Autopower street cage?

[Elephant]

Ah, right. Matt makes a good point about welding it in and them basically trashing it to remove it. I didn't consider that perspective (the cage in my car is not very good so trashing it was no issue).

I don't really agree that bolted is as good as welded though, welding it in will dramatically increase any stiffness added. However, despite this, I would side with Matt on bolting it such that is of value later if you decide to put in a full cage.

One thing I've learned from this stuff, you don't always get what you pay for but I think the reputation of The Racer's Market is one where that is not the case....meaning, to be clear, you will get what you pay for and though it costs more, the value is there.

Cheers.

[Dave]

Kirk makes a good product, IMHO. Mine fit very well and was easy to install in a 4 door. I did it myself and did not need any extra hands.

Don't forget that VSR also makes a nice bar as well.

Not trying to steer you away from matt, just letting you know the other options out there.

Whatever you end up getting, make sure you get proper harnesses and proper padding - none of that pool noodle looking stuff. Get the Dense SFI rated padding.

[Elephant]

Personally, I have no experience with Kirk but I have friends down that way who have said they do good work. Sorry, I should point that out before referring someone there.

Cheers.

[matt]

I don't really agree that bolted is as good as welded though, welding it in will dramatically increase any stiffness added.

Definitely agree. But for a 4 point bar, I don't think it's worth the hassle or expense.

Thanks for the kind words.

[1990m3]

I was interested in Matt's bar as well as it looked like a well thought out product. But time being of the essence for me I went with a VSR bar. I'll be putting it in next week and I'm pretty excited. I picked it up pre-owned but there are 4 other people in my region with this bar and the fit and finish of it is first class.

It doesn't really matter for this thread, but I'll be welding it into my track dedicated 318is. I'm quite excited to see how it all goes together.

[JGood]

I have an autopower bar, and with a full stock interior (required for me to stay in DSP), it fits about as good as it needs to. Maybe a 1/2" here or there would make it better, but realistically, if you find a good deal I see no reason not to use it. It has curved foot plates for the wheel wells, nice plates for the bottom side, and several configuration options.

[Mike B.]

I used an Autopower main hoop as a start for my 4-pt in the 318is. I welded in the main hoop and rear legs, but used a bolt-in diagonal and harness bar to keep access to the back seat to transport items to an from the track. The fit of the main hoop is pretty good. Tight to the headliner (sunroof car) and the B-pillar.

I also picked up the front legs in case I decide to do some racing in the future.

[Elephant]

BTW, the reason I made that rather blunt and blanket statement about Autopower being crap is because my first race car came with a bolt in Autopower cage in it. A bolt in cage is only going to be so good because of bolted joints period, that has nothing to do with Autopower although the McMahan bolt ins do seem to be quite a bit better.

Anyway, I remember the first several months I did many track events (was working to get my license) pretty much as the car sat. Then over the winter I took out the bolt in cage to have a custom welded cage installed. I knew when I bought the car I was going welded partly due to performance and partly due to safety. But man I'm telling you, what a performance difference there was. I recall jacking up the car at the frame rail to raise a whole said. With the AP cage the doors would stick, you could tell the chassis was tweaking under the stress of the jacking.

Then in the spring after the new cage was installed (8pt custom, I designed it myself) I was doing similar work. I managed to get 3 corners of the car off the ground at the same time so I did the door test. They opened and closed as if it were on flat ground. No sticking, nothing. That is a notable performance gain. At the very least this allows the suspension to be more efficient meaning one could run lighter springs to achieve the same effective spring rate.

Anyway, I'm not a fan of bolt in by any means but I have seen that at least McMahan's bolt ins are better than AP's. A low cost basic welded in cage will still be better than bolted, especially in a chassis whose design is over 25 years old, not to mention actual life usage.

Cheers.

[nefarious7907]

You guys think it would be safer, even with stock seats and belts? I would think harnesses at a minimum, I can't imagine the pain involved with my head smacking off a bar at 50g's... Which isn't out of the question if you get rear ended.

Your head hitting anything if you get rear ended when the other car is going 30-50mph and your stopped is going to kill you, it doesnt take a roll bar to kill you.

You dont have to have a dedicated track car to have a roll cage.

If you want a roll cage then by all mean go buy a roll cage.

I will be lucky to race my car on a real road course/coarse maybe twice a year but I will still daily drive it. But thats not going to stop me from turboing my car and putting a full cage in it. Are they going to slap me on the wrist when I go to the track and I tell them I drive it daily, and they see that I still have a full stereo in my car? No one is going to care.

[Fidhle007]

Coming from a background of driving volvo 240s, the Autopower bar without and cross pieces (just main hoop and rear legs) intrigues me simply from a rollover safety standpoint. That said though, no one plans on rolling over and if I'm going to go through time and effort to install a bar it might as well give me some performance gains as well I suppose.