As the title says, is it legal to register a full race car and drive it on the road in B.C? I'm thinking of importing a race car from the U.S...


Im not referring to tuner cars, but full race cars which have been completely gutted with a full cage/cage & subframe integration.



Thanks

 

I'm sure it is...my civic was gutted with a roll cage welded onto the fframe...went thru a road block fine...cop even checked out my car. I heard that the passenger seat must be intact though, so I'm not too sure about 2seater cars.

Should be okay though..I mean roll cage is a safety component...they shouldn't say that you are not allowed to

 

I was told you will get a ticket if you don't have interior. I could be wrong though.

 

It's NOT ok for the street, regardless of what the law says:
A roll cage is meant to be used with a helmet and a properly installed harness. A harness will hold you in the seat when you're upside down....a regular seat belt won't

Get into an accident in a caged car without a helmet = instant pumpkin soup when your head hits the cage.

And to answer the question of registering a "race car", it depends if the car will meet the MVA requirements. If it's a F1 car, no....If it's just a caged civic with basic mods, then most likely yes.

 

I always get a kick outa this aspect. If your head hit the cage, yes, severe injury will occur. However, if you head rattles off the B pillar or glass in a non-caged car, you're going to have the same severe injury. The only difference is the cage is about 2" closer but a well built cage is above your head (helmet should fit below the cage's halo bar) and if the main hoop is behind your seat, as it should be, chances of hitting it is slim.

One area of concern is the horizontal bar that some fabricators install under the steering column and a couple of inches from your knees. If you submarine in a collision, you're legs won't be the same again. I'd recommend any cage have this bar inside the dash but it is a PITA to install and then modify the dash to accept this location.

There is also the assumption that the caged car has a competition seat, one that holds you in fairly tightly and has decent lateral support. This should limit the amount of movement although I have seen a Racetech video (race seat mfgr) that shows a set of 5pt belts stretching a fair bit in a collision, enough to make you go WOW !

At the end of the day, your head will bounce around in any kind of car and impact with metal, be it the car's structure or a cage, will leave on helleva headache. I know my caged CRX saved my bacon in a 70mph rollover and stopped the roof from caving in my head, but I was wearing a helmet at the time.

 

well, right now i am just concerend with the law.

The race car would NOT be driven at all on the street, nor will it be insured. But I still need it to be registered so that i can insure it for a day (maxinum a week) to drive to the the track to race.

Keep the good info comming guys!

 

How is an un-padded steel bar 2" closer to the side and above your unprotected head not more dangerous? (and no...padding it is not going to make it hurt less with the force of major car accident)

you also have to think about impact and crumple zones, which not only reduce the force of a collision for you, but also to the other car you hit. By putting a roll cage in a commuter car, you're altering the impact and crumple zones of not only your own car, but the vehicle you hit, thus throwing years of proven safety research out the window.

Let's put it this way...If a roll cage were so safe for daily use, why are car manufacturers not jumping at the opportunity to put one into every car as a safety feature to save lives? It's because a roll cage alone doesn't save lives....it's the combination of all safety equipment working together that saves lives. Much like how an airbag without a seatbelt might end up killing you instead of saving your life.


And to answer BKL's question:
As far as my research went when I was thinking about caging my old car, there are no specific regulations/rules in the MVA which prohibit a properly installed roll cage in a commuter vehicle. But keep in mind you might end up drawing unnecessary attention to yourself from a police officer wondering why you need a roll cage in a street car, which usually ends with you getting a ton of BS tickets.

 

I'd take eclypz word for it.
He's old, and has been in the car scene for awhile.

 

No offence, but so has Mr. Noodles.
For all the guys that do not race, Mr. Noodles has been autoX'ing and road racing out at Mission with SCCBC longer than most of the guys here have had their liscences.

Like I said before, if your head is *that* close to the roll cage, you need to get a new builder. If your head is that close without a helmet, how the hell are you supposed to race with a helmet on?

The only bar that you should be concerned with hitting your head is the side bar that connects the rear hoop to the front hoop. The only time you might hit that bar in an accident is if you get T-boned or roll the car over sideways. If that is the case, hitting your head on that bar is the least of your worries.

As far as crumple zones, that is pure ignorance. Crumple zones are only located at the front and rear of the car. If you look at your hood, you will see the reinforcements have areas that are not connected. In a front end accident, that area without the reinforcements will bend. Same goes with the frame and fenders and in the rear. For a caged car, the cage will not affect the crumple zones as they are welded to different parts of the frame, away from the crumple zones. If you are refering to a tube car, that is a different story.

Also, about the manufactuers not jumping in on putting a rollcage into their cars for safety, well what do you think side impact beams are? Why do S2000's have roll hoops? Demographics will show that the majority of people do not race their cars and prefer a car that is comfortable and easy to get in and out of the car. Why is it that not too many cars on the road have non-reclining race seats from the manufacturer? Heck, how many cars have reclining race seats from the factory?

Going back to the original question, as long as the car has working lights, and meets all MVA criteria's for a road worthy car, then yes you can drive a caged car on the street. No, you will not get a ticket for driving a car on the street with a stripped interior. Though there *might* be police concerns that you are driving around in a race car.

 

Good info.

That makes me wonder, if it is not technically illegal, then would it be possible to actually register a race car imported from the US into BC as a road car?

That would probably require the vehicle itself to be registered as a road car in the U.S correct?