Roll Cages revisited
Turbo Mini Forums

As you all may or may not know I am currently building my car for track days. I have noticed that most people are option for some for of safety devices bolt in cage which mini sport sell (you cannot buy directly from safety devices without a trade account with a minimum order of 10 :( )

In your option are roll cages necessary for track days, and if so are the bolt in cages up to the job? Most of them do not seem to offer any where near the same amount of fixings to the shell as basic weld in roll cage. Nor do they seem to add any strength to the front subframe pickup points in the event of a head on shunt.

In my ramblings I am trying to ascertain how far I need to go with regards to the cage as I have just had several quotes (for miglia cage installs) all of which leave me with a lovely prepped and painted shell with a roll cage and sod all money for anything else.

So please try you best in answering the above.

Cheers

Steve

PS slumpnut where did you get your n46 cage from?

Its a personal choice really.

Many people do track days in standard road cars with no other modifications made to them.

Having stuck a car on its roof after a spot of spirited driving I was personally glad to have a cage and harnesses to hold me in place.

Weld in cages are the ultimate yes, but consider the fact that if you do happen to have a major off, then the shell and cage either all has to go in the bin and start again, or you are faced with some MAJOR shell jigging and reconstruction to save the cage. Even if you only have a relatively minor off, a weld in cage is the difference between having to spend a lot of money on jigging, panelling and painting your shell, as opposed to unbolting the cage and bolting it into another cheap donor shell.

As an example, the damage my 205 sustained when I rolled it was not too severe to look at, but when looking objectively at what it would have needed to repair that shell, it included a new boot floor, new drivers side rear quarter, a pull to the inner quarter and middle of the floor to straighten those out, a roof skin, a pair of doors, a pair of front wings, a tailgate, a rear bumper and a bonnet. This would have obviously amounted to a LOT of money even assuming I panelled and painted it myself.

As it had a bolt in cage, I bought a donor car for £300, probably recovered just over half of that by selling unwanted mechanicals and trim, and then built it up into the current car I have. Including new seats and belts the reshell stands me at just over £1100. If I was faced with repairing the old car this would be at least double that if not more.

Edited by Tom Fenton on 26th Oct, 2006.

We have a bolt in cage in the hillclimber . When I rolled it down a hill and into trees the cage did a great job. So long as the propper plates are weled to the shell for the cage to bolt to it will be fine.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

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Ben, just been looking at the pictures of your car. Where did you get your cage from?

It's an SD cage from minispares (10 years old probably). But we added a dash bar and door bard.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph