Roll Cage on the street?
No one plans on getting in a wreck when they drive. Without a helmet,, there is no way you should drive a car with a cage on the street. If you drive alone 100% of the time, then you know and understand the risks, but a passenger might not. How would you feel if you had a friend ride with you and you got in a wreck and they ended up in the hospital with brain damage because their head hit a cage, and you were fine?
This has been debated a million times but I guarantee that you have ZERO evidence or proof to back ANY of this up. As usual, Besides googling random photos and threads on google
especially when it will cause more harm then good if it doesn't
I also recall that it doesn't meet the requirements for SCCA, NASA and other race organizations
Last edited by Montu; Apr 12, 2011 at 02:11 PM.
I daily drive with a full cusco cage.... I don't expect to get hit anytime soon but I guess yea sure you could hit the cage in a crash... ANYTHING else could also hit you too...I've been dd ing mine for 2 years now, cage doesn't get in the way, and no wrecks... So I guess it comes down to how good or bad you drive... Only time I'd ever say to NOT have a cage is if you have kids in the car
IMO, if you're driving around in a stock car with a cage/roll bar you're a fool. the body does amazing things in an accident and if you've ever watched some footage on youtube of the high-speed cameras recording accidents you'll know what I mean. Cages are designed (or atleast they should be) with the use of proper seats a helmet & harnesses in mind. Unless you're able to strap yourself in your car with a 6-point harness, wear a helmet & hans device I wouldn't think about getting in a car with a cage, its just asking for trouble.
Anyone that rides in my car understands the risks. I understand where you are coming from but I could walk out of my house today and get struck by a falling satellite also. That doesn't mean I'm never walking out of my house. I have many friends that drive caged cars on the street and at least one who's life was saved by one. Am I sayingy cusco one will save mine or take it, nope.
I'm no engineer, but if you roll over (which is why most cages are built for) the roof of any car will collapse, hence your head will hit the roof and the concrete. The roll bar will at least keep the area of the occupants body from collapsing. I know I been there.
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as long as it is padded, I would keep it in place. you never know when you need it. I was a week from buying my cage before the accident. car was overwhelmingly crushed
A) occupants body will lean onto its side while still being held in place enough...hopefully this is enough to give the head room you need
b) the stock seat should collapse backwards to give you more head room in a roll over.
Let's separate the two things:
A roll bar, (AKA 4 point, simple 6 point, drag style roll bar, etc) is fine for driving for having in a street car. The main hoop will be far enough away from your head that it should not cause any problems. You should also use the stock 3 point harness while driving on the street due to the fact that it's much more likely that you'll wear the stock 3 point harness correctly, versus a 4+ pt harness. This is due to the fact that a 4+ pt harness has to be fully tightened to be of any good where as 3 points let you change radio stations and such. Passengers should not ride in the back seat area.
A ROLL CAGE is a different story. the term cage means that you have bars going down your A pillars and a halo bar(Windshield, door, main hoop, door) This is NOT okay to use on the street because if you got into a side impact, your head would indeed hit the bar above your door. crack, you're dead. 3point harnesses also don't hold you to the seat well enough to prevent this 3-4 inches of upward and sideways movement that would leave you dead. SO, full cages should be used with both helmets, and full harnesses.
A roll bar, (AKA 4 point, simple 6 point, drag style roll bar, etc) is fine for driving for having in a street car. The main hoop will be far enough away from your head that it should not cause any problems. You should also use the stock 3 point harness while driving on the street due to the fact that it's much more likely that you'll wear the stock 3 point harness correctly, versus a 4+ pt harness. This is due to the fact that a 4+ pt harness has to be fully tightened to be of any good where as 3 points let you change radio stations and such. Passengers should not ride in the back seat area.
A ROLL CAGE is a different story. the term cage means that you have bars going down your A pillars and a halo bar(Windshield, door, main hoop, door) This is NOT okay to use on the street because if you got into a side impact, your head would indeed hit the bar above your door. crack, you're dead. 3point harnesses also don't hold you to the seat well enough to prevent this 3-4 inches of upward and sideways movement that would leave you dead. SO, full cages should be used with both helmets, and full harnesses.
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A roll cage with A-pillar and front (halo) bars will very likely kill you in a crash without a helmet. Period. The travel regardless of what type of belts/harnesses you wear will not prevent you from impacting the A-pillar bar in most accidents. Padding will not help at all, as the force involved in an accident will pop your head like a grape on those padded bars.
That being said, my Evo has a custom weld-in cage that has the full rear hoop, side impact bars (welded to floor plates), harness bar, and strut bracing. When I had the cage constructed I specifically had it designed without A-pillar bars with room for them to be added in the future when the car becomes a dedicated track car. I use Takata 6-point harnesses with Bride buckets and currently still run factory airbags.
The rear hoop (roll bar) will protect me from the roof coming down in the event of a rollover, while the harnesses will hold me in place to prevent travel sufficient to hit my head on the rear hoop or support bars. The side impact bars were a necessity for me because of the benefit to structural rigidity and improvement to the Evo's poor side impact safety.
Even with the lack of A-pillar bars, proper harnesses, seats, and mounting points there is still a risk inherent in running a setup like this on the street due to whiplash/neck travel. Without a HANS device or similar protection device you can generate large amounts of force against your neck in an accident. Factory 3-point belts allow your entire torso to shift/move in the event of an accident dispersing the energy of the impact across your body. On the track the combination of harnesses, cage, helmet, and neck restraint work together to protect you. When you start removing pieces of that equation you run a risk. The risk ranges from near certain death in an accident (A-pillar cage with no helmet) to possible severe neck injury (no HANS with full harnesses).
Each person has to weigh the available options themselves. Ideally the safest choice is to run factory belts with NO cage on the street and 6-point harness, cage, HANS, and helmet on the track. Most of us don't have the luxury of a dedicated race car that never sees the street, so we make compromises. Be careful out there!
That being said, my Evo has a custom weld-in cage that has the full rear hoop, side impact bars (welded to floor plates), harness bar, and strut bracing. When I had the cage constructed I specifically had it designed without A-pillar bars with room for them to be added in the future when the car becomes a dedicated track car. I use Takata 6-point harnesses with Bride buckets and currently still run factory airbags.
The rear hoop (roll bar) will protect me from the roof coming down in the event of a rollover, while the harnesses will hold me in place to prevent travel sufficient to hit my head on the rear hoop or support bars. The side impact bars were a necessity for me because of the benefit to structural rigidity and improvement to the Evo's poor side impact safety.
Even with the lack of A-pillar bars, proper harnesses, seats, and mounting points there is still a risk inherent in running a setup like this on the street due to whiplash/neck travel. Without a HANS device or similar protection device you can generate large amounts of force against your neck in an accident. Factory 3-point belts allow your entire torso to shift/move in the event of an accident dispersing the energy of the impact across your body. On the track the combination of harnesses, cage, helmet, and neck restraint work together to protect you. When you start removing pieces of that equation you run a risk. The risk ranges from near certain death in an accident (A-pillar cage with no helmet) to possible severe neck injury (no HANS with full harnesses).
Each person has to weigh the available options themselves. Ideally the safest choice is to run factory belts with NO cage on the street and 6-point harness, cage, HANS, and helmet on the track. Most of us don't have the luxury of a dedicated race car that never sees the street, so we make compromises. Be careful out there!
If u don't have harnesses or u just don't wear them I would remove the cage. If u do have them and wear them like I do even to the store then u could keep it but I would put padding on it just in case. U have more of a chance busting the side window out with your face than hitting the cage if it has been designed properly. The top bars should be tucked up against the roof away from the side of ur head.
