Element Tuning's Time Attack Roll Cage. MA-Motorsports Review

[Element Tuning]

Most here probably know I'm no stranger to hucking a car into the guardrail every now and again so I really felt it was time to not only rely on faith but step up the protection.

With our new BC Racing Time Attack FRS I had a little more time and clarity to build what I wanted/needed. After spending a partial season racing a street car with just a roll bar I just didn't feel safe running 1:18s at Summit and 2:04s at VIR especially as I knew we would be going faster soon enough. Like most people I Googled who did cages and of course there are the status quo companies in our area but I decided to step outside the box. I honestly stumbled upon http://www.MA-Motorsports.com in Glen Arm, MD and found out we had some mutual friends which allowed me to find out what these guys were really all about. It did not take long for me to find out they built, service, and are the team behind Formula Drift Champion, Chris Forsberg



and then Vaughn Gittin Jr's Mustang RTR Spec 5 Concept

and they build cars for other big drift names like Ryan Tuerek so I decided to do my research on the quality of their cage work. Let's face it I've seen some drift cages from other fabricators and I was concerned to say the least. I wasn't sure they would be interested in building a time attack/road racing cage for us but a quick call over and they said they would be happy to and would love to have more road racers for cage fabrication. I spoke with their cage fabricator Dylan Hughes and then I looked up Dylan's work and I was really impressed. He was building rally cages for Rally Fish Dirt School and also some GRC cars I believe. These were some serious cages but that's not what I needed or wanted. He really listened to what I needed and was happy to create it. While I wanted safe, I really wanted a fairly light cage, I need a good amount of room, I need to keep some interior panels/dash in place, I didn't want to spend a fortune on a Scion, and I needed it in 2 weeks. LOL!

What really sold me was his tube fitment!
Pretty much there aren't really any need for gussets as he bends so tight to the body that he can weld straight to it! My a pillar bars are right against the chassis which continues across the room and then down the b pillars. His welding beads are nice, consistent, and constant. I have seen many cages at the track and this is definitely a rare!

I have tons of room and they did what they could to fit some panels like I wanted so we could keep somewhat of a "track day" car look. Egress in and out is easy also and I'm 6'-2".


I've since looked with a close eye at many other cages and the quality of the fabrication and I assure you that you owe it to yourself to call these guys and consider their work. You really do deserve this level of quality and fabrication as it won't cost you anymore than the other options and it will probably get done quicker.



The chassis is really nice now and we currently have the NASA TT2 lap record for VIR at 1:58.8

You can get a good look at the cage in this video of us doing some testing at VIR:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOy3jNop98M"]Element Tuning FRS Races C7 Z06 - YouTube[/ame]

I really couldn't be any happier! If you want to see more pictures in details you can see them here:
http://www.ma-motorsports.com/build_project/15378/

Thanks,
Phil Grabow
Driver #71 BC Racing/Element Tuning Time Attack FRS

[philooo]

how much did you end up paying fo the cage build ?

[AZP Installs]

NICE stuff guys.

Our Spec86 goes in for the cage this coming weekend.

-mike

[Element Tuning]

Originally Posted by philooo

how much did you end up paying fo the cage build ?

This level of cage is in the $3k range. How much cage, how much you strip the car, how much you want them to put back, and if you want paint etc. all plays a roll in your cage cost.

We supplied them the car with most stuff stripped out but by no means bare. Take a look at the link I provided at the end and you can see what state it was in. Really wasn't too much work and then we painted and trimmed the door panels here to how we wanted them.

[Element Tuning]

Originally Posted by AZP Installs

NICE stuff guys.

Our Spec86 goes in for the cage this coming weekend.

-mike

Nice!

[philooo]

I really like the fact that your builder took the time to remove the excess fat, aka chassis reinforcement that are not needed now that you have your role cage installed. It seems to allow you to gain some clearance and also certainly make the car lighter at the top.
I can see it was done on the roof line.

any other location where the chassis was trimmed ? not many people do this but that is really the sign of a quality build

I am interested looking at more pictures of these modification

[Element Tuning]

Originally Posted by philooo

I really like the fact that your builder took the time to remove the excess fat, aka chassis reinforcement that are not needed now that you have your role cage installed. It seems to allow you to gain some clearance and also certainly make the car lighter at the top.
I can see it was done on the roof line.

any other location where the chassis was trimmed ? not many people do this but that is really the sign of a quality build

I am interested looking at more pictures of these modification

Exactly! He wanted to give me as much room as possible since I really needed every inch of it. Dylan also really likes his cage to be tightly against the body. They trimmed a few other spots also where a few items got in the way.

[philooo]

removing the reinforcement under the roof is something I am just learning about and I can confirm that the extra 1" or 2" would make the world of a difference. I wish I had known that when I built my cage... Just for that I think it is worth every penny !

i like the fact that you were able to keep your side windows but that is a tough call between convenience or the safety of protruding daytona bar...

[Element Tuning]

Originally Posted by philooo

removing the reinforcement under the roof is something I am just learning about and I can confirm that the extra 1" or 2" would make the world of a difference. I wish I had known that when I built my cage... Just for that I think it is worth every penny !

i like the fact that you were able to keep your side windows but that is a tough call between convenience or the safety of protruding daytona bar...

Yeah the head room is a premium in this car so it's important to be fitted to your cage design.

As for the "nascar" style door bars they do provide more room but they really pushed close to the door with my "X" bar and it's plenty roomy for me. It does cost a little less to do the "X" bar and I know it's used more commonly in rally cages. They can do either and can also push the X into the door skin but I wanted to keep the windows and as much door panel as possible in our car.

I might be doing some events where there is an emphasis on "street" vs. track and you get extra points to keep it looked less like a pure race car

[FRS Justin]

What is the weight of the cage?

[philooo]

Originally Posted by Element Tuning

you get extra points to keep it looked less like a pure race car

I like that idea of keeping the car interior still looking like and FRS.
ALL fully gutted car look the same, it is boring!

[Element Tuning]

Originally Posted by FRS Justin

What is the weight of the cage?

I don't know exactly but they did calculate the 1.75 .095 was lighter than the 1.5 tubing. Interestingly however I had an Autopower Race Roll Bar and tfhe car ended up lighter with the new cage. We pulled a few more panels out, trimmed the door cards, and they trimmed out some metal but I was pretty shocked.

My car is no lightweight though as we race in power to weight ratio classing so we can't give up too much power. The car with some fuel in it is 2710 lbs.

[Element Tuning]

Originally Posted by philooo

I like that idea of keeping the car interior still looking like and FRS.
ALL fully gutted car look the same, it is boring!

Yeah I try to at least make an effort with our cars to keep them somewhat looking like a customer car. They were building Ryan Tuerek's FRS while my cage was being fabricated and he had a carbon fiber dash from the UK that must have only weighed like 1.5 lbs. I heard it was $$$$$

[AZP Installs]

Great info. In Spec86 Cup we are requiring the dash and center console be intact for the same reasons that we want them to be identifiable in the interior as to what kind of car it is. We are doing modified NASCAR Bars on ours that are being installed to allow for the windows and switches to be retained. Open trailer problems...

-Mike Paisan


Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
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