when is a cage neccessary?

[Pedigry]

Hey guys,

As the title says, when do you need a cage. I would like to get down an 1/8 or 1/4 mile track with the car. I thought I heard you needed at least as hoop cage for a car under 12 seconds but that may not be true.

Thanks.

[thedugan]

This is what I was able to see via Google. Any bar makes your backseat useless for passengers.

NHRA requires a ROLL CAGE be installed in:
Vehicles running 10.99 (6.99) or quicker or exceeding 135 mph.
A roll bar is permitted in place of a roll cage on any full-bodied vehicle with an unaltered firewall, floor, and body running between 10.00 and 10.99 (6.40 and 6.99)

IHRA. ROLL CAGE: Roll cage mandatory on all entries. On full bodied cars with an unaltered floor and firewall running 6.40 or slower in the 1/8th mile, a roll bar is permitted in place of roll cage. A minimum of a 6 point roll bar is mandatory on all convertibles running 11.00 to 13.49 1/4 mile and 8.25 or quicker 1/8 mile. A roll cage is mandatory on any entry that exceeds 135 mph. See General Regulations.

[Pedigry]

This is what I was able to see via Google. Any bar makes your backseat useless for passengers.

NHRA requires a ROLL CAGE be installed in:
Vehicles running 10.99 (6.99) or quicker or exceeding 135 mph.
A roll bar is permitted in place of a roll cage on any full-bodied vehicle with an unaltered firewall, floor, and body running between 10.00 and 10.99 (6.40 and 6.99)

IHRA. ROLL CAGE: Roll cage mandatory on all entries. On full bodied cars with an unaltered floor and firewall running 6.40 or slower in the 1/8th mile, a roll bar is permitted in place of roll cage. A minimum of a 6 point roll bar is mandatory on all convertibles running 11.00 to 13.49 1/4 mile and 8.25 or quicker 1/8 mile. A roll cage is mandatory on any entry that exceeds 135 mph. See General Regulations.


Thanks Doug!

I thought is=t was 12 seconds but looks like 11 seconds (or 135 mph) is the majic number. Most of our cars are full bodied so techinically, at least with NHRA, we would be able to run 10's. That's all my car will ever do, 9's are really tough for a street car. So I guess until I get one of those Harrop superchargers, I'll be fine with what I have. :-)

[yellow1098Greg]

I go to the track all the time and run in the mid 11’s……The track management told me exactly what was said….If i get under 11 ….a half a second faster I will need cage of some sort or they wont let me run

[68Formula]

IIRC, most tracks within an 1hr of Detroit were good until 11.5 if it was a hardtop.

On test and tune night, one guy had to shut it down before tripping the 1/4 lights. Made for some interesting E.T.s versus trap speed (11.7@ 99mph... totally believable) :). Final run for the night, he purposely stayed in it and ripped almost 11 flat. He was asked to put it right on the trailer. Another guy with our group was running 11.5X-11.6X the entire night. He kept doing back to back runs hoping to eclipse the 11.50 and get booted (saw it as a badge of honor after the 1st guy was tossed). Unfortunately he ended up overheating his clutch in the attempt. Of course, this was back in the days when 11s were considered quick. :)