Considering this option as I begin to finish up the car. I know glen here used TC Design for a custom half cage. Anyone else have any experience with local shops? Hell I've looked at auto power too but I think for protection, customs gonna be the way to go.

 

CHeck some of the offroad shops, They make cages for pro rock buggies, our subaru should be easy.

Arabia's offroad is one I can recommend. They did the cage in the jeep.

 

I have used TC in the past for a couple cars full cage. They were awesome... However, I went down there about a year ago to help deliver a buddies bmw that was getting a rear subframe fix... I was walking around their shop looking at their current work and it seemed sloppy.


They used to build their cages tucked up nice and close to the internal of the cab... Contoured nicely...

The ones I saw had giant gaps etc etc etc...

The last thing you want when you need a cage is for a big gap for something to hook on and grab or rip...

This is not to say they do a bad job and you should specify what you expect. You could always take a drive down to SoCal and have Mike of autopower weld you up one custom.

 

Just give TC a call. I hear they're pretty reasonable with the prices. I was going to go to them for my miata, but since its being built all in house i decided not too

 

Tony quoted me at 1200-1500

 

you might as well do a full cage. And then buy a diesel and a open trailer

 

Eh. Purpose is so it can be street driven still. I don't plan to wear harnesses or helmet every where I go lol

 

So can someone explain the purpose behind a half cage? I am not being factitious. I feel like if someone goes through the trouble and cost of caging a car...cage the whole bloody thing to get the full benefit of the process.

I am not an engineer (so please correct me if I am wrong) but I feel like having the rear of the car that much more structurally rigid than the front half would just be weird handling and/or driving feeling wise. Plus the car won't really be really practical anyway (cannot have passengers, recline the seat, carry stuff inside, etc).

Plus Hide this isn't your only car now. Is this not what the Focus is for?

 

I had TC put a half cage in my wagon. They did a great job. Made some boxes in structurally rigid spots and contoured the bars beautifully around the car. The half cage is a great foundation to go full cage someday if I want to. They were easy to communicate with and were on time, would recommend for sure. FWIW, every track day I attend I see some work by TC in high end BMW and Porsche.

 

Because of this. I don't work in a shop I don't own a shop. It'll be very difficult to even be competitive in Limited or Unlimited.

 

I really don't like roll cages in street cars.
A role cage is designed to be used in conjunction with a helmet. Smashing your head on a roll cage tube in an accident will do far more damage to your body than you can imagine.

Before someone starts talking about foam... yes foam will help. But ask yourself: would you want to run head first into a sign post wrapped in 1/2" of foam at 40 MPH?

 

Hence half would be in theory the best of both worlds. I can street drive it yet have somewhat of roll over protection. I mean I've seen some ****ed up Miatas with hard dogs installed and it does the job in protecting the noggin as long as you pass the broom stick.

 

Oh - so you're talking about keeping the hoop behind the seat backs.
Gotcha.
Too many years working with Road Racers...

 

Do it. Mine cost ~1200 with gussets and a passenger seat mount.

 

I have seen a ****load of car crashes...and Heedz, you will see a bunch too. I have yet to see one where some one came out of their seat enough (with a seatbelt) to hit the roof area.

I have also seen quite a few roll overs up on skyline, where the car was caged, and there was no head to cage impact...

I don't really know where this theory all came from.

I certainly wouldn't run a cage unless I had a 5 point harness and decent seats, just to make sure, and I'd pad the bars closest to the head in case there WAS deformation of the cage upon an impact. But the fact is, if your impact is going to crush a well designed cage, it would have killed you with out the cage...

This above of course is my opinion based upon my own experiences and should just be taken as an FYI and not fact.