996 Cab. Rollbar Requirement for DE
 

I want to drive my 996 Cab. in PCA DE events. My car is equipped with the factory roll-over protection system, but no other form of rollbar. Does anyone know whether the PCA accepts the factor roll-over system as a rollbar for purposes of the DE rules?

It depends on your region there is no national standard. For example Zone 1 has adopted a rule on open cars.

"All open cars must have roll bars which conform to the following: With the occupant(s) firmly and correctly belted into the vehicle, the occupant(s) helmet must be below a straight line drawn between the top of the windshield and the top of the roll bar (Broomstick Test). It is further recommended that roll bar be padded in any area that may come in contact with the occupant(s) helmet."

Here's the link to the Peachstate PCA Region page that has their DE requirements:
http://platz.com/pca/peachstate/docs/DEAug01.doc

Bill: Thanks for your reply. I read the DE rules when I completed the application and sent my it along with my check to the DE event coordinator. I think I have a roll bar; it is (they are) just stowed behind the rear seats until needed. I would like to see if anyone disagrees with me before going to the trouble of showing up at the DE event. Surely someone must have considered this issue. I can't imagine the factory would have gone to the trouble of engineering and installing a roll-over protection system (i.e. rollbar) that is ineffective. Also, where do I find the name of a Peachstate Region authorized tech inspector? I would really like to have the inspection done regardless of the DE answer. Thanks again. I look forward to meeting at a Peachstate Region event.

You can try contacting the Peachstate Region Technical Chair, Don McDaniel at xselr8@prodigy.com, or the driving committe: Tom Mitchell at Thomas.Mitchell@SMS.Siemens.com or Ian Scott at idsga@bellsouth.net.

You're being wise to ask the questions regarding the rollbar. There are some in the technical community who don't consider the 996 pop-up rollbar to be suitable on the track. Others, and I suspect it's the majority, feel it's OK. So, I'd contact one of the people above to get clarification.

I'd expect they would send you a list of technical inspectors when they send you a letter acknowleging that you got into the event. If not, make that question number two for the folks listed above. If all else fails, and you're in the event, you can drive to Connecticut and I'll tech it for you :)

[ 06-24-2001: Message edited by: Bill Gregory ]

Bill: Thanks so much. Guys like you are what makes this board so helpful. Hope I can return the favor.

If you do indeed participate in the DE with the stock pop-up bars (which you should be able to do) you most likely will be requird to have a fixed rollbar before you move up more than 1-2 groups out of the beginners. In the midwest you can run stock popup bars, with the soft top up or hard top on, in the green & blue groups but before you can move into the yellow group in a cab you have to have a different rollbar (or I supose you could run with the hard top on but more weight). Porsche offers one on the German & Great Britian tequipment sites especially for the 996cab. It is just a little difficult to get it over here.