i think it is this recent roll bar failure

http://jalopnik.com/5390934/mustang-...over-tire-wall

 

^ omg !

 

One important thing to keep in mind is that the Mustang roll over was a one-in-a-million shot. It just flipped straight over onto its roof from the front of the car. 3,000 lbs. times the velocity of the flip was a load that is rarely ever encountered by the roof of a car in a road racing accident. In 99% of the roll overs the car rolls onto the roof and doesn't just land flat and square.

I'm not defending the roll bar installation (I know nothing about it) just letting you guys know that this was an unusual incident.

 

Do you guys remember the 350Z T2 car that crashed earlier this year? flipped like 10 times and the driver was not injured...I bet he had a "pro-built" cage.

 

This is the company that built the Mustang pictured in the wreck.

http://www.tulsacarfx.com/

 

I think that cage was done by www.rollcageguy.com who has done three of our cages so far. Hes located in Canton, Ohio and does superb work. We tested one of them and it worked perfectly. Part of the Mustang problem is found at many tracks and that is protective tires that are not banded together and eventually form a ramp.

 

Just a small correction..or really clarification. One of the Mustang guys has said that the bar was installed per directions, but it was a street use only one and not a true track bar. There was also some debate on the size of the tubing and which backing plates should have been used.

 

By the looks of it, it either flattened out the same as the roof or got punched through the bottom of the floor. Either way, it is still





Agreed on the tires not being banded together...

 

How did they survive if they were harnessed in?

 

They leaned forward or to one side. Pretty simple. And now you know the "myth" about having your head crushed if the roof caves in and you're harnessed in the car is false. Funny how reality is far different then what's posted on the Internet.

 

How can you "lean" if belted in correctly? (correctly is a key in this question)

In my car with 6-point, HANS, seat with full halo head support, I basically can't move...can barely turn my head or lean forward to hook-up my belts on entry, much less lean left or right any appreciable amount.

 

in this case I have heard the seat backs collapsed saving the occupants injury.

 

Probably wasn't voluntarily. Roof caves, seat collapses, body moves in to fill whatever open space is left. Don't know how much "wiggle room" is available in a 2 seater like the Z though.

 

hey guys , i am getting a little paranoid by looking at this ... do you think this is adequate for the front posts ? it looks like it is welded to the "frame" but the plate looks a little small...

 

It seems to me that when you get to the point where you have racer paint, most/all of the trim pieces are out of your car, there's a fire extinguisher clamped somewhere and you think you want a rollbar you need to just get a professionally installed rollcage. That poor idiot in the 'Stang should never have been allowed on track.

 

That's what I was thinking.

The collapsing seat backs would certainly explain how the occupants survived...they'd end up lying on their backs looking up at the not very far away roof. I was wondering about that because it looks like they were wearing 4,5 or 6 point harnesses, any of which would have kept them upright under the collapsing roof.

If you're in a race seat where the back won't collapse, or even an OE seat in a car like the Z where the rear bulkhead will prevent the seat back from collapsing very far, a cage seems like a really good idea if you're wearing a 4,5 or 6 point harness. And especially if you're wearing a HANS.