Roll Cage Legality
 

When i get an FC i would like to put a full cage in for track days and the like. So the question i have is, it legal to drive on the street with a full cage in your car?

Not sure if its legal, but it is not particularly safe on the street. Those hard rolled bars near your head and body can hurt if you don't have multi point seat belts and a helmet.

I had a head on accident once in one of my FC and my limbs and torso were flying all over the place. Got some decent bruises.

fwiw, a close friend of mine rolled his FC one night. We were on the street screwing around when we were younger and dumber and the right rear suspension broke doing 120 MPH in a long sweeper. He took out 2 telephone posts and proceeded to roll 5-6 times. The car held up well. The top wasn't crushed too badly at the B pillars. He walked away with nothing but a few scratches from broken glass flying around.

with the full cage i would have multi point belts. i have heard that most instructors refuse to get into a car with multi points without a cage. what other options are there half cage? for the most part the car is going to be a fun car driven occasionally and a track whore, you think its still plausable to have the cage?

is there a true need for the cage or do you just want it? If you're going to be driving it on the street moreso than the track i'd pass on the cage

I'm no expert but I personally would not.

Probably the most I would do is some kind of bolt in roll bar like an Autopower. I would of course research it first and see how close it would come to my head before installing it.

What is your experience level? What run group do you normally track in?

Just put a main bar and rear bars at most some door bars. Stay away from a halo in a street car. multipoint harness or not your melon will hit it and kill you on the street....shame to die from a minor 10mph fender bender

i have little to no experience on track.

In that case I would recommend going for a roll-bar (main hoop, diagonal and rearward bracing) rather than a full cage. Since you aren't going to go door-to-door (at least not initially) a full cage is overkill. A good bar will get you some additional roll-over protection, give you a safe mounting point for harnesses and be perfectly fine to run around on the street with.

Of course, you don't need any of this for HPDE/PDXs. You may consider focusing on getting the car to the track and doing a weekend before you go down this slippary slope. Take a look around and see what other people are running.

I am impressed that you are having this conversation on safety before going to the track (rather than the normal "how do I make my car faster for the track" :D ).

Good luck,

-bill

I know locally you are not allowed to wear a harness on the street. Even if you are wearing your factory seatbelt and have the harness over it you will get a ticket.

Read up on your local laws but personally I agree with these other guys saying that a roll bar is a better idea.

thanks then. im more along the lines of the old SCCA sayings "make it stop, make it turn, then make it fast"

I never drive cars on the street with a Full roll cage but a standard 4 point rear only cage is nice if you race in the street.
Out here in cali I haven't been in a car that got pulled over for having a full cage in it yet but it will attract attention.
Have your rear window limo tinted if you want to hide it.

If your going to run a full cage make sure you pad your bars with foam padding. This will help a bit if you do decide to hit your head/helmet against your bars.

Wear your standard seatbelt on the streets and a harness on the track.