Ok, I am after a half cage just for the rear of the car (2door integra) that will provide protection if I roll it but also, improve the handling. I am wondering what the best design would be for me, I really want to make the car stiff as possible, to improve handling. It will be custom made by a respected manufacturer and welded in. I’d like ideas for the design that would work best, the rear of the car is gutted but it is a daily driver! Thanks for any help.
I am after a half cage just for the rear of the car (2door integra) that will provide protection if I roll it but also, improve the handling. I am wondering what the best design would be for me, I really want to make the car stiff as possible, to improve handling.
this is an oxymoron. a half-cage won’t protect the driver during a roll at all. the roof will still cave in on you, your doors will cave inward…so you’d still be in severe danger. also, the more of the body you tie together with a cage, the stiffer it will make the chassis, therefore the better the handling will be.
your best bet is to take the car to the local customizer, let them have it for a week, and give them a copy of the SCCA rules and regs for cages. make sure they know it’s a daily driver, and tell them to see what they can come up with. you’ll be surprised how unobtrusive the front portion of a cage can be for a daily driver, yet still provide total protection in the case of a roll.
there was a g3 on honda-tech a while back that had a full cage, even bars that were custom-fit against the doorskins which were hinged and had a lockpin. the driver got t-boned something horrible by a truck, the car was totalled–fenders forward was virtually nothing left, but the driver opened the door and walked away with a couple scratches from flying glass and 2 bruises from his 4-point. had he been using a half-cage, he probably would have been dead.
edit: just so you know, a cage without a helmet and foam padding around the driver’s and passenger’s heads can still kill you very easily. ever bang your head on a steel pole at 45 mph?
Originally posted by StockNTegra
[B]this is an oxymoron. a half-cage won’t protect the driver during a roll at all. the roof will still cave in on you, your doors will cave inward…so you’d still be in severe danger. also, the more of the body you tie together with a cage, the stiffer it will make the chassis, therefore the better the handling will be.
your best bet is to take the car to the local customizer, let them have it for a week, and give them a copy of the SCCA rules and regs for cages. make sure they know it’s a daily driver, and tell them to see what they can come up with. you’ll be surprised how unobtrusive the front portion of a cage can be for a daily driver, yet still provide total protection in the case of a roll.
there was a g3 on honda-tech a while back that had a full cage, even bars that were custom-fit against the doorskins which were hinged and had a lockpin. the driver got t-boned something horrible by a truck, the car was totalled–fenders forward was virtually nothing left, but the driver opened the door and walked away with a couple scratches from flying glass and 2 bruises from his 4-point. had he been using a half-cage, he probably would have been dead.
edit: just so you know, a cage without a helmet and foam padding around the driver’s and passenger’s heads can still kill you very easily. ever bang your head on a steel pole at 45 mph? [/B]
That is the big reason I want only a half cage, aren’t they recessed back behind your head?? I imagine the will stop most of the roof from caving in wouldn’t they? Its illegal over here to drive on the street a car with a full cage… Thanks for your input:)
yeah, but a half cage won’t stop your doors from caving in (you’d be surprised how much force a simple floor bar along the floor parallel to the door can withstand), nor will it stop the entire a-pillar/windsheild area from caving in…and if you’ve ever seen a rally car roll that didn’t have a cage in that area, you know why it’s so important. a bar behind the seats just means the car will flatten like a pancake until it gets to that point, then after that it’ll be fine.
besides, there’s plenty of aesthetic ways to disguise a cage from the prying eyes of the cops. 
I don’t disagree about the doors but its not possible for me we have to get warrant’s for our cars every 6 months they go over the complete car…
I do whoever disagree with roll bar statement, why do people put them in there if they do nothing? If you think about it, sure most of the roof in front of the bar would come down but it would come down on a angle, I doubt unless a very bad roll would it some how bend down onto the driver??:squint:
hm…that really leaves a big iffy situation…can you get away with something along the doors, welded down in the footwell or to the floor near the door? or is it a must-be that it extend nowhere in front of the driver’s seatbacks on a street car? i’d honestly just recommend going to a shop and find out EXACTLY how the law is worded, and figure out what loopholes exist for you. and believe me, there’s ALWAYS a loophole.
the autopower 4-point bar is pretty nice.