NCM
Ready to race!
- Location
- Fort Wayne, IN, USA
- Car(s)
- 2015 Golf R
Roll cages in street driven cars are always problematic. In order to protect the driver, the plane of the main hoop needs to be not too far behind the seat, but that puts the puts the driver's head close to the main hoop's vertical element at the B-pillar. In a typical US design there's also a diagonal tube running from the driver's side top corner down to the main hoop's foot on the other side, and usually a horizontal harness bar that bisects that. Sometimes there's a similar diagonal tube from the other side as well. Once you allow for the surprisingly large amount of occupant movement in a crash, that leaves a fair bit of exposed tube that needs to be padded. Steel tube is hard, your head not so much.
And that swimming pool noodle soft padding stuff isn't worth crap. You need to use SFI 45.1 approved (or equivalent FIA) high density foam padding like this: https://www.rollbarpadding.com/products/cat-1 and think very carefully about where to apply it.
Similarly, race harnesses aren't very practical for use on the street. In my track car (E36 M3, street legal but only driven to the track), once I've tightened the 6-point harness I can't even reach far enough to close the door. You also can't turn your upper torso enough to look over your shoulder.
Neil
And that swimming pool noodle soft padding stuff isn't worth crap. You need to use SFI 45.1 approved (or equivalent FIA) high density foam padding like this: https://www.rollbarpadding.com/products/cat-1 and think very carefully about where to apply it.
Similarly, race harnesses aren't very practical for use on the street. In my track car (E36 M3, street legal but only driven to the track), once I've tightened the 6-point harness I can't even reach far enough to close the door. You also can't turn your upper torso enough to look over your shoulder.
Neil
