spiller

Hey guys/gals,

I'm waiting to hear back from my dealer as to a price on the 996 Clubsport cage and have a few questions. I believe a few on here have fitted this and/or the RS cage to their cars?

Firstly, I was told long ago that all 996 GT3s come with mounting holes pre-drilled to fit the full bolt in cage. Can anyone confirm this? Would be nice not to have to drill into the tub for the sake of retaining originality.

Second, it is my understanding that the 997 cage bolts straight into the 996 without modifications. Truth or lies? Porsche upgraded their roll cages to fall in line with ever changing FIA homologation regs so the later cages are obviously more comprehensive. But part of me wants to stick to either the 996 or 6RS cage since mine is a 996. Would be nice to know all of the options though!

Price will probably play a roll as I'm not door to door racing but I would assume the 997 cage is more expensive...maybe I'm wrong.

JarmoL

The tub of the car is pre- drilled on Clubsport spec cars only. You have to weld reinforcements and drill holes for the mounting bolts if your car is not a CS. Also need to cut the carpets in several places.

997 cage will not fit so your options are 996 CS or RS cage if you want Porsche Oem. Heigo is a good alternative though.

I put RS cage in my car two years ago. The fit is excellent and the cage is actually pretty light as it is made of chromoly tubing.

spiller

When you say "reinforcements" do you mean mounting plates on the inside of the cabin or under the car? Do the Porsche cages come with everything needed for installation or is fabrication required? I will definitely be doing either the CS or the RS cage as I want to use Porsche parts. Where did you purchase your RS cage? Carnewal seem great with their pricing but shipping and import duties needs to be considered.

Would be great to see pics of yours if you have any. Did you get end up removing the sunvisors? Supposedly there is also a carpet that Porsche sells pre-cut to that came in the RS and CS - again not sure if this is correct but it would be nice to have an unmolested carpet to put back if the need ever arises. I don't plan on selling this car ever but it's always good to plan ahead and the 996 is getting on now, these parts may not be available in the future.

JarmoL

Yes, you need to weld the plates inside the floor, then drill through and attach the cage with three bolts per leg. From FVD: http://tinyurl.com/pk8jf37

I bought my cage second hand from Germany and also made the plates etc. myself. I don't have any pictures of the installation, sorry. I took the sunvisors out as they can't be opened with the full cage. I installed sunstrip on my windscreen though. Of course you can leave visors open all the time or buy CS/RS visors. (not cheap)

If you go with the RS cage, FVD sells alternative "racing" front section for it. It's stronger and has door bars also. http://tinyurl.com/phpxv6p
The difference between the CS and RS cage is the RS cage has attachments for the door bars and also has a second diagonal on the main roll bar. (so it's a X with welded reinforcements at the junction of the diagonals)

Keeping your carpets intact is a good idea which I considered also. Unfortunately new carpets are quite expensive so I didn't buy them at this point. For the front and main roll bar legs I cut rectangular openings with sharp kitchen knife. I marked and saved the four pieces so they can be glued back if necessary. The rear shelf carpet around the rear shock towers was little trickier. I used properly sized hole saw and cordles drill. I got nice round holes with that. (OEM CS/RS shelf carpet has rectangular holes there) I'll try to take few pictures tomorrow to show the carpet cut outs.

All in all it's a lot of work and carefull measuring is needed to ensure a good end result. So consider carefully if you really want the full cage or not..

Black 996

Stable energy has a bolt in full cage for your car
High quality

Black 996

Can also be used as a half rear roll bar

spiller

thanks for the detail, I appreciate it. I will probably not bother with the CS carpet for the rear section as I doubt the rear section of the cage will ever come out. The front half on the other hand...I tend to be a procrastinator so may not end up fitting it . Do the mounting plates on the fvd site you linked go with the rear section as well as the front section of the cage?

The additional front racing kit is nice but probably over the top for my needs, maybe if I was racing the car but in that instance this would be a stripper with a welded cage anyway!

Thanks, but i'm only considering genuine porsche parts at this stage, even though im sure there are equal or better products out there in the after market.

Kaizu

My shop installed the full CS cage to my 996 Turbo many years ago, this is highly recommended!

You get a period correct "full" cage which fits perfect (many other full cages require interior trimming etc.).

It is also relatively lightweight! (Of course, not the most safest cage, but it was still FIA-specced back then, and it's much safer than all these harness bars and Tequipment bars people use on the track!)

Do it

spiller

Do you use your car on the street with the full cage? Would like to know what's it's like for clearance with the front section in. From the pics it's looks really quite practical. I had a full cage in my previous Lotus Exige which was a PITA to get in and out of but that's not really an apples with apples comparison.

I agree about the safety aspect, big improvement over the tequipment, plus added benefit of chassis stiffness. I wonder if the RS cage is still FIA spec? I know that's why they added the extra diagonal but it's hard to believe a cage without side intrusions would qualify for FIA standard, then again our street cars have side intrusions in the doors don't they?

Kaizu

Yes I use it in the street like many my friends do with a similar cage.
It is not intrusive at all, especially compared to the newer 997 style front section which comes quite close to steering wheel.

The RS spec cage should/could be approved by FIA even nowadays, if you use the 997 style front section with the double bars. However, best to check the approval with your local racing organization, if you are into racing.

spiller

Thats good to hear, not that I daily drive it or anything. Funnily enough my dealer is telling me he cannot supply the cage as it is no longer available. Looks like it will have to be ex-Europe!

Dervish

I've recently fitted the front section of my clubsport cage and was concerned by the very light OEM padding supplied. I don't daily drive but do drive at the weekends and to and from Euro tracks. Came across this thread by 911Slow and did the exact same as him, Orange-aid SFI padding with OMP 50mm outer pad.

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-gt2-...roll-cage.html

Not the cheapest of stuff but very OEM look and much better than the thin Porsche padding.

powdrhound

The minute you install a full cage, OEM or not, you can no longer drive the car safely without a helmet. Doesn't matter whether you have padding on the bars or not, any type of an accident can be deadly if you don't have a helmet on. I still very occasionally drive my car on the street and this is the only reason I have not done a full cage. When I make the car 100% track, the CS will be my choice...

JarmoL

OEM CS cage for sale in Germany.
http://tinyurl.com/qbh229e

Kaizu

I get the point 100% but the old CS cage is not bad, if you have your seat mounted low. Have you tried that kind of car? More problems with the new 997 CS front section in my opinion.

Also, if you use harness also on street its much better. I've seen too many difficult roll overs with these 996's with only half cage on track....You are risking too much on track without full cage if you are driving competitively. You won't lose the car on a low speed corner but could do so in a fast speed corner. I would think about the probabilities. Better to take a minimal risk on the street (with low mounted seat and 6-point harness it's minimal, but of course it's there) with your amount of competitive track driving.