QUOTE(Eric_Shea @ Jan 3 2008, 08:10 PM)
QUOTE
i looked at the wreck the next day and found his eyebrow (yes, the whole eyebrow!) stuck on the passanger(!) side b-pillar!
Did you give it back to him?
I'm with a "PROPERLY" padded cage. Please keep in mind, that does not mean the JPB pool toys (sorry Jean Paul)
Seriously... one MUST use proper padding.
Eyebrow's??? on the B- Pillar? What the?
I have seen lip kisses on airbags, mascara brushes stuck through sun visors and in eyes(yes eyeballs), toes severed in pedal clusters, hair and face portraits in windshields.........but never an eyebrow?? Then again anything is possible......I thought I have seen it all in my current day job after I left the restoration industry.
Add on to Eric's:
I have to support a properly padded cage is safer in impacts, roll over’s especially. Side impacts are another story. If you are running triple NASCAR side bars with door skins and hollowed out door shells they are by far safer because everything hard is a lot farther away from limbs and torso.
Let’s think about this for a minute. Whether a 30 year old Porsche or even a modern car what do they both have in common? Padded interiors (dash pads, door panels, targa trim, etc). Properly padded cage has the same thing. What’s the difference? Not much, principle is the same, except hard stuff is now closer.
What does make a difference is clearance of the main loop, vertical bars and side bars to the driver and passenger's head, neck, arms and legs. With a cage these are obviously in closer proximity and if not properly padded will hurt you. The other item with an overhead hoop is a helmet. All of the sanctioning bodies specify a distance required from the drivers head. With a 5 point harness the torso is not going to move, only the limbs tend to get loose, nets keep those from getting outside the vehicle. Open wheel cars require arm restraints (tethers)
All the newer FIA approved seats have seat "head wings" for neck protection and can be adapted to a HAN's device. Ok we know race cars are safer now.
On a street car without a helmet. Without a helmet you have even more room over the top of the head to the cage hoop. If no cage or loop the roof may collapse under the cars own weight in a rollover. I want a cage! In a side impact especially in a 914 I want side bars even if they only come up knee high. Why? Those door latches and strikers are weak and a door shell is not what I want in my ribs. 914's do not have a roof. In a side impact the body will splay apart increasing passenger compartment intrusion. Imagine a big fat Ford Excursion, full size pickup or a Big Rig impacting the side of a 914.......I want as much between me and that much kinetic energy as possible. Only a cage will provide that!
Last but not least a cage is part of a system. Structure and restraints. They work together for a purpose. We have all watched race cars hit walls at 200 mph roll seven times and driver's walk away. On the bad side people die even from low speed collisions everyday.
The human body will always be the weak link in a safety system. Bodies flex, bones break, limbs fly, necks stretch with a ten pound pumpkin attached. This is the dark side of a collision. The bright side is safety components.
I will take a properly padded and anchored cage any day. Adding a properly fitted (tight) seatbelt or harness only enhances the "system".