Roll Cage and Safety

[Knighton]

Being so low to the ground, almost any head-on-ish collison leaves the possibility for severe injury especially in the modern era of the soccer-mom-yuppie-SUV-urban jungle. Would a roll cage be a solution to this?

How much room does a roll cage take up? Would a roll cage detract from the driving experience?

Has anyone considered this?

 

Knighton,

A roll cage can be pretty much hidden from view. It can even be minimized around the windscreen and dash.

My Pantera-based GT40 will have one added to it in a couple weeks. It will also serve to stiffen up the chassis whereas I had to do a lot of cutting.

Have fun!

John

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Hi Knighton

Roy Smarts GTD has a cage installed - it was welded in during build and is not too intrusive. Dash did require a cut either side though.

and rear braces

Made the car much stiffer too... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Gordon Levy]

A properly designed cage will provide a lot of saftey without being obtrusive. The RF cage is very well hiden in the car, at least as much as it can be and is FIA approved.

 

[Knighton]

A roll cage appears to be the way to go, adding a decent level of safety while not being too obtrusive. Next question:

Is there any need to pad the cage around the head area or will you be so well strapped in there isn't a chance of bouncing around in the case of a collison or in the case of an accidental off-road excursion from loss of grip?

A roll cage will make ingress and egress a little more challenging... or does it run down the center of the roof?

I just answered my question because I recall seeing all GT40 drivers ingress and egress easily, which means the roll cage runs down the middle and not along the edges of the roof and "door line". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Gary Gibbs]

I have seen both styles. 1.) Curves around the door openings (easiest to get in/out but not quite as safe) and 2.) one which has traditional straight tubes from the top of the A to B pilars (safer but requires a bit of manuvering to get in and out of car). We currently offer a bolt in/out 6 point cage that has style 2. I want to develop a modified version which has both curved sections (as shown above) and a removable straight section for use on track.

 

[Brett James-McCall]

Paul,
Do you know if anybody has done this to go through SVA? Due to the extreamly early part of the build lifecycle of my KVA, this is an otion I'd like to put in. Is there any chance you could send a photo of the internal cokpit area. Thanks.

Brett

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Hi Brett -

I did not have my digital camera when we started Roy's lightweight, so i'll have to trawl through some other albums to see what I can find to scan. If not I can take some cage specific photos and mail them to you. May take a while as I'm somewhat busy burning copies of our Club DVD at present + next club mag. (first DVD orders will be despatched V-Soon!). I'll be in touch.

Why not make the trip to our club track day at Goodwood in August, then you can have a close look. Many Goodwood regulars usually take passengers to enthuse those still building. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Gary Gibbs]

Paul,
If you get them digitally I would like to see them also.

Thanks
Gary

 

[Brett James-McCall]

Paul,
I'm coming to Goodward already... Mr Bearman has promised me a passenger drive, so I can't wait. If you are offering a further sit in a car I would be more than grateful in accepting, its actually my birthday that day. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

On the photo front, my friend is lending me his digital SLR for the day (or will come along as well). This is great over 6.5 mega pxel I think and takes A3 photo quality pictures. So if you want we could getsome pictures. He took pics of another friends RS Escort about a month back at an airfield and they are great. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Brett

 

[Bill Musarra]

You guys better post some pics. I'm stongly considering a roll cage for the safety aspect, but I would like to incorporate a "grabbar" to it to help those who have never been in a "tite" car enter and exit without pushing or pulling on the A pillar.
Bill

 

[Mark Worthington]

I'd like to see some pics of RF's cage also.

 

[Richard Timte]

All,

I too am putting a roll cage in my RF. Robert, if you have fitted the cage post some pictures pleae. Going as fast as these cars can go and not having anything between your head and whatever is insane. Spending a little extra and weighing a little more is well worth it.

 

[Knighton]

What is the weight of a roll cage?

 

[Knighton]

.

 

[Gary Gibbs]

I would guess it is something like 40-50 lbs for a six point.

 

[Peter Delaney]

DRB have 2 options for a roll cage :

- a simple roll-hoop under the back edge of the roof & rear braces to the tops of the suspension towers. (See attached pic). I am just in the final stages or retro-fitting this - not an easy job after the body is bonded in place.

- a full cage with cross-braces & everything. (Peter Ransom should be able to provide a pic of this).

Both roll-bar-cage setups on the DRB's are designed to be fitted early in the production.

Peter D.

 

[Bill Bayard]

DRB is currently building a car for the Open Road Racing
Series(180MPH+ class), for John Tiemann, of Texas, with a "NASCAR style" cage.
Excuse the photo quality. I'm not too good at editing, yet.

 

I have a full cage in my car with tubes at the outside edge of the interior. (not down the center) I find this location quite handy when entering the car - grab the tube with both hands and swing in feet first. Something to consider before you install a roll cage,,, your helmet WILL hit the bar!

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Hi again -
Finally got round to taking the pictures.

View Them Here...

If you have any questions - mail me.