To be fair, those sort of cages are just for show.

Certainly worth paying a little more for the real deal.

Dave

 

Very true, a decent 6 point harness will do the job nicely

So, here's the list that starts with your cage;
Full cage
Proper seat
Six point harness
Belt cutter
Fire Extinguishing system
etc etc etc... Better start saving

Oh, and BTW, Ben Lovelybollox had a little bump into the armco this year as a passenger in a Golf with a cage and banged his head against the cage, luckily he was wearing a helmet (still was knocked unconcious and spent a night in hospital), imagine if he hadn't been wearing one

 

If you really can justify a roll cage then you should go the whole hog and get something which meets the regs of the RACMSA "Blue Book". However fitting just a cage into a car can actually make it more dangerous to the occupants in certain circumstances, for example by hitting the cage with your unprotected head in case of an accident. Going the whole hog means proper race seats & mounts to the floor (again make sure they are Blue Book compliant), 5 point harnesses and an approved helmet (full face if you've an aftermarket steering wheel fitted).

If you fit a cage then harnesses would be recommended over lap/shoulder belts if you use the car day to day, but they doing become a bit of a pain in the ****.

 

You're not supposed to sit on the buckle

 

That's the first time anybody has ever said that to him, ever. So I quoted you, just in case you change your mind

 

guess i'll be getting the credit card out then!!

 

Yeah, it is a bit wak but better than nowt and will stiffen things up a bit if they are on a MAJOR tight budget.

 

yup major tight budget. the car (pug 106 1.1 graduate) was bought for £75 (head gasket failure other wise solid). new engine, 1.4 xsi engine with 100bhp as standard, 5 speed box, ecu and loom was £325. Also have 206 4 stud hubs, 206 front discs and calipers, rear drums off 206 also on the way for not a lot of £££.

The car already benefits from gti spax supsension which will cover the weight and power from the 1.4 engine. He may even further upgrade the suspension at a later date.

Then it will need as people have said a proper seat and harness to accompany the cage. There's a nice set of rallye wheels waiting for it as well.

As for the scirocco - bit of a blank canvas at the moment. again it's on a tight budget. so far the idea with it is to uprate the suspension and brakes, get a 2.0 block from an audi 80, polish and port the existing 1.8 head, fit an uprated cam and add a set of webber twin 45's into the mix. Then add the racing seat, cage and harness.

 

why not use the VAG 1.8T engine?

 

needs a subframe to mount to and the scirocco hasn't got one a such. would need huge amounts of work for 180 or 225 bhp. where as doing the same amount of work but on the engine itself, it's possible to get around 200bhp with the route above. plus it won't have any turbo lag and will sound a lot better imo.

plus there's the cost involved in buying a good vag 1.8t engine. as they pretty much drop straight in a mk4 golf, the value of them holds. then when you take into account the cost of fabricating the mounting points / subframe it would probably take cost to about £800 to £1000.

the audi 80 engine can be had for £50 to £100, webbers £100 second hand, manifold to suit £60, port / polish of existing head £150 and a cam £150. so worst case about £600 and it'll drop straight in. I can use the existing gearbox until it lets go.

Still a lot to spend when i only paid £200 for the scirocco. i have got a set of ltd edition flying P pirelli wheels on it which might be sold to fund some stuff.

 

This ebay one looks purely cosmetic - it's aluminium not steel.
As a lot of people have already said, if you feel you need a cage in your track car, buy a proper one. Otherwise you'll get a false sense of security, turn the car over and the whole thing will collapse and probably be more dangerous than without it.

 

VAG 1.8T is about 185bhp a standard?...chip to 225 for £500?

 

could always start with the audi tt 225 engine instead of chipping a 180 bhp one. then chip that and a few other mods to see around 260 bhp!

now that really would need the roll cage for when the driving skills run out as well as helping the chassis cope with all the power over standard!!

but it really all comes down to funds at the end of the day!!! yes a 260 bhp scirocco would be rather cool but that would cost about £3k to build and if i was spending that much i'd buy another early spec import scooby and leave it as it is.

hoping to get the rocco done for no more than about £1000 on top of the original purchase price.

 

I presume these cars will be driven to track days and not trailered there?

If so, you are VERY stupid putting cages in, as others here have tried to point out. One sideswipe accident on the road and your head is stoved in by the B pillar downtube.

In just a 30mph side impact accident imagine what it will do. Can't? Turn it round the other way then - you stand still and get someone to swing a lump of scaffold pole at the side of your head at 30mph. What do you think will happen? You won't just then take a 400mg Ibuprofen and walk away, that's for sure. The thinnest part of the skull is the side of the temples.

Don't believe me or anyone else - just ring SD or another cage manufacturer and tell them you plan to use it on the road without a helmet and see what they say.........

 

That's just what you have to do in a rally car on the road sections of a multi venue stage rally. MSA regulations ban the wearing of crash helmets on road sections.
Mind, you do have competition seats and belts, except you tend to loosen the belts for the road sections. Bit of padding on roll cage where contact might occur too but probably not really effective.
Also many road rally cars have cages and again no helmets are allowed.
Competition seats and competition belts pulled really tight is best but I have often thought the situation of cages and no helmets is a bit dubious.
Anyway, trackcar, proper approved cage or no cage, imho.

 

Exactly - the purpose of the seemingly-stupidly large seats that wrap around the driver's head is to restrain the head from contacting the roll cage - not just to give crap visibility

I've sat in a WRC (as I'm sure loads of people on here have at motorshows etc) and - once you're harnessed in - it's impossible to move your head more than a couple of inches in any direction - let alone come near to one of the cage bars.

 

You don't need a subframe to mount a 1.8T into a VW, Wherever a 1.5L-2.0L VAG motor has been, a 1.8T will go, with Sciroccos & Mk1 Golfs it is a case of utilising the (uprated) existing engine mountings and fixing them to the new block.

BTW your Campaign wheels are only worth anything if they are genuine Mk1 items with the word Pirelli cast in relief within the wheel bolt recess, the later Mk2 & Scirocco wheels were not limited in quantity and subsequently are worth p!ss all.

 

Trouble is there is a big difference between a purpose built WRC car and a shopping trolley with a cage in, I've co-driven some rally cars where I've had to keep my head right down just to stop my helmet rattling on the cage, let alone smacking it The innocence of youth