Roll cage for a DD?

[Vracer111]

Originally Posted by ICantAffordAnLFA

Thought I'd seen some 997 4.0s with full cages and some pre 997 gt3s too ; could be wrong.

Remember the jokes about the 4.0 having detachable sidebars for Ring TF days, lol.

Anyhows Subaru will sell you a road legal fully caged RA, notwithstanding the dangers.

Topical thread as I need to make my own decision on cage this year; car focused on track use but driven to events so am mindful of the safety considerations.

Well yeah there is a GT3 R version with cage...but that's a factory race car. GT3 RS and below street cars do not have a cage from factory.

If you are not racing wheel to wheel you really don't need a cage, a proper roll bar would suffice. That poor GT86 with a Cusco "cage" forced upon it....that "cage" needs to be taken out of its misery and crushed, which should be fairly easy to do...

[SmsAlSuwaidi]

That crash was bad, but the owner was not harmed as bad as you think. I'll try to pull a picture of the crash i have it somewhere

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by Vracer111

Well yeah there is a GT3 R version with cage...but that's a factory race car. GT3 RS and below street cars do not have a cage from factory.

If you are not racing wheel to wheel you really don't need a cage, a proper roll bar would suffice. That poor GT86 with a Cusco "cage" forced upon it....that "cage" needs to be taken out of its misery and crushed, which should be fairly easy to do...

That cage above is not for a race car. I can't think of a sanctioning body that would like that cage. I wouldn't use that in a crap can/lemons car.

[diss7]

Toyota Racing NZ will sell you a proper cage. The same they have in the tr86 race cars. It was about $4500nzd from memory.

[OjiGeorge]

http://ft86speedfactory.com/cusco-4-...l-bar-244.html

I'm going to disagree with everyone here because when I was 17, and being a complete idiot, I ended up taking my miata off a clif (~15-20' drop). Car rolled in mid air and landed upside down.

I can tell you the sound of the soft top crumpling in and glass breaking was terrifying, truely thought that was it.

The aftermarket roll bar (wasn't a cage) saved my life. Changed my perspective on things.

With all the said, if you get a mild more 'roll bar' type cage, please, please please consider your (and especially your passenger's) potential for movement of their heads. The cage could end up being the lethal part of the equation. It would take careful planning, research, measuring clearances, and likely padding certain areas.

Just saying- it could save your life, but probably not so much for side impact, more roll.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by OjiGeorge

http://ft86speedfactory.com/cusco-4-...l-bar-244.html

I'm going to disagree with everyone here because when I was 17, and being a complete idiot, I ended up taking my miata off a clif (~15-20' drop). Car rolled in mid air and landed upside down.

I can tell you the sound of the soft top crumpling in and glass breaking was terrifying, truely thought that was it.

The aftermarket roll bar (wasn't a cage) saved my life. Changed my perspective on things.

With all the said, if you get a mild more 'roll bar' type cage, please, please please consider your (and especially your passenger's) potential for movement of their heads. The cage could end up being the lethal part of the equation. It would take careful planning, research, measuring clearances, and likely padding certain areas.

Just saying- it could save your life, but probably not so much for side impact, more roll.

That was a roadster. I would get a roll *bar* for a roadster also that didn't have OEM rollover protection.

Doing so for a street BRZ/FRS doesn't make much sense (limits the usability of the car and without harnesses and a fixed back seat is worse than stock). The majority of accidents will be more dangerous in these cars with a bar and stock seat/belts due to the designed function of those stock components (passenger movement down and center is allowed by design, seat backs break, etc). A roll bar with a fixed seat and 6 point harnesses is arguably as safe as stock and in some cases safer but not all that friendly. Race buckets also don't have much head protection (whiplash, etc) compared to the stock seats. I run a roll bar and seats/harnesses in my track car (and more in the race car of course) and stopped tracking the BRZ primarily because a roll bar wasn't able to be justified in my head for such a new car and I stopped being comfortable without the safety gear on track. On the street the BRZ is as at least as safe as any other small sports car like these.

A cage (for this conversation a 6 point or more with at least two of those points in front of the front seats with a halo above the driver) in any street car is simply a bad idea.

[ultra]

Many people have already mentioned that a rollcage on the street is a bad idea but I'll try to give you a more complete picture as to why.

Roll cage with stock seats and belts: you'll move around enough in a crash to crack your skull open like a melon. Not pretty and a pretty stupid idea.

Roll cage with stock seats, stock belts and a helmet: you'll still move around enough in a crash to crack both your helmet and skull open. Also, you'll see and hear less so your situational awareness would drop. Again, not a very smart idea.

Roll cage with stock seats and proper FIA 4 point harnesses plus a helmet: The harness will hold you in place a bit better but you'll still move around a bit too much with the stock seats. The stock seats are also mounted too high up so your helmeted head will still crunch on stuff.

Doing it right requires taking a 'full system' approach like somebody mentioned above. FIA spec Rollcage + FIA spec race seats + FIA spec seat rails + an FIA spec 6 pointed harness + an FIA spec helmet + a HANS device will keep you pretty nice and safe since you're sitting lower, you're held firmly in place by the seat and harness and your head is supported by the HANS device and protected by a proper helmet.

It's worth noting that a good cage will incorporate door bars in addition to at least around 6 mounting points so you'd get added side protection as well.

Could you daily drive a setup like this? Maybe but I wouldn't advise it. It's a real pain in the ass to climb through the cage, into the seats a clip up your 6 point harness each time you drive the car. Also, since you're body is bolted in tighter you'd get a whole lot more force directed at your neck in a crash if you didn't wear your helmet & HANS device.

TL;DR I prefer to focus on active safety and defensive driving in order to not get into a crash in the first place. If you're driving on the street the stock safety systems should be enough to protect you as well as anything possible.

Track safety systems only work on the track and mixing track and street systems won't save your bacon.

Also worth noting that any safety system will only work up to a certain point. Those supposedly 'invincible' German cars will crumple up into a tinfoil ball just like anything else under the wrong circumstances, or at higher speeds. Most safety systems are only tested up to the speed limit after all, and only under specific conditions.

Plenty of evidence of crumpled German luxobarges lying around Musafah and similar industrial areas in the UAE.

Stay sharp, stay smart and drive safe!

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

That was a roadster. I would get a roll *bar* for a roadster also that didn't have OEM rollover protection.

Thread hijack.
I appreciate that roll overs are rare but it intrigues me when i see soft tops with some sort of roll protection but the driver's head is above the level of the bar. When does the bar come into play? When the driver's head has been worn down to his shoulders?

[ultra]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

Thread hijack.
I appreciate that roll overs are rare but it intrigues me when i see soft tops with some sort of roll protection but the driver's head is above the level of the bar. When does the bar come into play? When the driver's head has been worn down to his shoulders?

High quality roll bars (Hard Dod and Boss Frog) - not to be confused with the nonfunctional 'style bars' you're referring to - are designed to protect above the driver's head level and have been proven to work countless times in the Miata world, but that's a very different car and a whole other topic.

[jonperezinsd]

Originally Posted by ICantAffordAnLFA

Thought I'd seen some 997 4.0s with full cages and some pre 997 gt3s too ; could be wrong.

Remember the jokes about the 4.0 having detachable sidebars for Ring TF days, lol.

Anyhows Subaru will sell you a road legal fully caged RA, notwithstanding the dangers.

Topical thread as I need to make my own decision on cage this year; car focused on track use but driven to events so am mindful of the safety considerations.

what roll cage is that in this picture?

[GT86_300plus]

The rollcage is from a Subaru BRZ RA. Its a track ready BRZ.

[kch]

Originally Posted by GT86_300plus

The rollcage is from a Subaru BRZ RA. Its a track ready BRZ.

holy thread necro

[re-animator]

a roll cage in a car without a racing harness and a helmet can literally kill you in a crash that you would otherwise walk away from.

[stevesnj]

Rolling a car during an accident is a rare event. Just rely on your current crumple zones. If you want a car with a cage get a Volvo.

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