Roll Bar and Street Car

[bmwstephen]

does a roll bar (NOT roll cage) offer any safety on a street car in terms of side impact/roll over. Just of curiosity..

[FunfGan]

Why would people use them for racing?

[Cabriolet]

[jlevie]

Roll over, yes. Side protection, very little.

[bmwstephen]

Why would people use them for racing?

i don't question it's functionality and practicality for racing. If a racer were serious, they would use a cage straight up but that would require additional components like a helmet and harness.

On a street car... thats a different story because you technically can't wear a helmet while driving on public roads in a vehicle.

If anyone is curious, my brother got the vintage bmw bug. However, he is looking at e21s and 2002s because e30s in pretty good condition are damn impossible to find. Last time I checked, e21s and 02s are significantly more unsafe than e30's

[lambo]

On a street car... thats a different story because you technically can't wear a helmet while driving on public roads in a vehicle.

Why not? It's no different than wearing a helmet on a motorcycle.

[bmwstephen]

Why not? It's no different than wearing a helmet on a motorcycle.

i believe it's against the law in CA to wear anything that might obstruct your face or vision. big brother wants to be able to see you on public roads. otherwise, people can wear hats, hoods, and masks on their head all the time.

[nickflic3]

i don't question it's functionality and practicality for racing. If a racer were serious, they would use a cage straight up but that would require additional components like a helmet and harness.

On a street car... thats a different story because you technically can't wear a helmet while driving on public roads in a vehicle.

If anyone is curious, my brother got the vintage bmw bug. However, he is looking at e21s and 2002s because e30s in pretty good condition are damn impossible to find. Last time I checked, e21's and e30s are significantly more unsafe than e30's

You mean 02's?

Why not? It's no different than wearing a helmet on a motorcycle.

OP is right, you can get a ticket for that.

[bmwstephen]

^ woops. yeah 02's

[lolcantturn]

Last time I checked, e21s and 02s are significantly more unsafe than e30's

Probably shouldn't be buying a old BMW if your concern is safety.

[bmwstephen]

Probably shouldn't be buying a old BMW if your concern is safety.

probably. He is aware of the risks compared to a modern car and he is an adult so I can't lecture him about it even though I feel his driving experience isn't up to par with mine...

thought i just weighing in our options because i was actually happy to see him wanting a vintage style bimmer instead of trying to blow money on a newer one. plus it would be a sweet reason to have another weekend car I can drive on the side

[Thizzelle]

i believe it's against the law in CA to wear anything that might obstruct your face or vision. big brother wants to be able to see you on public roads. otherwise, people can wear hats, hoods, and masks on their head all the time.

so dumb to ticket someone trying to be safe with a helmet while driving. Always thought we should wear one.

[bmwstephen]

Bump for more opinions

Sent from the heavens

[Van Westervelt]

The only reason to have a bar in your car is if you are also going to be wearing a harness full time. Your head on a bar in an accident is like a melon and a baseball bat. No Bueno.

If you do a bar, which will stiffen your car up immensely and provide some roll over protection, you should have a harness bar on it, and use harnesses from day 1.

[kronus]

A roll bar won't make an 02 magically safe in all circumstances. The car was designed when other cars were about its size, and the mass difference between a 2002 and modern cars basically makes it impossible to make it "safe" no matter how much scaffolding you add.

Basically, people die when they get shaken too hard, too abruptly. In newer street cars this is protected against by careful design of crumple zones to make the car bend and decelerate slow enough to not kill its occupants.

In race cars, cages are put in for rollover and impact protection as well as chassis stiffness and resistance to racing stress. Driver harnesses, on the other hand, are put in to accomplish the sort of gradual deceleration that crumple zones accomplish in street cars. The material a harness is made from is designed to "break", stretching out while decelerating the driver.

If you were to put a full cage into a street car, you would not be making it any safer, as the cage would make the forces the driver is subject to (in the case of a side impact, for example) much stronger, as the car will deform less and absorb less energy. Race cars are generally not designed to be t-boned, and the degree of driver protection for that type of impact is actually very low.