I'm thinking of getting this rollbar..


It will be for my Camaro, which is a street car, but needs a rollbar to goto the local track days..

I've head some nasty horror stories and warnings about driving around with bars in your car on the street without a helmet... Would even high quality padding dramatically reduce the risk? Also, the bars would seem to be mostly behind me and the front passanger... I most liekly would take out the rear seats...

Also wondering if anyone actually has this roll bar or has a rollbar in a street car and what they do.. I talked to one ex-owner (Pat) of the bar and he said it was a PITA to bolt in and out...

 

just make sure you mount the main hoop as far away from your head as you can. mine, with the seat all the way back is just BARELY NHRA legal.

 

just curious, whats the NHRA rule? Would be pretty crappy if I wanted to goto the drag strip and own't be able to run cause of that..


I sit with my seat pulled all the way up and almost straight up though.. the joy of driving a f-bod being 5'5..

 

Hmmmmm....... I'm not impressed by the roll bar that your looking at. Check out this one: http://www.wolferacecraft.com/pages/.../fbrollbar.htm

Kurt

 

Pat is the guy who lives near Seattle, right? I was going to try to find a link I had to pictures of his AutoPower rollbar in his car, but maybe you've already talked to him? I wouldn't go this route. I found a local guy to weld in a rollbar in my car and got a very well done piece installed for $500 IIRC. That AutoPower is priced at $269.95 without the diagonal cross brace which my bar has and then you have to bolt it in, which I bet won't be easy. I'd look around and try to find a local guy who is recommended by other road racers to quote you a price on exactly what you want.

A daily driver car with a rollbar is dangerous for every day driving. That's true. It's a whole lot safer for track days though. You're going to have to judge where your greater danger is.

Regarding padding for the rollbar - no, padding for your rollbar won't do squat for you if you're not wearing a helmet. If your head hits that bar with any kind of force your skull won't come out on the winning side of that battle. I don't use the normal, cheap padding on mine though. I got the BSCI padding for my rollbar just a few weeks ago. It's better at absorbing high speed impacts that you might see on a track and is fire proof. It's more expensive, but I figured it was worth it.

http://www.rollbarpadding.com/front.html