Canadian Winter Safety Mods

[mountainside]

Hey all.

I was in a pretty bad (no FRS/BRZ was hurt!) car accident several weeks ago. Still laid up / off work healing up but I'm thinking about modifications - other than snow tires - that would help improve safety in my daily driver FRS.

Right now I'm looking at racing seats and roll cages, but am unsure what to look for. Thoughts/ideas?

[Sweet48]

number 1, experience. If you learn how to control the car as best as it can, it can be the difference of a scrape to a head on collision. Trust me on this, being at least a half decent driver has saved my ass at least on 3 occasions. (not meant to say that you are inexperienced or anything, just my input)

number 2, visibility. good lights, good wipers, plenty of washer fluid.

a shovel and cat litter is good to keep as well in case you or someone else gets stuck.

caging improves rigid strength but can become quite expensive and usually does sacrifice interior space. Racing seats do little in regards to safety as well. (some are fireproof though lol)

mudflaps maybe? so you dont fling snow at people behind you while ripping sweet ass JDM AS F&%K DRIFTS YO.......

Also a link to Jalopnik which has a good user base as well and they do write ups on winter safety and what not, some good reads on there. I probably visit their site everyday lol

http://jalopnik.com/what-are-the-bes...cks-1686990969

Hopefully this helps!

[mountainside]

I like to think I'm a decent driver. Have had my licence for nearly 14 years and have driven stick for about 12 of those years, although the frs is my first RWD. I'm familiar with the basics of winter safety and am pretty diligent about maintaining supplies in my car.

I guess, for context, what happened in my accident was that I was driving a work vehicle (LR4) and managed to maneuver enough to not be quite t-boned by a fully loaded transport truck. The LR4 spun, flipped, and the Drayton fire department got to use their new jaws of life of the first time to cut me out.

Nowadays my concerns are more for surviving an accident like that in a car like the FRS. I get that perhaps my concerns are unfounded, but that was my very first accident where I was at the wheel and it's definitely affected my outlook on vehicle safety.

Thank you for the refresher, though.

[FLYFISHR]

From what I've gathered from the advice around here is that a roll cage could make matters worse if your not wearing a helmet and your head strikes the cage when your in an accident.

[daiheadjai]

Originally Posted by mountainside

I like to think I'm a decent driver. Have had my licence for nearly 14 years and have driven stick for about 12 of those years, although the frs is my first RWD. I'm familiar with the basics of winter safety and am pretty diligent about maintaining supplies in my car.

I guess, for context, what happened in my accident was that I was driving a work vehicle (LR4) and managed to maneuver enough to not be quite t-boned by a fully loaded transport truck. The LR4 spun, flipped, and the Drayton fire department got to use their new jaws of life of the first time to cut me out.

Nowadays my concerns are more for surviving an accident like that in a car like the FRS. I get that perhaps my concerns are unfounded, but that was my very first accident where I was at the wheel and it's definitely affected my outlook on vehicle safety.

Thank you for the refresher, though.

For starters, because of the low height of the car and CoG, the FRS probably wouldn't flip - it would probably just get shoved out of the way by the transport truck, or (gulp...) run over by the truck.

From most reports, this car is very survivable in crashes though - also, I don't imagine there is much that we or the aftermarket could do to improve on what the engineers already did. You could put a fire extinguisher under the seat though (I've seen an instructor with one under each front seat).

It might be worthwhile to take an advanced driving course, or find a big empty snow-filled parking lot and get used to how this car behaves in low friction environments, or at the limit.

[Tcoat]

Roll cages, racing seats and other such racing gear are for exactly that! Racing gear. For overall safety you would be hard pressed to improve on the stock safety systems. The airbag system and crumple zones on these cars have proved them self over and over again in crash's posted on here.
If you haven't read it already take a look at this:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82955

[pushrod]

1) driving lessons

2) knowing when to stay home

[mountainside]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Roll cages, racing seats and other such racing gear are for exactly that! Racing gear. For overall safety you would be hard pressed to improve on the stock safety systems. The airbag system and crumple zones on these cars have proved them self over and over again in crash's posted on here.
If you haven't read it already take a look at this:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82955

I hadn't read that post - thanks, I really appreciate the link!

[wparsons]

100% agreed on not running a full cage and racing seats as a way to improve safety on the street. Lots (or most) insurance companies won't insure a fully caged car because of the possibility of your head hitting the cage bars in a crash. Without a helmet a cage can actually be more dangerous. Same goes for multipoint harnesses, for them to be safe and effective you need to be wearing a helmet and a HANS (or similar) device.

Trust that the stock safety gear is already exceptional, and drive with caution.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by mountainside

I hadn't read that post - thanks, I really appreciate the link!

Ya, from all that I have read and the pictures I have seen I can't think of many cars I would rather be in during a crash.

[iLaw]

One thing I always do when I buy a new car is take it out and do some donuts in the snow...

It helps you learn where the limits are and how the car will react when you lose traction. You learn a lot: how good your tires are, how the car reacts to varying levels of throttle, how steering would react in an emergency situation etc.

And its also not the most boring thing to do lol

[DaJo]

Nope... No to the roll cage if you're not on the track with all the right equips...

To be absolutely safe, I'd just get an AWD beater with winter tires.

[PMPB]

A roll cage can even be dangerous WITH a helmet. Ask Richard Hammond.

Race cars have multiple systems to improve driver safety that don't work on the street.

1. Roll cages reduce intrusions into the driver space.
2. Helmets that reduce impacts to the head, mostly from flying debris.
3. Racing seats and racing harnesses that are fixed to the roll cage to keep the driver from moving about the space and colliding with parts of the vehicle. Without a racing harness, a roll cage might increase danger to the driver, especially the head, and a helmet will not provide 100% protection from a head impact with the roll cage.
4. Fire extinguisher, and lack of materials inside the car which can burn.
5. Fast emergency response.

Without all of those items, #1-3 can make the inside of a vehicle MORE dangerous in a street crash.

[aghuman]

Originally Posted by Sweet48

number 1, experience. If you learn how to control the car as best as it can, it can be the difference of a scrape to a head on collision. Trust me on this, being at least a half decent driver has saved my ass at least on 3 occasions. (not meant to say that you are inexperienced or anything, just my input)

number 2, visibility. good lights, good wipers, plenty of washer fluid.

a shovel and cat litter is good to keep as well in case you or someone else gets stuck.

caging improves rigid strength but can become quite expensive and usually does sacrifice interior space. Racing seats do little in regards to safety as well. (some are fireproof though lol)

mudflaps maybe? so you dont fling snow at people behind you while ripping sweet ass JDM AS F&%K DRIFTS YO.......

Also a link to Jalopnik which has a good user base as well and they do write ups on winter safety and what not, some good reads on there. I probably visit their site everyday lol

http://jalopnik.com/what-are-the-bes...cks-1686990969

Hopefully this helps!

@mountainside Just to add emphasis on #2, good visibility is a huge factor is road safety. Personally I apply Rainx once a month during winter months and as needed during summer months and I think its one of the most important things I do, if you haven't tried it, try it and you wont regret it . Even as spring approaches its awesome to drive down the 401 without having to use your wipers because rainx is that slippery. In winter months it makes the job of your wipers easier as well.