I know that US DOT does not allow roll cage/roll bar equiped vehicles to be certified which will keep the club sport option out of the US again.

Why does this restriction exist?

 

Likely because in a crash your non-helmeted head , attached to yor non-5 point harnessed body, will smash into the cage bar which crosses at the top of the windshield. This is not a good scenario.

 

Terry is right. They aren't per se banned but there is a USDOT rule which requires that the manufacturer certify that there are no sharp or hard surfaces inside the vehicle that the occupant could hit. So if they added a cage, they would need to go through the certification testing process again. Plus, pretty obvious that you would hit your head on the cage.

Stephen

 

But the cage on the clubsport option is in the rear of the cabin where there are no seats anyway... who is going to hit their head back there? What about the pop-up roll bars on my 996 cab ? is someone afraid for the person in the back seat hitting their skull on that? there is no continuity here.....let's face it; in the case of a roll-over; i would rather take my chances hitting my head on a roll bar and not get crushed rather than the alternative.

 

The point is that for the car to be legal from Porsche, Porsche would have to prove by testing that this version passes USA DOT standards. Porsche will not do that. The cost of a statistically sound test for such a few number of cars would be insane. That is why I do not expect to see the Euro seats either.

 

leif997,

Yes, big differences between a roll bar and a roll cage.

I think 'roberga' is correct the automobile with a roll bar or cage is probalby different enough from a safety engineering stand point that it becomes a new model and has to be tested accordingly. That testing cost would be passed on to each of the 1,000 units they build, darn expensive I expect. I guess you can blaim that on or country (US) where you can make a law suit over just about anything.

 

Come on, guys. Obviously, I was talking about a cage, not a roll bar behind the seat. I understood the thrust of the question to be why we can't get a car with a factory built-in safety cage like they equip the race cars. Adding a DAS bar behind the seat is no big deal. I understand you could buy the GT3RS and then put together the cage yourself. It's just that federal safety standards are created to protect an unprotected occupant from secondary impacts and a cage isn't compatible. My question is, how does RUF get away with it? They have beautifully fitted and upholstered cages in their street cars.