t long before the specifications were accepted and formed a part of sanctioning body rule books.

Eventually, if certain products on a vehicle didn’t “meet SEMA specs,” the owner could be denied participating in a motorsports event. A specs program for the performance products industry was born and has continued for many years as a result of the determination of the founders of SEMA.

Approximately a decade after its inception, SEMA turned its attention and resources to the increasingly important matters of legislation and governmental regulation, marketing projects, the SEMA Show and various other activities common to a professional trade association serving the interests of an ever-changing, progressive industry. The specs program then became the responsibility of the SEMA Service Bureau, an organisation whose operations were exclusively in the field of product specifications and testing programs.

In time, the need for yet a more sophisticated specifications program became apparent. In 1978 a new organisation, the SEMA Foundation, Inc., or SFI, was formed to replace the Service Bureau, chartered to organise and manage an expanded industry specs program. That name has been shortened to SFI Foundation, Inc. Although a proud beginning, SFI now operates as a foundation completely independent from SEMA, which is now called the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association. SFI no longer stands for SEMA Foundation, Inc. since they are no longer affiliated.

Looking back in history, it is now obvious to most of us why performance specifications were necessary for racing parts and safety equipment. Failures were all too common, and minimum standards were needed to keep people from getting hurt or property getting damaged. But as technology in general has improved with leaps and bounds, why is an organisation like SFI still needed? The answer to that question is quality assurance. It can be argued that product failures in the field have been greatly reduced over the decades as a result of SFI’s contributions to the motorsports industry.

Visit the SFI Foundation official website sfifoundation.com