Roll Bar and Street Car

[bmwstephen]

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.

and to my understanding, the harness is to keep your body's movements limited and within the seat at all times correct? I have heard that if you were to simply put even a half cage or bar behind your seats, somehow your body will make its way back there during an unpredictable impact. true or no true?

[kronus]

A harness keeps you in place. Your upper body is literally not supposed to be able to move if you're strapped in properly. Not so with a regular seatbelt.

[FunfGan]

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.

Wait, how is a harness going to stop you from hitting your head on a bar? Do you mean a cage, in which case a harness won't help anyway? Really, at the very least if you're going to run a roll bar, you're going to want a high backed, fixed or bucket seat.

and to my understanding, the harness is to keep your body's movements limited and within the seat at all times correct? I have heard that if you were to simply put even a half cage or bar behind your seats, somehow your body will make its way back there during an unpredictable impact. true or no true?

A cage is totally different than a "bar". Traditionally at least, a cage is terminology for a full car cage, and a bar is simply a 4 or 6 point piece that sits behind the front seats, sometimes with a diagonal bar across the door area. If were talking purely street, a cage isn't even in the equation. As I said before, a harness' isn't really "necessary"(though, if you're getting a bar, you'd probably want a harness' though), however, you do want a high backed seat to keep the back of your head from smacking the top of the main hoop. That is really your only main concern as far as a roll bar is concerned.

[bmwstephen]

^ good stuff. that pretty much sums it up.

definitely a nono on a DD

[FunfGan]

Whoops yeah, totally missed that it was purely for street protection, not opinions on how a roll bar will react/ get in the way/ cause issues on the street. I for example, daily with 5 point harness, buckets at 90 degrees and soon to have a full NASCAR spec cage, minus the A- pillar bars and front head bar. It really comes down to what you want, what you need and what you can put up with haha. Hopefully that was somewhat helpful.

[kronus]

^ do you daily that with a neck restraint system?

[FunfGan]

^ do you daily that with a neck restraint system?

Oh of course, Hans is a must.

[Jaxx_]

^ do you daily that with a neck restraint system?

i bet he also has people on the side of the highway with pitboards too. oh, and did I mention restraints bolted to the floor?


I will eventually have a full cage in the e30 and I will drive it to events without a neck restraint system, but you couldn't catch me dailying it. fuck that.

[FunfGan]

i bet he also has people on the side of the highway with pitboards too. oh, and did I mention restraints bolted to the floor?


I will eventually have a full cage in the e30 and I will drive it to events without a neck restraint system, but you couldn't catch me dailying it. fuck that.

Why not? I guess it just depends on how old/ nimble/ whatever you are, but I would have no problem stepping over the bar every time I got in/ out, especially with a quick release wheel. And naw, I'm not from Eastern Europe, my belts are bolted down at the correct angle :)

Edit: Just read full cage, fair enough.

[Jaxx_]

Why not? I guess it just depends on how old/ nimble/ whatever you are, but I would have no problem stepping over the bar every time I got in/ out, especially with a quick release wheel. And naw, I'm not from Eastern Europe, my belts are bolted down at the correct angle :)

I couldn't stand it. Maybe with other amenities, but no a/c, fixed back seat, and lack of stereo are contributing factors. Even a fixed back race seat is enough for me not to daily a car for an extended period of time.

Around town, no problem. I have to take off my wheel to get in anyway, and I think a bar would help, but meh... 22 nearly 23 and I already feel like an old man.

edit: primary concern would be safety above everything else. I can stand being warm and having to change tshirts in the summer. LOL but dailying a full cage car without a hans and helmet would be ignorant.

[SoCalKidz]

I daily a four door with a roll bar and two fixed back sparcos with five points. It's not bad for in town use but but I wouldn't take it to a out of state event. I feel safer when I'm strapped in and driving now than I felt before. But if i had the choice I wouldn't go this route again.

[kronus]

Oh of course, Hans is a must.

I was actually serious, harness + no neck restraint = you snap your neck in half, even in a 10mph contact.

[FunfGan]

Fair enough, as I said, I missed that you said full cage(i.e., your noggin is going to get bashed in during a crash, the exact reason I'm not doing a "full" cage.

But yeah, the times when I actually have access to a car, it will be my daily. No hear, no a/c, no PS, 5.0 with straight pipes, fixed back seat, cage with ladder door bar, etc etc. I do have a radio though. I need that. And honestly, It all depends on what you can bare when it comes to a dd-able car. I for instance, am just an idiot, and find joy in driving the simplest, rawest form of car.

[FunfGan]

I was actually serious, harness + no neck restraint = you snap your neck in half, even in a 10mph contact.

How so? I have never seen that happen, bar very high speed collisions. Now, I do plan on installing Hans at some point, once I start participating in hill climb and actual track events, but I've never once been warned of that danger. That is not to say it's not true, but from what I've seen and heard that's not the case. And I went into a wall at 20mph in my car, so...

[kronus]

Basically, physics. With your upper body immobilized in an upright position, your head will bend a lot further down and stress your vertebrae a lot more than if your whole body goes forward (like with regular seatbelts, which have some give before they lock). Sure, you can hope to stress your neck muscles and not have it come down far enough to cause injury, but you either crack your vertebrae or severely strain your neck muscles. Neither is fun.

This advice has been imparted on me by experienced race drivers. Neck injuries really, really suck.