LogicFoxX

iTrader: (2)

I figure I'd post here since my other thread wasn't getting much attention in the fab section.

Basicly goes like this, will having high shock absorbent FIA padding on a roll cage still put me into a 30 year coma if I wreck downtown somewhere on the street.

(I need a roll cage to race, but can't bare the thought of making my car too dangerous for the street.)

Thanks.

Icemark

depends on the accident.

But padding is better than just a metal bar

RX7Tuner.

It's best to have padding around the top of the cage and anywhere you/passenger can strike your head. If you have door bars with dividers, it might be helpful to pad those as well. It will make getting in and out of the car that much harder.

Just an FYI- It is dumb, stupid, dangerous, and moronic to have an unpadded roll cage without a helmet. Even a padded cage can be dangerous without one. If this car is just for the street, it is completely unecessary.

Brian

turboeric

http://www.rollbarpadding.com/home.html Dual durometer padding is what you want. SFI rated padding covered with a softer outer layer for a more progressive energy absorbtion.

ITSWILL

iTrader: (12)

IDK i could see it being pretty helpful if you got T-boned or hit in any manner.

Evil Aviator

Which racing regulations requre a roll cage but do not require padding?

You would get more attention in the Race Car Tech section if you state your racing organization and class.
https://www.rx7club.com/forumdisplay...prune=-1&f=103

Turbo II Rotor

iTrader: (2)

Only if you wear a helmet while you drive.

LogicFoxX

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the duel durometer padding suggestion turbo,
and the advice about the forums classic. (Yea, seems padding is required as I reread the safety statement)

And I do agree its dumb not to pad a roll cage.

I just wanted to know everyone's opinion because my current plan is to put in a padded roll cage.. unless someone states that it is a seriously a dumb idea to drive with a roll cage without a helmet. I really want to race... and I really want to drive that same rx on the street.

Again thanks for the posts, I'm still thinking on it

dirttracker64

I wouldnt see you having a problem daily driving it as long as you were in a harness and have a properly built cage with padding that hugs the body so your head doesnt have the potential to hit anything. Just my .02

wrankin

[note: this really belongs in the Race section, and you should do a search there because this has been posted about before]

Okay - so what organization do you want to race with? What sort of racing do you want to do? That makes a lot of difference.

I have known people who have driven their race cars to the track, but I don't know anyone who would claim that they would make a good daily driver. The 400# front springs on my FC track car would make it a miserable ride on public roads, and 400# is about as soft as you are going to find on a decent racer. Add in a low ground clearance and you'll start ripping up the nose and underbody on every little speedbump and curb.

I assume that since you are looking at a full cage you are looking to get into roadracing.

I also assume that you have a second car and will not rely upon the RX for daily transportation. If you start road racing, it is not a question of if you will wreck, but rather when. Also, things will break on the car with annoying frequency.

Bottom line is that if you properly pad everything near your head with good FIA/SFI padding (the "dual durometer" stuff looks pretty good) you should be fine, or at least as well off as in a stock car interior.

Good luck,

-bill

RX7Tuner.

I completely agree. The minute you drive a car on the track, you have to accept that there is a high likelyhood it may need to be towed off. Whether you wreck or blow a tranny, it's only a matter of time. The bottom line is, race prepped cars make terrible daily drivers.

Brian

LogicFoxX

iTrader: (2)

Okay thanks man, thats what I wanted to hear. Believe me I did search, found some threads about padding on street but none I found gave a clear answer (I miss any?) on whether or not it was safe enough to drive without a helmet. And from now on I'll post about general race questions in the race section .

You are also correct on this will not be my daily driver. I have a mountain bike and an elantra =D.

As far as organizations, thats down the line a little bit, im still at track days and working on my license.

It's just I'm building up from the bare bone chassis and prepping everything that's normally required for race (at least from what I've read so far). Building from shell up that is.

Again thanks for the info everyone and your time

Evil Aviator

Don't do that! You need to decide on an organization and class first, then build the car to the specs of that class. If you try to build the car first without regard to any particular rules, you will almost surely make a modification that is not allowed in the racing class, requiring you to either race in a different (more expensive) class, undo the modification, or start over again with a new car. Also, some safety equipment is only legal for a certain amount of time after it is manufactured, so you will probably not want to buy it until needed.

FYI if you are working an a generic racing "license" that is not affiliated with a legitimate racing organization then you are getting scammed.

dean23

i am completely un-aware of race/drag trrack regualtions, but dont you HAVE to have a cage for cars in the 10 sec or under class to race on the track? maybe im getting confused with something else.....

but i do know that you can make a 10sec car a DD.

Black91n/a

It's WAY cheaper to buy a race car rather than building one.

Evil Aviator

Yes, but the Catch-22 is that nobody ever believes that until they try to sell their race car.

Also, the majority of the people on this forum have absolutely no concept of the actual expenses involved. Remember this thread?
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/%2420k-na-fc-709675/

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

thats for drag racing.

LogicFoxX

iTrader: (2)

You know.. I'm a firm believer in you should build what you race, else you won't feel the respect for your ride that it deserves. Besides, building stuff is fun.

Yea, parting out is much better.. and more work. Sadly I already realize the money that this is going to require. 50g's is just to get it race worthy. It might take me awhile but It'll happen.

As far as race organizations, thanks for mentioning that Evil. I'll look closer into the regs.

Seems this is going to be more difficult than I thought, balancing street and race. Perhaps impossible.

**Edit**
As for license, thanks. All this is still new to me, my original thought was every race organization had a generic racing rule to have a scca approve roll cage. Opened a bigger can of worms then I intended :O, shoulda guessed wouldn't be that simple, lol.

Evil Aviator

Nah, that is bullshit. How many pro race drivers build their own car? I bet is close to zero. Besides, you will need to hire a professional mechanic or fabricator for some of the more critical or complicated items like the roll cage.

True, but some things are not fun, such as replacing the suspension bushings.

Other than autocrossing, I can't think of a class in which you would be competitive with a street car. However, if you don't care much about winning, you can just race your street car in the lower-level classes for fun. If you are not wealthy, you probably can't even race a full season anyway, so you may want to consider just driving in solo club events a few times a year. Lower-level racing costs about $1,000 per weekend, while simply hopping on the track with the local Porsche club will probably cost less than $400 per weekend.

No, and even within the SCCA there are roll cage tweaks required for certain cars. For example, the roll cage in my car is legal for SCCA IT and EP classes, but would require extensions in order to race in the SCCA SPO class. Also, vehicle weight may determine the required tube diameter and/or thickness.

LOL, yes, and no matter how much you plan out the project you will still make a few mistakes. However, you will still want to minimize the amount of mistakes by planning as well as possible.

LogicFoxX

iTrader: (2)

Maybe thats true. For me, I know I have to race something that I built. That way I know I don't have to worry about the consequences of my actions. Hard to explain.. maybe just a fault about myself.

Agreed, I'd never trust myself with forging a safety device as large as a roll cage or as complicated as welding chrome-moly.

Hmm, I'm really going to have to do more research into this.

Yea, I'm already back to the starting line. Almost made a big mistake installing a roll cage without knowing the whole deal. Thanks for the extra help again, seriously I think this has saved me from a major headache of time loss and money drain.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

actually there are a fair number of spec miata's with license plates. the only thing that technically makes them not street legal is removing the cat.

its still a bad idea to drive the race car to the track, although people do.

ive got an ex pro7 car, and due to the seat being kinda tall, the driver would actually have a hard time hitting the cage.

passenger is not so lucky, as i recall you hit cage without the accident.

but anyways my point is that if you thought about it, you probably could design a cage that isnt dangerous without the helmet.

so put that in your pipe, along with the rules of the class you'd like to run in. in NASA we have a couple classes that are points/power to weight ratio based, PT and TT. TT or time trials, arent wheel to wheel either, so you can keep the car nice