Elise trackdays and Rollcages

[Steve Luck]

Hi Guys I got my WOF done at Ray Hartleys in Wellington $56 but no complaints. I was told that for some trackdays here you need a full roll cage. Is this necessary for your average run what brung type event? seems a bit OTT! What about use of hardtops, I have one but do you have to drive with it on?

Ok lots of questions but you guys are pretty good at them.

Steve

[Kiwi XTR2]

That's the most expensive WoF I've ever heard of but at least it's done.

Esprit, Kiwi LE, & Photochromatic will be able to give you the real story on the Elise.

My understanding is that you don't need a cage for Trackdays but you do for almost any form of MANZ approved racing.

[Steve Luck]

[redacted]

[Esprit]

Steve, Not heard of a cage being needed for an Elise before.

Most "run what you brung" trackdays are privatel run and ANY car is fine with a WOF.... most MANZ trackdays don't need it either. Club Lotus NZ trackdays (timed sprints) don't require cages and most low-level motorsports won't require a cage in an Elise either. I've seen many an Elise run in the Targa without a rollcage... although rules have been changed and you may need more of a cage for that sort of thing these days. I think that there's some sort of rule that any convertible has to have a rollbar, but the Elise has one of them as standard.

Unless you're looking to get your Elise involved in any seriously competetive form of motorsport, you'll be fine... even things like car-club hillclimbs, sprint and street events the Elise can run in unmodified

[kylie]

Steve Luck said:

Hi Guys I got my WOF done at Ray Hartleys in Wellington $56 but no complaints. I was told that for some trackdays here you need a full roll cage. Is this necessary for your average run what brung type event? seems a bit OTT! What about use of hardtops, I have one but do you have to drive with it on? Ok lots of questions but you guys are pretty good at them. Steve

Sorry I wouldn't go back there. They are clearly rubbing their hands together when they see you coming despite the worry free service. If your concerned about the car being jacked up poorly, just shop around, some places have full on ramps to lift the whole car and or holes in the ground. $30.00 max is what you should pay. Just my 10cents.

For roll cages if your just doing social sprint events like timed laps and single driver only, no roll cage is necessary. But this is at the discretion of the secretary/organiser. If your doing sprints and want to take a passenger, then you need a cage and a motorsport licience $50.00 I think??. If your doing something more serious like rally, clubsport, race yes you will need a cage or half cage to get you into most events. Hopefully the Elise guys will tell you more on that.

Heres a useful link to give you some idea www.motorsport.org.nz/Regs/regulations.htm

[kiwikid]

Hi Guys I've looked at roll bars and eligibilty quite extensivley.The basic rule is that if an event is run under the MANZ umbrella you can run an elise in a clubsport single car sprint,any higher level event eg hillclimb's, twin or multi car sprints you must have approved roll over protection.The rollbar on the elise does not meet current manz specs, and as far as I am aware it doesn't meet the "free concept" regulations either.I do believe however that the Lotus supplied roll over bar reinforcement kit meets FIA standards and therefore complies under manz rules for anything up to liesuretime/tracer raceing.Anything not run under the manz umbrella, anything goes, its up to the organiser and whomever is hireing out the venue. Most club events are run under manz rules, but then they are generally either driver training or single car sprints.Its all a bit silly really, I could run my Europa in hillclimbs etc if I wanted ,no metal in the thing above waist height,but yet can't run the elise with existing roll bar.Open vs closed, you work it out.Not a big issue unless you want to run higher than clubsport single car sprints.
By the way roof must be a permenant fixture. ie not able to be removed