Roll-cage and weather gear

[james fillingham]

Having read various articles about 7 crashes and seen the pictures in Low Flying a roll-cage rather appeals. However, my 7 is mostly a road going toy and hence I need the flexibility of weather gear. Does weather gear exist for standard cages?

 

Also, what sort of outlay am I looking at for a roll-cage (incl fitting)?

 

James

[tony isherwood]

I have a roll cage + Hood ect. AFAIA the hood and hoops at the back are standard and fits (with a struggle, don't they all !).

 

The main problem is that when the hood is tight, the screen frame gets pulled back onto the front hoop of the cage and goes no further. This may be a good thing because I undersand if you pull to hard on the screen frame the screen can crack.

That said when the hood stretches every thing goes back to normal. My car is a 95 1400SS with at roll cage of the same vintage.

 

Giving Brooklands screens a try, so my problems with a hood may be over !

[Nick Green]

One of the interesting things about Roger Green's accident, was that he reported his crash helmet being damaged. I presume this was due to the helmet whacking the cage side bars where they passed by his head ? (Perhaps Roger could confirm this ?)

 

I've seen other discussions, either here or on the se7ens list, where this has been cited as a reason for *not* fitting a roll cage on a predominantly road car, ie one you would not normally wear a helmet in, while not on a track.

 

But then the obvious retort is that the cage is what helped to keep the passenger area of Roger's car so undamaged...

 

You pays your money, I suppose smile.gif

[Gridgway]

when doing my roadsport race last year in a very nice roadsport car (thanks roger), I spent the entire race with my head slightly to the left biffing the longitudinal member of the cage! Appalling design.

 

Graham

[felix.klauser]

If your head (helmeted or not) is in close proximity to one of the longitudinal bars of the cage then either you need a tall cage or a seat that positions you differently in the car.

[james fillingham]

Thanks for thoughts. Seems as if my options are get a roll-cage and wear a helmet everywhere (not too appealing), stay as I am with the FIA roll bar (and keep a look out for Supra drivers etc) or get a Volvo/SUV and squash then before they squash me. No easy fixes!

[felix.klauser]

Having a cage doesn't mean having to wear a helmet. It's just that there are more tubes in potential close proximity to your head; this means that ensuring that you're in the right position in the (car with respect to the cage) is all that more important.

 

A roll cage should make your car safer; if it makes it more dangerous then something else is wrong. You won't necessarily be able to drop a cage on in place of a rollover bar with no ther changes; I found that I needed a tall cage and a foam seat to position me properly away from the cage. If possible, try to find a car similar to yours with the same seat you have and the cage you're contemplating to see if you'll fit or if you need some more changes to make it all work together.

[JP]

Anyone know anything about relative weights. I have been told that the cage (roadsport) is not that much heavier than the FIA bar (due to the tubes being a smaller diameter). If the weight difference isn't that great and it's safer then the cage maybe the better option.