Roll cage

[Dave]

As mentioned on bf.c could a rollbar be welded in, and a cage made out of it later on by adding onto it??

Autopower makes theirs that way. You can add on the cage kit after you get the bar.

[///meric]

im gonna end up going with a full 8 piont cage since my car will be a deticated track car soon

[IS]

On another note, to anyone but the most skilled racers, a full cage will make you slower (due to increased weight).

[Rich V]

On another note, to anyone but the most skilled racers, a full cage will make you slower (due to increased weight).

Even a skilled driver will go slower with more weight. ;)

[Irish1]

The four point Autopower bolt-in bar I put in my 99 Mustang Cobra definitely added chassis strength to that car and made it handle better. When I added the bolt-in optional cross braces it was even better. I agree that weld-in cages & bars are preferable and increase chassis rigidity and resistance to twist, but bolt in set-ups help also. Glad to see recommendations that any bar used on the street needs excellent padding so you're not smashing an unhelmetted noggin against it. There's agood thread on rollbar padding in the grmotorsports.com boards. cwbaader, thanks again for the advice you gave me when I was setting up the suspension on my 88 325is.

Cages are installed for two reasons...safety and strength. A bolt in cage will add safeness to a street driver, but it will not add strength to the car. What I mean is, a bolt in cage will not increass chassis stiffness but a weld in will....tremendously. Having been both routes, if you start with the bolt in and decide to go to a weld in, your spring rates will be wrong. basically the stiffer the car, the softer the springs. As an example, the Korman kit for the e30 uses around 900# front springs and 800-1100 progressive rears (I have a set to sell if anyone that does not have a weld in wants them). Those weights are horrible on a car with a weld in cage. They were designed to tune the chassis flex, so when you try these on a caged car, the car just skates through the turns...you must go much softer for the car to work. Good luck, Chuck