Factory Roll Bar
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 10,301
Likes: 18
From: New Jersey
Originally Posted by mikegarrison,Apr 21 2008, 08:09 PM
No. First of all, the roll hoops are stronger because they are not cantilevered out like the windshield frame is. Which is why there are numerous known examples of the windshield frame partially or completely collapsing while the hoops survive intact. Of course, there are also impacts that tear the whole car apart, so it's not like the hoops are invulnerable.
Secondly, everything works as a system. No one part of it is the "real" roll bar.
Secondly, everything works as a system. No one part of it is the "real" roll bar.
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 22,888
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From: Covington WA, USA
This may be a semantics issue here. The windshield will hit first. That may survive the impact, or it may buckle (thus absorbing some energy). If it does buckle, then the roll hoops should hold, unless they don't. But they are stronger than the windshield, and thus I would call them the "main" roll protection. However, if you are talking about the "first line of defense" then the windshield is that.
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,967
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From: Irvine, Garden Grove, HB
well if you guys want some proof of the windshield frame supporting the weight of the car...heres my AP1 that i totaled by getting launched in the air, doing a barrel roll and landing upside down in the canyons. i can honestly say that without my hardtop..the top of my head would have been skinned off
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Joined: Jan 2007
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Originally Posted by f23power,Apr 21 2008, 10:33 PM
well if you guys want some proof of the windshield frame supporting the weight of the car...heres my AP1 that i totaled by getting launched in the air, doing a barrel roll and landing upside down in the canyons. i can honestly say that without my hardtop..the top of my head would have been skinned off
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Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Irvine, Garden Grove, HB
Originally Posted by 21337R,Apr 22 2008, 12:26 AM
Wow! thanks for those pics Haven! I feel a lot safer after seeing how well the windshield held up.
-a
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,106
Likes: 5
From: Connecticut
They might do the broomstick test.. rest a broomstick on top of the windshield frame and the rear roll hoop.. if it hits your helmet, you won't be allowed on the track because your head could get seriously f'd up if you flipped.
