consolidated

From Hallett, looks like T8 before the Bitch, supposedly a bolt in roll bar that pushed thru the floor, you can see the exposed tubing in the pics. Ugh. Another thread says that the driver and passenger walked away, thank goodness.

Not trying to rubberneck a scene, just useful for a novice like myself to see the limits of compromised safety components.

http://www.corner-carvers.com/forums...&postcount=139

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...vette-but.html

RickBetterley

Not exactly what we have in mind when we install a rollbar, I guess.
Glad to hear they were OK; I wonder how.

prg

I know that guy. Glad he is OK. In one photo, you can see the mounting plates have punched though the floor pan. Thats the first roll bar failure I've seen in a modern car. Sure wasn't up the the task in that incident. Although that car is dressed up like a race car, it is a street car.

I've been upside down in that very location. If you're on the pace, the car gets loose cresting the hill as you turn in for that corner. Very common place to hit the tire wall at Hallett, but I've never seen a car get through the tire wall and over the catch fence there before. He must have been hauling A$$ over the hill.

RedlineMan

Hmmm...

Can't see any of the pics from Corner Carvers. I'd sure like to be able to study that one. Lots of good info there for someone like me. It also speaks to driving within realistic limits for the equipment you have.

Anybody suddenly thinking about a REAL cage?

kurt M

Photobucket overloaded and can't see pix other than any that were pasted in. The write up had lots of info and details on motor and susp build with nothing on the safety systems. 3000+ pound car with 800 HP and a bolt in cage.

consolidated

photos are here

http://forums.themustangsource.com/s....php?p=5753663

Potomac-Greg

I've been having a debate in my head about this very issue. My car is still just a DE + street car, so a full cage makes no sense. But what's the marginal benefit of a roll bar? This incident cuts both ways. First, it shows that a modern car (let alone my 22 year old car) may not have the cajones to take a roof impact. But at the same time, it shows that a roll bar can be defeated by poor design and/or installation.

You can't doubt the efficacy of a stout, behind-the-driver roll bar (SRF, Factory Five and all open wheelers). So the moral of the story is to find the right hardware. Unfortunately, for over-the-counter roll bars, there's not a ton of scientific test results.

Hoosier_Daddy

There has been some talk in places on just this issue... how and why the tire barrier acted like a ramp instead of performing it's intended function...

consolidated

Not to mention the short steel fencing stakes, it would have been unfortunate to have flipped on top of one and kabob yourself.

Professor Helmüt Tester

Poseur rollbar, installed by idiots.

Lucky they didn't kill anyone. Don't just walk away from builder/tuners like this...RUN.

kurt M

Driver is living the rest of his life on a free play. Kept the image to show why floor mounts are worthless.

RedlineMan

WOW!

You people actually drive there? That doesn't look like a tire wall, just a pile of tires. How does anyone expect that to do anything but what it did? If you run into something soft and unsupported, you will bowl it over. With a wall behind it, if it's high enough, you'll bounce off. Unless I'm not seeing it right, that borders on criminal.

That is the worst kind of impact for a roof. Tremendous forces there. Fortunately not very common. I like the air jacks sticking down there right in front of the rear wheels.

butzip

That's what we call an 'ornamental' rollbar. Redline, you're right, that so-called tire wall is a fatality waiting to happen.... How these guys weren't is a mystery.

butzip

BTW-anything with 800hp should have a ridiculous amount of safety gear in it....

Potomac-Greg

At least the slogan makes perfect sense.