Bolt-in roll bar gone bad

[Darren]

I know we were all impressed how well Nick's Das Sport bar did in his accident.

Here's the results of an Autopower bolt-in bar.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/autocros...e-but.html

Amazingly the forums are reporting that both of the people in this car are ok.  Looking at the pics that's very difficult to believe!

The main difference here is that the Das Sport bar bolts to the seat belt mounting points which are very strong.  The Autopower bar has a mounting plate at the bottom, a mounting plate that goes under the car, and those two are sandwiched together with several bolts.  Turns out that's not so strong!

If you have a bar like that, time to ditch it and here is the proof!  I think (not sure) that Porsche a-pillars are much stronger, it's rare to see instances where they have collapsed.

[betegh9]

The angle of the A pillars in the Mustangs are raked for good aerodynamics , but a load from above, or the ground upside down is very weak. That car actually looks better now than with the top......... Just look how aerodynamic it is now without a windshield. .......... When I see a cage or a roll bar in a car, the first thing I do, is to look where the bars are secured. I don't know why anyone bothers to buy Autopower bars, they ALL secure to the floor pan that is less than 1/16" sheet metal. I knew that the bar would punch thru the floor and allow the roof to collapse. Those guys are lucky to be alive, but too bumb to know the difference.
I have a Safety Devices rollbar that is secured to the sills where the main structure of the car is...... I call it the BOX beam.

[AMoore]

I cannot believe such an application would be approved by whatever governing body is responsible for such things.  Talk about a false sense of security.

 

 

[Darren]

It is pretty unbelievable.  We had a cage like this in the Integra before it had a custom welded-in rollcage.  For performance reasons alone I've learned that a custom cage is way faster than a bolt-in one, it adds a ton of rigidity.  Additionally that rigidity is also what protects you in a wreck!

There are tons of cheap racecars out there and I'd love to see more DE guys in the white and black group start running full cage dedicated racecars rather than dual/purpose street/cars.