Sedan vs. Coupe - caged convenience

[djjerme]

Nascar bars are a slight bit heavier.

It also depends on cage design and if you want to have your door hollowed out. I went with X-bars in mine for a couple reasons:

1) didn't want to cut out the inside skin for the door (but I ended up doing it anyways.)
2) was concerned about being over weight limit (not a problem considering my car ended up being several hundred pounds under when finished.
3) cost (yeah, well. You get what you pay for..)

That all being said, if I did it again, I would probably do Nascar bars just because it makes a few things easier to mount (window net, roll bar padding..) and makes driver changes easier for the driver to get in and out, and assisting with belts.

[ForcedFirebird]

I LOVE nascar bars. We have them on both sides in case of being spun out over a blind hill

A team mate was T boned in another car at about 60mph and credits nascar bars for saving his legs.

NASCAR and X bars have near the same strength. Due to the bends in the NASCAR bars, they are weaker, but are further from the driver. X bars are under tension in a crash and to protrude into the driver, the a and b pillar bars would have to bend in.

I prefer NASCAR for egress and just more room in general. X bars tend to make clearance around the steering wheel very tight.

[IronFreak]

I think it really depends on what the car is going to be used for. wheel to wheel racing than yes I'd probably do nascar bars. For what I'm doing it's not needed and the x-bars are to appease the rule book.

[Wanganstyle]

Look at my thread and Kingston thread. good examples of cages in coupes and sedans. then ask me questions.

Nascar bars are lame and add weight.

I LOVE nascar bars. We have them on both sides in case of being spun out over a blind hill

A team mate was T boned in another car at about 60mph and credits nascar bars for saving his legs.

[MOTOMAN]

I have a used 6 point roll cage FS in case someone's looking for one:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?p=4244814#post4244814

[ForcedFirebird]

Not nearly so bad as a suburban does, tho...



Hmm. I'll reread for this. Current PRACTICE is that the shell doesn't get modified.... but...
that doesn't mean it's spelled out that way in the ruleset....

t

Or my Excursion v10 gasser lol.

And NASA CCR states:

15.6.12 Door Bars / Side Impact Protection
At least two (2) door bars on the driver side and one (1) door bar on the passenger side are required in all
vehicles. Note- an “X” design counts as two bars.
Unless superseded by class rules, modifications to any non-chassis structure (such as door panels, inner door
sheet metal, windows, door internals, etc.) may be made to accommodate any allowed door bar configuration.
However, removal of material and / or modifications is limited to 1) the least amount to accommodate the door
bar(s), and 2) can serve no other function. Holes in the door jamb (B-pillar) may be permitted to accommodate
door bars; however the structure should not be “notched” so as to weaken it.

[djjerme]

Toby, look at Blois' car when you see him again. Or Oliviers IIRC. Both had NASCAR bars done by Russ..

[TobyB]

Kills fuel mileage a bit

Not nearly so bad as a suburban does, tho...

Notching the b-pillar, door jambs etc are acceptable.

Hmm. I'll reread for this. Current PRACTICE is that the shell doesn't get modified.... but...
that doesn't mean it's spelled out that way in the ruleset....

t

[mbonanni]

Simple solutions to simple problems.

[ForcedFirebird]

What about a roof rack. Easy to take on and off, can carry wheels, gear etc.

works great! Kills fuel mileage a bit, but very convenient.

[jalopi]

What about a roof rack. Easy to take on and off, can carry wheels, gear etc.

somehow I glazed over this yesterday... good idea. I had tossed around the idea of building a hitch for the car for a while, but this seems like a more reasonable idea.

Though I think I'm just gonna start towing my car to the track and stop driving it there. Fuck tossing the dice anymore, I'm getting too old for that shit. Aside from that, the car is so goddamn uncomfortable and NOISY... in the meantime I'll have to make do with my ranger and a dolly, save up for a tundra or something that'll actually pull the car + a flatbed trailer

[ForcedFirebird]

I wish I lived closer to Florida, I'd come cage with you guys all the time.......it's us sick ones that enjoy that kind of frustration hahaha!

:drink:

Yeah, it's frustrating at times. Specially when you trash a $120 length of tubing because of human error lol. Just picked up a plasma cutter, hoping it will ease the door bar meets halo blues. Just takes so long with a grinder to get right, but nothing more satisfying than a nice and snug weld joint. The straight bars seem to go pretty smooth with digital/manual angle finders, many measurements and a nice sharp hole saw.

[jalopi]

Hahah dude my car is such a piece of shit, I definitely wouldn't trust it to go on a 1k mile road trip... especially since I think I've got one (or a few) ruined bearings. Turns out a HPHF oil pump + stock size oil pan cut down to 4(ish) quarts to fit around your subframe + high RPM drifting = bad combo.

[IronFreak]

I wish I lived closer to Florida, I'd come cage with you guys all the time.......it's us sick ones that enjoy that kind of frustration hahaha!

[ForcedFirebird]

Huh. I wouldn't really call that price extra hefty if all you have to do is trim the notches a little bit with a grinder then weld. Pretty reasonable IMO. Especially if you guys have a test sedan.

We do. That's the base minimum required cage with x-bars, no rear x etc. Basically what you would get with RCC.

Bring it to Omaha, we'll cage it together~

This is always the best option. Nothing like having the cage bent/welded all in the same location.