viperbob

Porsche markets this as an extra element of safety, but don't say how much. So is it better than nothing? Probably a little. Does it meet the requirements of most santioning bodies in a racing / track situations? Nope. Don't think that Porsche ever designed this for 'Off Roading' purposes. Which in a track rollover situation would be beyond or outside the intended purpose of the unit. If it happens on the track, Porsche has no responsibility.

LVDell

Thanks for the clarification Bob. So let me pose this question then for your feedback. What if you were to put yourself in a situation on the road (not off road track situation) that would have caused a situation inducing a roll? Same level of protection (or lack thereof)??? Just trying to understand exactly what it is PAG is marketing. I have a hard time believing that if they market it as a "rollbar" and if you were to in fact roll on a normal road and it were to fail then PAG would have one serious lawsuit to pay up on.

karlooz

will you be going faster in a race than in a DE? probably.

i guess the question is do you want a rollbar that is minimal in its protection or do you want one with more protection? the TQ bar is held on by 4 bolts and has thinner guage tubing and has a smaller diameter than more "proper" roll bars. for me the issue is the mounting. the more competition i am doing (TTs, no racing...at the moment), the more protection i want so i will be installing a safety devices cage.

karlooz

does ANY manufacturer guarantee their roll bar in a collision/roll? doubt it. why would PAG be any more liable for a failure?

PAG should be marketing it as a harness bar +.

weston98

We had a GT3 rollover last November in the uphill at Lime Rock and the car had a Tequipment bar. The driver walked away. From what I understand the bar is not club race legal due to the way it mounts. That's all I know on the subject.

LVDell

Totally agree. They are then misrepresenting what its intended use is then. Should labled "Oversized Harness Bar with Rollover Bar Look"

rockitman

I would like to see some evidence of TE Roll bar failure. I don't htink there is. The way the bar is mounted is the main reason it doesn't pass PCA. They want it bolted through the floor boards with back stops ect. The tubing is plenty strong in it's welded configuration...

Bob Rouleau

Rockit - I'm with you. If Porsche puts their name on it and calls it a roll bar, that's good enough for me. A roll bar is not a substitute for a cage in racing. I've seen several photos of 996's that rolled with the TE bar and they all did their job.

Holger B

It cracks me up when I see people badmouth the TE bar. It's not designed for racing and someone can always build a sturdier version (much like any other part on the car), but referring to it as "ornamental" is very misleading.

Porsche's combination of a long & very active history in motorsports and a risk-averse corporate legal team with (unfortunately) lots of experience with the American legal system would never agree to sell their customers a rollbar that wasn't up to the task. The liability would be enormous if it didn't function properly and they're well aware of that fact (not to mention the blow to Porsche's reputation).

I'm no engineer, but the force needed to break those bolts would require you to drop the car from an airplane (that also happens to be how your seatbelt is attached). The side impact from a serious roll alone would probably wedge it in place and if a bolt sheared, the floor is 1/2" away. The thickness of the tubes combined with the cross braces would also likely withstand the forces of almost anything short of a fully loaded strip-mining dump truck rolling over on it. It's more than sufficient IMO for track events that don't involve full-blown racing. Also, I've yet to hear of a failure.

Can you get something better & stronger? Sure. Do you need it? IMO, only if you're racing...and in that case you'll need more than just a bar.

viperbob

Holger, I am not bad mouthing the Tequipment rollbar. I have sold and installed quite a few of them. The original question was are they legal for TT events. If following the sanctioning bodies rules they would not be. Are they as strong as a true rollbar that meets the requirements? Not at all. Will they afford you some sort of additional protection as without it? Probably. How much? Who knows? What you don't want is to think that you are buying a real rollbar for your car because this is not it. I applaud DE drivers that want more protection. I am sure Holger you are hitting 140ish coming down the front straight at Thunderhill and going into turn 1 at over 100 MPH. Yes we are not racing, but at these speeds anything can happen. Any additional amount of safety you put into the car can not hurt. Each driver has to decide what is right for them based upon factual info. Some people are buying HANS devices. Some want better belts. Whatever it is at least people are thinking safety.

Holger B

Bob, we're both in agreement that the TE bar offers extra protection, but not the maximum amount or what some of the organizing bodies require. Referring to it as "ornamental" implies it's equivalent to those that used to be popular in the back of pick-up trucks and make great footage for tv shows about funny videos when they roll over. Clearly, that's not the case.

Bob Rouleau

Vbob and Holger - no issues with your statements immediately above. I do object to the earlier ornamental description. For racing or even TT, I'd want a full cage. That rules out a street legal car though. I also do not want to drill holes and or weld plates to my car. The TE bar is a good compromise and like Holger, I am confident that Porsche engineers know what they are doing.

TT Surgeon

Agree with Bob.

Oak

I have seen some pics posted of a 996tt with a tequipment roll bar at the Ring and that had rolled and you can clearly see the roof line crushed in and the teq roll bar had maintained integrity. If you plan on racing you would need a roll cage.

mitch236

On another note, if you have the Techquipment bar installed when you take the car to the dealer for warrantee work and they try to say you were racing, you could easily deny that because the roll bar would not pass tech. So that's the advantage for DE.