Austarion

Hi all,
i have been offered an alloy roll cage for the starion.
question i have is would this hold up as well as a normal(steel?) cage in roll/crash??
its only for trackdays etc, not competition.
your help would be great, cheers, Dave :beer

Will be a lot lighter and structural strength should be similar. Full cage?

Im doing Alloy in mine too! the cage i got is high tensile alloy and is BLOODY
hard to bend, so should be ok! I reckon go for it bro, any additional protection is always worth the effort :beer

Silas

silo wrote:Im doing Alloy in mine too! the cage i got is high tensile alloy and is BLOODY
hard to bend, so should be ok! I reckon go for it bro, any additional protection is always worth the effort :beer

Silas

If you plan on entering C A M S events I would check the current rules as i don't think alloy is acceptable

it wont be entering any competitive races, just trackdays.
Dave

My two cents worth:
Steer clear of anything that's not approved by your local governing motorsport body, even if it is only for trackdays.
An interesting snippet I found out when doing my cage was that (in AUS) the person who fits/manufactures the cage to the car is ultimately responsible for the performance of the cage FOREVER.
In this time of litigation, tread carefully and don't cut corners on this one. If it's only trackdays then it may be better not to have a cage rather than an unapproved one.
:beer

The only materials approved for roll cages is an106b cold drawn seamless steel tube or 4130 chrome molly, with an OD of 44.5 for all main frames and 33 mm can be used for bracing provided its not bent otherwise 44.5 has to be used. The wall thickness has to be greater than 2.7mm and all bars from the drivers waste line forward and shoulders high must be covered in (min) 17mm high-density foam. Intrusion bars are not road legal. This info was given to me when I did my first roll cage by an automotive engineer. If the above materials or sizes are not used and a sample provided to the engineer for mod plating, than the car can not be rego'd or driven legally on the street, which means a trailer for track days. A cams spec race cage minus intrusion bars can be used on a street car.


I’m in aus so UK rules may differ

This may sound weird but here in Aus a few club day drivers have come unstuck with cages fitted and only the standard slap/sash seatbelts. A few rollovers with this combination saw the drivers suffer a head bangs and other limb damage from being thrown around and smacking the cage. Even the padding didnt prevent this.

Fitting a cage also means you ought to be going with a 4 or 5 point harness and that adds then another dimension to road legality.(here in Aus they are illegal on street driven cars.)

My opinion, steer clear of any unapproved cage and if you do fit one do the whole package as mentioned previously. That said, I have a dedicated track use Starion thats trailered to the circuit and its fitted with a full cage, harness bar and it adds heaps to the chassis rigidity. :D

WANTSOM wrote: Fitting a cage also means you ought to be going with a 4 or 5 point harness and that adds then another dimension to road legality.(here in Aus they are illegal on street driven cars.)
:D

I was given the option of using std seat belts only or remove std belts and use my 5 point harness. I could legally use either but could only have one installed - QLD 3 years ago?

Harnesses are legal provided the factory seat belt is removed; the 4/5-point only has 50mm webbing and the anchor points meet the requirements of an automotive engineer. If you have and questions or queries a 5 min phone call can save you allot of wasted time money, possible finds and a defective car.

If you call up your local cams office or cams inspector, most of them will be happy to send you a rulebook. Most of the mounting requirements are stated in the book and if you cross reference the information with an automotive engineer you should be able to come up with a solution for your role cage/harness's/ seats etc.

harnesses are illegal to use wholly and solely in any car that was originally fitted with retractable seatbelts, as retractable seatbelts are an ADR requirement. this info was provided to me by john keen of light vehicle certification in brisbane. so basically what you do is u wear your stock belts on the street, and you can wear your harness over the top...

any mod plate for a harness in a car originally equipped with retractables is illegal unless the harnesses are reatractable type (which are available)

sounds right, the harness I had was in a 68 val ute which did not have seat belts. I had installed retractables and had mod plate for harnesses as well.

cars in the UK are not restricted regarding rollcages for MOTs(road test),
and i allready have 4 point harnesses fitted, so i will be well secure in the seat= there is no way i would drive my car on track with just a standard belt :o

A lot of people use clip-in belts so they can remove them when driving on the road, clearly this is a solution for road going vehicles that get driven on the track.

What style roll cage (4-6-8 piont) is best and how much would it cost?