I wanted to do hot laps at Lime Rock. They told me I needed a roll cage or bar for convertibles.

ALL convertibles MUST have an approved roll bar (main hoop should be made of .120 wall thick steel)


My question is, does our cars meet this requirement or do I need to buy a cage just to get some track time? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

You really should check with the organization hosting the event. In So. Cal., many of the tracks will tell you that you need an aftermarket roll bar to run an S2000 at their track but they generally leave it up to the group renting the track as far as actually enforcing that rule. Most of the groups that run out here allow the S2000 in stock form so the track regulations become moot.

 

No, Lime Rock is very specific about not allowing the S2000 on the track with the stock roll hoops. You're going to need to buy a bar "just to get some track time" I'm afraid.

Have a look at the Elda Engineering bar as it's the best currently available solution for the S2000 and it does meet the requirements outlined above.

 

And as far as roll bars are concerned, the Elda setup looks really good. I'm not, and never have been, a big fan of roll bars on a convertible. However, the Elda is really up to snuff.

 

I'll try and remember to take a few pictures of my elda rollbar for you today.

I should warn you it eats up A LOT of seat travel. It's a lot worse than Wael makes it sound on the phone. I'm 6'2" and I found it very uncomfortable to use the car with the stock seats after installing the rollbar. I was already planning to put in a race seat, so that bought me a little space back, but not all that much. I find that since installing the rollbar and race seat, I avoid driving it sometimes. It's pretty cramped, but the real pain is getting in/out of the car. The passenger side has even less room because of the diagonal brace, but at least I left the stock seat on that side, so it's still easy to get in and out.

My last gripe about the bar is that you will definitely feel the weight. My car is pretty obviously slower since installing the bar.

On the upside, with the bar, seat, and harness, I feel MUCH safer on the track and I'm able to concentrate on driving, instead of just trying to keep myself from sliding out of the stock seat. And yeah, it makes the car look kinda hard-core.

 

Are you sure it is the track that is enforcing the requirement? Or maybe is it a school run by the track? At every track I've ever been to (which is, I admit, only five), and at every track I have ever heard of up until now, tech requirements for the cars were entirely the responsibility of the people organizing the event.

The group I've done most of my driving with used to accept the stock S2K, but they just changed their rules. Now they still accept the roll hoops, but require a five or six point harness. Seems like a stupid rule, to me. Factory roll hoops, factory seat belts, factory seats, and factory air bags are all designed to work together. If you replace one of them, you probably should replace all of them (race harness, race seat, roll bar, and disconnect airbag).

I can still drive on the same track with my stock car, but only by driving with a different school.

As for feeling safer -- rollover accidents are extremely rare. But in any other kind of accident, that bar is just something for your head to bang against. Not too much of a problem if you go with the full harness/seat solution, but if you try to use it as a daily driver with the factory seatbelts and seats, the bar might be dangerous.

 

Yes...Lime Rock enforces the ban on the S2000 without the SCCA spec roll bar. I run events with SCDA and they allow the S2000 to run at NHIS without a bar but you must have one at Lime Rock.
FYI...you can run Lime Rock with the factory hardtop.
Personally I feel safer with my Elda bar. At the last SCDA Lime Rock event someone rolled their classic Jaguar convertible. I guarantee they were glad they had a roll bar.

 

The completely non-structural factory hardtop? These arbitary rules are really frustrating.

By the way, Lime Rock's website says convertables must pass "the broomstick test" which they define as "the helmet must be below a line from the top of the windshield to the roll bar". Surely the S2000 qualifies for that, unless they simply don't consider the roll hoops as allowable at all. So, why don't they?

 

This is a poorly thought out rule change. With a harness your body can't move. Most people in an S2000, with a helmet on, are near or above the height of the stock roll hoops. With the stock seat belts you can lean forward and get your head below their height. Not ideal but at least you have a chance. With the stock roll hoops and a harness your head is at serious risk in a rollover. You might want to express this concern to those who made this rule change so they can either amend it to require an aftermarket rollbar or change it back to the way it used to be. The current rule is the worst of those three scenarios IMO.

 

Oh, I agree. They are doing it because their club national insurance regulations require it. I definitely am not installing a harness with the stock seats and roll hoops, so I just won't be running with that club any more.

It's the local BMWCCA club, and they fill up all their events anyway. So they can afford to bounce out all the roadsters without penalty. If anything it frees up more slots for more M3s, so they aren't going to be changing that rule any time soon.