Roll cage for a DD?

[Yamajee]

Hey guys,

Today while going to work I saw an 86 that has went through a street lamp on a highway and the car is literally shaped like a basketball and got scared like hell. Thinking of the sides of the car, there's nothing that would protect you from a car hitting you on a high speed on either sides of the car, I mean if it's the front then you have the engine to reduce the force of that damage so let's say that you are a bit more safe, and if it's from the rear then you have the rear including the trunk bla bla to reduce the force too, but when I imagined it from the sides, there's nothing to protect you. Thought about investing into getting a roll cage but I do not want to take out any thing from the interior like the rear seats and so on. I'm not that well experienced in roll cages but I'm looking for something that would firstly protect the sides of the cars, and then the rest. I know that roll cages were designed to protect cars when rolling over or something but a collision can be a car rolling over too so I'm not taking any chances as from what I've seen today I'm even scared to drive it tomorrow and the day after and the day after that. I know it's up to fate to decide whether I'm gonna be hit by a car or going to roll over or not at all and so on but, better safe than sorry.

Hope you guys can chime in and help me with choosing a good roll cage, I don't mind having the cross at the back and putting harness belts on.

[BigRedDog]

For safety, don't you have you wear a helmet at all times when a roll cage is installed?

[Yamajee]

Originally Posted by BigRedDog

For safety, don't you have you wear a helmet at all times when a roll cage is installed?

That's a good question but I've seen roll cages that are protected with foam like things for that.

[OICU812]

Go hard or go home, I say full football uniform.

Roll cage in a street DD, that's ballin man.

[Yamajee]

Originally Posted by OICU812

Go hard or go home, I say full football uniform.

Roll cage in a street DD, that's ballin man.

Trollin ?

[OICU812]

Originally Posted by Yamajee

Trollin ?

No, just seems to be abit of paranoid cause you see one wrecked car and don't know all the circumstances dont ya think? Seriously, how fast was the car going to be balled up, the angle of impact etc...? Don't own a car and take the bus, buy yourself some retro rollerskates if you are that worried that you need a roll cage. Is this your first vehicle???

[Yamajee]

Originally Posted by OICU812

No, just seems to be abit of paranoid cause you see one wrecked car and don't know all the circumstances dont ya think? Seriously, how fast was the car going to be balled up, the angle of impact etc...? Don't own a car and take the bus if you are that worried that you need a roll cage.

Well I've seen other cars in the same situation but you do know the differences in the safety features of a japanese car and a german car. Therefore all I can do is provide myself the safety I'm able to afford at least. Not really but my other cars are German and I know I can rely on their safety at most for such situations car seemed like it was hit by another car which caused the driver to lose control and go straight through it.

[fatoni]

i think your thought process is a little bit backwards. in a wreck the forces generated arent going to change. if the car crumples that means there is less of that force impacting the driver. with a roll cage, its simply transferring all that force to things like your skull.

a roll cage is part of a safety system so unless youre implementing the whole system, i would recommend you dont get a roll cage.

[OICU812]

^^^^This....

[Yamajee]

Originally Posted by fatoni

i think your thought process is a little bit backwards. in a wreck the forces generated arent going to change. if the car crumples that means there is less of that force impacting the driver. with a roll cage, its simply transferring all that force to things like your skull.

a roll cage is part of a safety system so unless youre implementing the whole system, i would recommend you dont get a roll cage.

The skull point is something I've missed. Thank you for bringing that up.

[OICU812]

Originally Posted by Yamajee

Well I've seen other cars in the same situation but you do know the differences in the safety features of a japanese car and a german car. Therefore all I can do is provide myself the safety I'm able to afford at least. Not really but my other cars are German and I know I can rely on their safety at most for such situations car seemed like it was hit by another car which caused the driver to lose control and go straight through it.

I realize some vehicles are "made" safer. However there is no telling what kind of accident you or anyone can be in, far too many variables to be worried over. All you can do is assure yourself that you are the best driver you can be. Perhaps if you wish invest in some defensive driver training, perhaps some auto cross and track time, things like this. Not only would you enjoy it, you would improve your driving and your reaction to situations at least 2 fold. IMO that would be money WAY better spent over a (roll cage).
BTW I average @ least 60-70K miles a year for last 20++ years on some of the worst roads you could imagine for my work and I can tell you a roll cage is not on my list.

You feel I'm trolling ok..?.. but I am being honest actually. Worst thing to do is over react to something you see or feel, no need to knee jerk here hard at all IMO. Others can chime in but training pays off in boat loads, for this car I have had little training, I have however owned many sports cars, drive a ton of bad roads fast in a 4x4 truck, and have taken many many driver training courses over the years and every time I did I learned something new and improved my driving and my reaction time and I fully believe that alone has saved my life and others a few times.

[Yamajee]

Originally Posted by OICU812

I realize some vehicles are "made" safer. However there is no telling what kind of accident you or anyone can be in, far too many variables to be worried over. All you can do is assure yourself that you are the best driver you can be. Perhaps if you wish invest in some defensive driver training, perhaps some auto cross and track time, things like this. IMO that would be money WAY better spent over a (roll cage).
BTW I average @ least 60-70K miles a year for last 20++ years on some of the worst roads you could imagine for my work and I can tell you a roll cage is not on my list.

True that. I've been driving for the past 12 years, have been drag and drift racing a lot and I've only been in one accident where a woman came face-to-face to me out of nowhere and I ended up breaking my whole right leg, back and neck. So I guess my paranoia is coming from that. I've heard about the streets in the states and how scary they are compared to ours but the highway I use has a speed limit of 87 miles and people usually cruise at 85 miles so yeah... kinda hard to control a car at that speed when the situations were like some of the ones I mentioned above.

[Scenic Driver]

If you're really that scared to drive it you may as well sell the 86 and get the biggest, heaviest, truck/jeep/suv/military surplus vehicle you can find and drive that instead.

T-bone any passenger car at high speed and it probably won't be pretty, are you planning to put a roll cage in every car you own from this point forward? You just have to accept the fact that anytime you're on the road you're at risk, being paranoid about it isn't going to help things and will just ruin the driving experience for you. All you can really do is be as safe and careful as you can and hope for the best.

[Yamajee]

Originally Posted by Scenic Driver

If you're really that scared to drive it you may as well sell the 86 and get the biggest, heaviest, truck/jeep/suv/military surplus vehicle you can find and drive that instead.

T-bone any passenger car at high speed and it probably won't be pretty, are you planning to put a roll cage in every car you own from this point forward? You just have to accept the fact that anytime you're on the road you're at risk, being paranoid about it isn't going to help things and will just ruin the driving experience for you. All you can really do is be as safe and careful as you can and hope for the best.

Hummer H1 comes into mind .

Thanks for the input, I think I'm convinced that a roll cage won't be needed but just thought it would be a good thing to have on such a small car excluding the fact that I can crush my skull because of not wearing a helmet.