Alan C.

I just picked up a Matter cage for my 993. Is anyone using one of these? I was amazed at how light it is. However, it does appear to be well made. But, then again, so is a piece of conduit tubing for the intended job.

macnewma

Sorry to sound stupid, but what exactly is a "Matter cage"? I have heard it in reference to rollcages, but is it a manufacturer, a tubing type, construction type or something else altogether?

Max

Dan Jacobs

Alan,
I just took a Matter bolt in cage out of a 964 american cup car and replaced it with a Safety Devices cage. I know Matter was an original supplier to Porsche however I would not want to test the strength of one of these aluminum cages with my noggin I love the wife and kids way too much for that. Get yourself a correctly designed steel or chrome molly cage.
Just My humble opinion
Dan Jacpbs

K964

Why would Porsche potentially put their drivers at risk? I would hope my Matter cage is adequate should I need its protection. A fair amount of Cup cars were rolled over in the Carrera Cup Series over the years, so if safety was a huge concern, Porsche would have changed the design.

ltc

I believe the Matter welded cages in Cup cars are not aluminum.
IIRC, Matter (company name) produced both OEM Cup cages and aftermarket/bolt in cages.

I thought that all US Cup cars had welded cages (then chopped out, depending on car conversion status); this is the first instance of a bolt in Matter cage in a US Cup.

(Cupcar#12 is the definitive source for this.)

FWIW, the Matter cage in my Euro Cup car passed PCA scrutineering, so I'm sure it's not aluminum. Anybody got a magnet?
K964, I'm sure yours is as well.

RedlineMan

Hey guys;

Matter cages were pretty nice units, if rather outrageously priced. I have patterned some aspects of my custom built cages after them for quite a while. I seriously doubt many of them were alloy. Perhaps on some of the factory cars, but not generic customer models, I wouldn't imagine.

I have never seen a bolt in Matter, but that doesn't mean much I guess.

Too bad their business model was not as good as their product!

ltc

John,
Nice to see you've escaped the graviatation pull of the 'Threads from Hell' elsewhere in the forum.

Dan Jacobs

The Matter cage I was referring to was a bolt in that was installed after the car was built. I believe that is the same as the one Alan C is describing. The Factory installed units are steel (though the wall thickness is very thin)
Dan J

ltc

Dan,
Thank you for the information. I didn't know that about the wall thickness

JC in NY

As Dan points out all Cup car cages are steel. The Cup car cage would not normally pass PCA tech by itself because the tubing does not meet the spec, but they are granted a waiver because they are "factory" installed. See your rulebook for details.

Alan C.

Should have stated that the cage is aluminum. The wall gauge is heavy but I know it would not compare with a steel cage in tensile and yield strength. The heavier wall will add to the amount of energy needed to achive failure but I'm not sure if they will be the same. Doubt it.