Cal Club Autocross Forums

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A step in the right direction for the roll bar rules. Thanks Mike.

John Coffey wrote:A step in the right direction for the roll bar rules. Thanks Mike.

What is a step in the "right direction" on the roll bar rules? I run a GP car with a roll bar and doors that have only had the glass and cardboard removed. It has a diagonal as a part of the main hoop and all of it is made of the the correct size tubing (1.5").

I meet the minimum App. C rules and at autocross speeds and venues that is all that is needed. Even if I take off the OEM doors and put cardboard on, it is still all that I or anyone would need. Side protection from what---being T-Boned in the parking lot. The last time I checked my COG and roll over angle, before I lowered it by putting in a different roll bar, the COG was 13" off the ground in the middle of the car and the roll over angle is just a bit over 60 degrees.

The Prep and Mod cars are probably the safest of all classes.

Don

Don,

Please write in with your opinion. I don't have it in front of me, but I'm pretty sure what we published was a request for comments on the subject.

Mike

Mike Simanyi wrote:Don,

Please write in with your opinion. I don't have it in front of me, but I'm pretty sure what we published was a request for comments on the subject.

Mike

Mike,

I know it was published with a request for comments. The SEB will get my comments just as soon as I can sit down and compose a more insightful opinion not just a reactionary flame.

Don

I watched an S2000 t-bone an S2000 at Nationals...

But I'd think a more likely incident would be siding a car door first into a light pole or the end of an armco. Not a common occurrence, but not one I'd like to experience with no side protection and a cardboard door.

Steve Ekstrand wrote:But I'd think a more likely incident would be siding a car door first into a light pole or the end of an armco. Not a common occurrence, but not one I'd like to experience with no side protection and a cardboard door.

You were saying?

An increase in min weight by 50-75lbs would be helpful to even things out if bars/cages become mandatory in prep & mod. The extremely low minimum weight #'s and difficulty for newer cars to reach them is the only reason my old car did not have a full cage.

Prep and mod cars with proper cages should also have a much higher re sale value since they could also be used for track days and time trials.

Appendix C in the Solo2 rule book is a mess. There are lots of phrases like:

strongly suggested
It is desirable
It is recommended

Silly, meaningless paragraphs like:

2. All welding must be of the highest possible quality with full penetration
and will be subjected to very critical inspection. Arc welding, particularly
heliarc, should be used wherever possible.

Who is doing the "very critical inspection?"

That Solo2 still allows ERW tubing a decade (at least) after Club Racing banned it.
A diagonal in the main hoop IS NOT required.
Rear main hoop braces can be any size and wall tubing.

And don't get me started on the recommendation that a roll CAGE comply with the GCR. IMHO, any roll CAGE must comply with the GCR. That is the definitive spec for full safety structures with the SCCA.

It will take a while for the Solo2 bar and cage rules to catch up with Club Racing, if ever. But some of the more egregious issues are being addressed, which is a good thing.

I feel this is an unnecessary modification to Appendix C.

For example, if a novice shows up with a street legal Caterham, he would be required to do a lot of modifications to be able to do a solo event???

Mark Huffman

I'm not convinced that a novice in a stock Caterham is someone we want flying around our courses...

Mark Huffman wrote:I feel this is an unnecessary modification to Appendix C.

For example, if a novice shows up with a street legal Caterham, he would be required to do a lot of modifications to be able to do a solo event???

Mark Huffman

I am pretty sure Rocky found a way around this rule when his daughter got a DQ at Nationals for no bar in her XPL Miata, and he won the appeal.

For example, if a novice shows up with a street legal Caterham, he would be required to do a lot of modifications to be able to do a solo event???

Assuming the current Appendix C was actually enforced then our hypothetical novice would already have to do a lot of modifications. BTW... I don't think roll bars or cages should be required in any Solo2 car - the SEB added that requirement over and above what I requested in my letter(s). But if someone does install a bar or cage, they need to meet current century build specs.

Also, the Caterham should have homologation or DOT (or its Euro equivalent) showing the roll bar/cage has met some kind of standards.