IC
Good to know

 

other than weight saving. for both street and track. Cusco seem to be the compromise. Mark was able to use stock seat belt if wanted to, and kept the bulk head AND use harness.

I am not quite sure why I want to keep the bulkhead. I want to retain street usability I guess.

 

why did you cut the bulkhead?? the bar i sold you has the mounts to retain the stock seatbelts... im confused..

 

ive had both the cusco and the Hardog with the lower harness bar.. im also going to start fabricating my own roll bars and weld in cages fairly soon if all works out.

ive also rolled a stock s2000.


aggressive driving is always going to increase the chance of a roll over... does it happen often? not really. only in the case of something happening out of the ordinary... going down a steep incline sideways, rolling up a wall or something on the lines of that.

the cusco is a good roll bar. it mounts up to equally rigid if not more rigid parts of the car then the hardog does. if your going to gut the car then run the hardog if u plan to keep eveythign in the car then the hardog with high harness bar or cusco is of equal value to u. it doesnt seem like ur car will see much track time. if it was, then i suggest a full weld in cage.

**** when i rolled my s2000, the car was completely stock. the car rolled and landed upside down, maybe i was lucky but the stock roll hoops didnt even touch the ground. Im 6ft and my brother was also in the car who is 6'5" were pretty tall and didnt hit our heads. the car rested on top of the windshield and trunk. our cars being convertible are extremely safe and well built. a bolt in cage would really only help in a multiple turnover situation.

FIA seats and seatbelts dont really mean anything unless you get the FIA seat rails and FIA approved cage(weld in). redline time attack doesnt even require FIA standards do they?

 

I cant use the harness and stock seat belts at the same time...the bulk head is in the way.
I would have to take out the entire rollbar to remove the bulkhead. Since I cut it, I can just remove the bulkhead with the rollbar still in the car.

This way I can use my stock seat belts/seats, when its time to track, I just take out the bulkhead (which holds the seat belts) out and use the harness.

quick pic not fully mounted but you can see what I mean.

 

Disagree. The HD bar sits on the shelf with bolts being attached to two different planes. I also do not think the bent rear bracing is as strong conceptually either.

I do agree that the S2000's inherent roll protection is very good. Far better than something like a Miata. There have been pictures of both S's and Miatas rolled on the Dragon. S's do okay; Miatas not so much.

 

Cusco should be considered a harness bar only. If you plan to keep the stock hoops then you should be fine using it.

Drawbacks:

1. The harness bar is too high (will not meet HANS requirements). In a rollover you are more likely to see much more slack or stretch in the belts due to the angle of the shoulder straps which is a hazard.

2. The bar is not high enough to give proper head clearance. You are now strapped in and you body will not be able to contort as it would with a 3 point system again making use of this bar more hazardous than a properly designed one.


I forget what HANS requires but I'm pretty sure that the shoulder straps must be horizontal to you shoulders or no more than 20° below that horizontal line (might be 30°). This of course has everything to do with ensuring the belts don't slip off the device.



-Rob

 

yes the hardog is mounted on 2 seperate parts in the back area but the cuscos main hoop is bolted to the floor behind the seats(what i meant by structurally more secure then the hardog.) the cusco rear bars mount to the rear (where many people criticize the bar for mounting to weak parts) where the hardogs fronts mount.. since ive mounted both bars and done drilling for both..there are 8 holes in the same area haha..

the hoops bends are the same degree bends as the hardog. they use equal grade metal tho the cuscos piping diameter is a little smaller. the cusco uses chromoly which is stronger and lighter then the steel that hardog uses.

the only weak part of the cage is that its a bolt together.. which isnt always a bad thing. since the main hoop is one piece the rear support is allowed to flex but not side to side.

cusco cages are also legal for many racing series there.. we simply have different standards here. it doesnt mean our standards are better or worse. to me.. both bars are pretty equal in strength. both bars wll exceed the stock hoops because they are higher. not much else.

 

this statement is a little contradicting..


ur saying that you consider the cusco bar as only a harness bar.. then later you say that its a bad harness bar.. yes the bar is high.. it was made to be able to keep the stock parts intact to appeal to a larger number of enthusiasts. the average s2000 owner( someone who wants to track and add a little saftey to his daily driven street car.) its a buisness tactic.

2. the cusco bar IS as high as the hardog bar or even a bolt in cage would be or need to be.. it sits just under hardtop and soft top. there is no more room for the bar to sit any higher. in fact.. my hardog didnt rub the hardtop at all but my cusco did.. so that would leave me to believe the cusco was higher then the hardog.

your body not being able to contort in a roll over has more to do with ur harness/restraint then your cage/roll bar.

yes the harness bar is higher and more forward then it should be.. most weld in cages are made this way as well because they just dont have the positioning to bolt in the harness bar in the IDEAL position. when used with a 6 pt.. it really shouldnt matter.

this is my Formula D legal Race cage. i will be picking up in a week or so. this is what i plan to run the pro am events for formula d if all goes well.


the harness bar is not in the Ideal place but if it was would risk structural integrity.


the point is.. if your a hardcore track guy and want the most security you better have a full weld in cage because it doesnt get more safe then that.

 

Dude, your barking up the wrong tree with this Cusco crap.

I was the first one to chime in with custom weld in only, however the OP asked about Cusco so I gave my opinion. Why you are trying to defend this piece of crap and make it sound like its made of gold is beyond me.

First of all I'm calling BS with the height of the bars. Every inch counts. Secondly your gonna get brownie points for realizing that the Cusco bar exist only to make money rather than save lives. There are so many design flaws that anyone that has even done a light amount of reading on the subject could quickly point them out. It is not a roll bar. Period.


What happens in an accident or a roll over has everything to do with where and how the belts are anchored. Especially if your using a HANS device. If the angle of the shoulder straps is too low, in a frontal impact the shoulder straps can compress your spine. If the angle of the shoulder straps is too high, it will allow your body to move upwards when the car is in a roll. If you have never see how much these belts stretch or how much your body can still move when turned upside down due to slack then it may be a shock.


-Rob