Best 6 point cage

[austenjm90]

I'm looking at getting a 6 point rollcage for an e30, gonna weld it in myself. Just wondering if anyone has had experience with kirk racing, rollcagecomponents, or autopower. Im leaning towards kirk or rollcagecomponents at the moment. Are there any advantages/disadvantages i should know about? I done some searching but it is difficult to find information comparing these cages. Thanks!

[DIIRTY-30]

Don't skimp on things when it comes to a cage if your actually gonna use it.

If its just for show then nevermind.

[austenjm90]

It's not for show, it will be for track use. Ill be able to weld it perfectly fine, im just asking more about how well these cages fit and if there are any i should stay away from.

[ddavidv]

I bought the Kirk non-NASCAR style kit for mine. I have some opinions.

Plus: What came fit well (we did two cars, both fit fine). Price really wasn't any worse than what we could have made it ourselves, but the bends were done so we didn't have to screw with that. Nice folks to work with.

Minus: not Kirk's fault, but we didn't realize it is just a few bent pieces of tubing and some straight bits. Nothing is chamfered, so you'll need to cut and chamfer all the ends, which is a lot of work. The rear down tubes connect to the body in what I think is kind of a stupid place. We made longer ones that we welded adjacent to the shock towers. No footwell protection, which is needed on these cars, but is easy enough to add.

Overall: Okay for the price and fit well, but not a simple DIY project.

I've seen Autopower bars and cages, usually bolt-ins, and they can be improved upon. Okay for the money, but I wouldn't buy one.

Never heard of rollcagecomponents, so no opinion.

I had a Safety Devices roll bar in my Audi that fit like a glove and was really nicely made, but it cost a treat, having to come from the UK. It was the only pre-made one for my car, so I didn't have a choice unless I wanted to build my own, and this was pre-welding in my life.

[Thing30]

I am in the same boat. Here are some photos rollcagecomponents sent me. Haven't pulled the trigger yet


I asked if they can extend the bars to the rear towers, they said it wouldn't be a problem

[TobyB]

Kirk, based on those pics... That upper 'halo' design, in particular, will get you into
trouble at an SCCA- rules based event.

and if you have a 2- door, the Nascar bars sure are nice compared to the X.

but I paid someone else to cage mine.

t

[jlevie]

My first race car (that got wrecked) and it's successor have had Kirk cages. They fit very well and are pushed out as far as possible. The first had X-bars for door protection, but I had NASCAR bars used on the second cage, which are a huge improvement.

Kirk ships the components slightly long so they can be notched for a perfect fit up. Myself and a friend with cage building experience installed the first cage, but I took the car to Kirk for the second. Mark knows what he is doing and second car came out better.

@ddavidv, the rear down tubes were supposed to terminate in the trunk over the upper mounts of the rear springs. That is where the rear suspension loads concentrate.

[e30_302]

RCC cage in our Lemons car, no complaints. Rear stays on ours go to the shock towers. Get the NASCAR bars for the driver side for sure.

[TobyB]

If you're over about 5'4", you'll have a hard time getting Nascar bars into a 4- door.

One of the best reasons to run a 2- door. That, and the pillar doesn't end up
making your blind spot bigger.

t

[austenjm90]

Thanks for the responces, this is a huge help in looking at rollcages. I like the fact the RCC cage comes notched.

@TobyB, how could that upper halo be changed on the rcc cage for scca events?

[jlevie]

I don't know the SCCA rules, but I have my own problems with the RCC cage. The halo bar, cross brace, and rear braces need to all meet at the same point on the main hoop. The rear braces need to go through the rear bulkhead and terminate above the rear springs. The fender wells aren't strong enough.

The cage also needs foot protection and a dash bar.

One doesn't fully appreciate cage design/construction until they have experienced a high speed car destroying accident. After that you get real picky about the cage (and seat, harnesses, etc).

[TobyB]

Jim pretty much said it-
the SCCA wants the 2 side bars to be one piece from the floor to the main (rear) hoop.
They DO have halo language, but I don't think they allow the misalignment Jim notes.
It's very dense, but the GCR is on www.scca.org under club racing, cars and rules.
Look at the ITB cage rules- they're a good 'more than a street car' minimum standard.

hth

t