Has anyone rolled a teener? Or know of the results of a hard roller? Does the stock roll bar hold up w/Targa in place? Or does it flatten... ?
Jared

Ask Leif Garrett....

He rolled his down an embankment in the '70's. He and the passenger survived obviously, although the passenger was permanently paralyzed.

Joy..Im 6/3..I feel so safe now..
Jared

Are you worried about rolling it on the street or the track? They are very hard to roll generally being that they are wide in proportion to their length and have a very low center of gravity.

Only one semi-personal experiance. One of my better freinds bought one back in the early eightys ( I was in my Vega stage! ) He had it less that a month and rolled it on negitive camber on ramp connecting HWY 405 to I 90 here in Seattle He wasnt wareing a seat belt and was thrown from the car.Spent some time in Harborview but was generally OK.
Car was a write off.

search some of the older posts on this BBS. there was at least one thread about roll-overs. (with pictures ...)

seems like the original Targa-Bar holds up pretty well.
at 6/3, you might want to consider bolting the seats directly to the floor

Andy

here's one that held up pretty good

I'm around 6'3" so this is yet another reason I'm installing my full cage. It's 1 1/2 in dom .120 tubing so it should take quite a bit to crush the roof in. Its also triangulated decently. I was originally getting it for the way people drive around here so I could have door bars.

John

There are photos of a several 914 rollovers and other accidents on my collectibles website at the link below.

Hmm...would you guys suggest putting a cage in for weekly autocross excursions? Because not only the safety factor, but also the added stiffness. Anyone know the going rate for a professional cage...that still gives access to a passenger...Also, are there any companies producing bolt in cages for the 914?
Jared

ask Tony C. (he's here on the board).

http://www.tcdesignfab.com/

he did my cage, i don't know the current rates, but it'll be between $1500 and $2000 i think, depending on the type of cage.

i'm not a fan of bolt-in cages, just doesn't seem to be right ...

Andy

I cartwheeled a 914 end over end 3 times about 10 years ago doing about 80 without a cage.. Luckily it never landed on the roof. Hate to think what it would have looked like if it had. There was nothing that was not bent including the rear firewall that had a 3" Z in it. Stripped it and cut it in half with a sawzall.
I would have to think long and hard about driving a 914 on the street with a cage. With almost any type of cage there is not a lot of room in the cockpit. If you add a diagonal brace there's even less room.
A race car has a cage for safety. By the time you put in a cage you already have a race seat and 5 point harness. The cage should have foam type insulation anywhere there's a possibility of coming in contact with the cage. You're also wearing a helmet. Together it makes a safety system. Not true in a street car.
As far as NASCAR type door supports for the street is a bad idea. With that type of support you have a gutted door with no window to make room for the bracing. Also makes in a real PIA trying to get in and out, not something you'd want in a daily driver.

Dates aren't good in a car with cages...kinda get in the way, ya know?!

Yea, but they make the use of handcuffs very easy

I'm putting a cage in my street/auto-x/track car...to me, I see the cage as a stiffening and safety item from the standpoint that these cars have seen a lot of use and abuse and are no longer as strong as when brand new.

I'd rather suffer a broken leg than getting squished if I plowed into something hard enough to collapse the car in half. This is a weak point of the cars, even more so if driven with the top removed.

If one is that worried about saftey, maybe a 914 is not the correct car to have for the street

Do you think Tony C could do a cage in a Hummer? I'd feel safe in one of those if it had a good cage.

What is the safety rating of those? I wouldn't be too surprised if they did not get the highest rating....

You could probably drive right over a 914 and not even know it.

boy this is a big can of worms.

1st, regarding roll overs. The mere few I've seen are not a statistically important number. Just the same they are pretty sobering. A couple of friends were playing on the track and got too close. Both were in NICE original 2.0/6's. When car number 2 hit the rear of car number 1, (while entering a 50mph right hander) it drove up over the fender and literally barell rolled 180, flew over the top and landed on the passenger side roof.
Another friend of mine (liz) was supposed to be in the passenger seat getting an instruction ride at the time. Thank god she was late to grid, becaue the passenger side targa bar was flattened to the dash-level. The car #2 bounced off of the roof and did another 180 and finally landed on its wheels. The chassis was totaled.

2nd, and this is just my opinion... but I too think roll bars are a bad idea (generally) for the street. people die when they hit their heads on hard things. Seat belts stretch when they get old. (sanctioning bodies require regular replacement of belts that are a lot sturdier than stock) I recently heard a figure mentioned for how much a shoulder belt stretched in a certain G impact. I don't remember the figure, but it was surprising. Also surprising was the increased amount of stretch in a 3 year old belt.
I think a cage on the street with a race seat and proper belts is one thing. A cage on the street with stock belts and a stock seat, is just putting more hard things within reach of your head. So for the general public I don't think its a good idea.

brant

Going to have to tell my girlfriend to squeeze closer...cage will go in sooner or later..
Jared

Yes, but after running over the poor 914 would you spill your double-mocha-frothy-non-fat-with-a-splash-of-orange-rind-cappichino???

That is the most important question to ask the dealer???
LOL

Seriously, though, the Hummer was rated #1 for customer DISsatisfaction by J D Powers. And guess what the #1 complaint was from new owners? Get this--- POOR GAS MILEAGE!!! what the fuck did they expect? About the only transportation with worse mileage is a cruise ship for chrissake!!! And also interesting, #2 for customer dissatisfaction - Mini Cooper. Too many little glitches. Car went to market before it was really sorted out.

well.....my dad does work for the army, and they were doing humvee testung stuff.... so occasionally he brought home the humvee (milspec)...i drove it. will out turn a 914 (radius wise) extremely loud, feels like your riding on 800,000 pound springs...etc. totallty purpose built. in the "war on terror", some marines rolled one and got MESSED UP. no seatbelts etc...

and mike z, the H-2 is just a "super duper suburban....." starbucks anyone?

it shouldnt have been released to the public...."its too ruff, gas mileage sucks, there is no cupholder...." the complaining continues....

for a street car, it is just a status symbol! duh, does the thing look comfortable? NO!!!! will it go farther and higher and outperform your stock jeep wrangler? YES!!!!! the people who buy them are just a bunch of rich snobs.....


but the milspec one on the other hand......that is pita for city driving, park it for an hour and you got flatspots on your wheels!

Not a Fan of the H2, but large as I am, it might be a viable vehicle someday for me.

Milspec Hummers, or even Hummer 1's, Not to shabby machines. Less room inside that I expected. Honestly, if you wanted a hummer I'd buy this guys bummer....

http://www.kitcars.com/Classifieds/AdDetai...ssified_id=2110

Strangly enough, I kinda like that ride. Its missing something though.. a pintle mounted machinegun for roadrage I think...

anyone seen the wombat? aka the HUMBUG, kit car w/ a VW type 1 engine and a tube frame! good stuff....

WOMBAT.....must see

interesting, would be fun w/ 4x4

if you dont see for yourself...its FUGLEE!!!!

My buddy is a Sgt. in the Army and he said the Hummer is pretty tough. One was getting moved by a chopper and he estimates was about 25ft. up and the cable snapped. All that happened was the windows shattered, got in and drove it off.

All M998s came issued with seatbelts (lap type) for driver and any passenger seats. They have since been retrofitted with a inertia reel shoulder harness type belt. Open troop carriers (solders in the back) do not have belts - but neither have any of the predecessor vehicles: 900 series cargos, 2 1/2 ton trucks or the FMTV series.

It's pretty damned hard to roll a military HMMWV. Sounds like the alleged accident (combined with lack of seatbelt use) was caused by some signficant negligence.

-Rusty