Roll Bars

[MarkSki]

Do the bars behind your seat pop out if you roll the car? Are these active bars or do they remain at the height they are at now?

 

[V Happy]

Roll bars

They are NOT active bars!!! Remain the height they are.

 

[MarkSki]

They are NOT active bars!!! Remain the height they are.

Happy thanks for the reply and the info.

 

[GizmoQ]

Do the bars behind your seat pop out if you roll the car? Are these active bars or do they remain at the height they are at now?

The roll bars are fixed. If you look close at the pics below you can see that they are welded to the upper crossbar behind the seats which, in turn, is welded to the side frame rail as well as the center lower support.

 

[MarkSki]

Thanks for the pictures Gizmo.. Question.... do you autocross with your top up or down? Or do a track day with the top down? Does SCCA consider our bars as roll bars?

Where did you get those excellent pictures?

The roll bars are fixed. If you look close at the pics below you can see that they are welded to the upper crossbar behind the seats which, in turn, is welded to the side frame rail as well as the center lower support.

 

[GizmoQ]

Thanks for the pictures Gizmo.. Question.... do you autocross with your top up or down? Or do a track day with the top down? Does SCCA consider our bars as roll bars?

Where did you get those excellent pictures?

I prefer to autocross top down. My helmet forces me to lower the seat with the top up and my sight lines are reduced. If I autocross top down, I can raise the seat and see over the side mirrors vastly improving my ability to setup for "back-ending" the cones. Unfortunately, we autocross rain or shine so I have had to do a few with the top up.

SCCA does consider our hoops as roll bars if you can pass the ruler test... one end of a ruler and bubble level are placed on the highest point of the hoop, the other end is over you sitting in your racing position with your helmet on. The top of your helmet cannot be higher than the hoop. Having said all that, I'm still a PDX novice and all available safety equipment is mandatory so I must have the top up. Maybe when I graduate to intermediate, then expert, I'll have a little more leeway. The Porsche club and a few other less regulated track day organizers will allow me to track top down, but until I'm more comfortable in the car and with the various road courses, I'll leave the top up for extra safety.

The pictures are a result of extensive research I did back in 2012 when I was trying to convince the East Coast Timing Association (ECTA) to let me qualify Elwood for 150MPH at their Ohio Mile Land Speed Racing events. The race director provisionally approved my request based on those two photos and almost 50 pages of documentation from Cadillac engineers in Detroit. Unfortunately, when we got there the guys doing tech inspections had their heads "up and locked" and the race director was nowhere to be found. After all that work they limited me to 140MPH. I still set a record that stood for 2 years, but until I'm guaranteed the higher limit I won't be back. OBTW, that upper crossbar is perfect for anchoring a 5-point harness (ECTA regs require that and a racing seat for 160MPH qualifying).

So I'm glad to share the pics, hopefully they'll benefit others as well.

 

[Crimson Pearl]

Gizmo, you're such a wealth of info!

I very much enjoy your posts.

 

[MarkSki]

I'm short and with helmet on I don't go over the bar. Now I guess it's all up to the Tech Inspection people and the group that is running the sessions such as the Alpha or Corvette or other clubs rules.

Thanks again for the pictures. I printed them out and I'm going to keep them with me to show those in command and Tech how the car is constructed under the outer skin.