Fitting cup roll cage to exige....
Discussion
Very expensive. I have seen quotes of over £4K. There are cheaper solutions though which are just as good. Hofmann's in Henley do an excellent 4 point cage for around £1500 fitted. They will make it a full 6 point if you want. I have one on my car and it is neater than any of the other options.
dwarf101 said:
Thanks Shangani
Thats a roll bar - I was thinking more a cage. Been watching some you tube footage of crashes and I've scared myself a bit !!
no, that's a 4 point roll cage.Thats a roll bar - I was thinking more a cage. Been watching some you tube footage of crashes and I've scared myself a bit !!
I think what you are looking for is a 6 point one, ie. the same but with the addition of the front bars. (this is an option on the one in the link)
See my comment above.
The entire rollhoop / backstays etc are replaced with T45 steel. I opted for the 4 point as I have an elise and for the time being want to be able to drive it without a helmet on. All the other cage options originally available (eg safety devices) had bits of metal sticking out that an unprotected head could whack against. It is still FIA certified.
Hofmann's will add the front section to make it a full 6 point cage if you want. The front stays will go through the dash so entry and exit is not compromised.
The entire rollhoop / backstays etc are replaced with T45 steel. I opted for the 4 point as I have an elise and for the time being want to be able to drive it without a helmet on. All the other cage options originally available (eg safety devices) had bits of metal sticking out that an unprotected head could whack against. It is still FIA certified.
Hofmann's will add the front section to make it a full 6 point cage if you want. The front stays will go through the dash so entry and exit is not compromised.
All those prices are a complete rip off. Why not approach someone like 'caged' in wiltshire, or 'custom cages' in northants? I'm sure they could do a one off (if they don't already have the CAD drawings for an exige) a lot cheaper than your quotes. I had a custom cage installed on my Caterham for sub £1000. Give them both a buzz and see what they say.
Both do full custom installs on FIA GT cars and very valuable historics, so you're in good hands.
Both do full custom installs on FIA GT cars and very valuable historics, so you're in good hands.
LRdriver II said:
So is there a weight savings if I replace my originl roll-over hoop with this 4 point one?
No.orrignial one is much thinner and slightly lighter, the weight saving is over the Lotus 'A' frame setup.
fergus said:
All those prices are a complete rip off. Why not approach someone like 'caged' in wiltshire, or 'custom cages' in northants? I'm sure they could do a one off (if they don't already have the CAD drawings for an exige) a lot cheaper than your quotes. I had a custom cage installed on my Caterham for sub £1000. Give them both a buzz and see what they say.
Both do full custom installs on FIA GT cars and very valuable historics, so you're in good hands.
have you ever tried to fit one to a S2? it's a complete bBoth do full custom installs on FIA GT cars and very valuable historics, so you're in good hands.
h of a job, fitting one to a Caterham is childplay in comparision (and yes, I have done both).Scuffers said:
LRdriver II said:
So is there a weight savings if I replace my originl roll-over hoop with this 4 point one?
No.orrignial one is much thinner and slightly lighter, the weight saving is over the Lotus 'A' frame setup.
fergus said:
All those prices are a complete rip off. Why not approach someone like 'caged' in wiltshire, or 'custom cages' in northants? I'm sure they could do a one off (if they don't already have the CAD drawings for an exige) a lot cheaper than your quotes. I had a custom cage installed on my Caterham for sub £1000. Give them both a buzz and see what they say.
Both do full custom installs on FIA GT cars and very valuable historics, so you're in good hands.
have you ever tried to fit one to a S2? it's a complete bBoth do full custom installs on FIA GT cars and very valuable historics, so you're in good hands.
h of a job, fitting one to a Caterham is childplay in comparision (and yes, I have done both).However, the cage itself (excluding fitting) is not worth £2400+VAT. Not many cages cost more than £1000 and even then you're getting a strut braced multipoint weld in job, not some bolt in 6 point club racer type thing.
I agree that fitting will be a pain, but probably not more than a £1000-£1500 job for a company that does it for a living. If they can do historics/FIA race cars worth a damn sight more than an exige, and not damage them, I'm sure you're in good hands.
fergus said:
No, simon I haven't fitted one myself.
However, the cage itself (excluding fitting) is not worth £2400+VAT. Not many cages cost more than £1000 and even then you're getting a strut braced multipoint weld in job, not some bolt in 6 point club racer type thing.
I agree that fitting will be a pain, but probably not more than a £1000-£1500 job for a company that does it for a living. If they can do historics/FIA race cars worth a damn sight more than an exige, and not damage them, I'm sure you're in good hands.
sorry, I was thinking about the fitted price..., I agree, £2,400+vat un-fitted is sillyHowever, the cage itself (excluding fitting) is not worth £2400+VAT. Not many cages cost more than £1000 and even then you're getting a strut braced multipoint weld in job, not some bolt in 6 point club racer type thing.
I agree that fitting will be a pain, but probably not more than a £1000-£1500 job for a company that does it for a living. If they can do historics/FIA race cars worth a damn sight more than an exige, and not damage them, I'm sure you're in good hands.
FWIW the Hofmann's one is made by custom cages, but was designed by randy who owns Hofmann's. His price includes fitting - £1300 ex VAT iirc.
Fitting on all the cages on the elsie / exige are a royal pita. The S1 a-frame is easier because you retain the original rollhoop, but then you need a great big petty bar which I am not fond of as it makes for something else to hit inside the cabin in the event of a crash.
Fitting on all the cages on the elsie / exige are a royal pita. The S1 a-frame is easier because you retain the original rollhoop, but then you need a great big petty bar which I am not fond of as it makes for something else to hit inside the cabin in the event of a crash.
Probably worth phoning randy at Hofmann's. 01491 848 800
Other options would be Plans and Hot-Lap.com.
The OE lotus one just seems over the top in terms of pricing - you are unlikely to get away with under £4-4.5K fitted.
Anyway, Hofmann's prepare loads of race cars and they have done a pretty good job on every aspect of my car they have worked on. Sadly it's all the OE lotus bits that are breaking at the moment.
Other options would be Plans and Hot-Lap.com.
The OE lotus one just seems over the top in terms of pricing - you are unlikely to get away with under £4-4.5K fitted.
Anyway, Hofmann's prepare loads of race cars and they have done a pretty good job on every aspect of my car they have worked on. Sadly it's all the OE lotus bits that are breaking at the moment.
Edited by shangani on Tuesday 14th October 17:17
Here is a brief summary of the work involved to fit a 6 pt cage in a S2 / Exige. Written with the Safety Devices cage in mind, I expect others require a similar amount of work. (The human mind tends to block out memories of traumatic events, so apologies if I have left anything important out!)
Remove the roof, rear clam, roll bar cover moulding, seats, sill trims and the internal moulding behind the seats. (Plus stereo speakers, bits of alarm system etc)
Remove door seals and cut away a section of the bonded fiberglass sill panels.
Remove door strikes, all the engine ancillaries that are hung off the backstays, the backstays and existing roll-over bar.
Remove rear window glass.
Trim bulkhead to allow new larger diameter backstays to fit.
Bond in a lexan rear screen (The original glass would have fouled the new backstays)
Mount the new rear cage section, drill sills as required, fish tapping plates into sills and bolt rear section in place. The space where the moulding behind the seats was can be trimmed first if required.
Fit front section mounting plates (some fitting and fettling required usually) using front section of the cage to locate plates. Front section inevitably goes in and out a few times.
Modify sill covers, fit over front section legs.
Bolt all sections of the cage up
Re-instate cut sections of sills, fair and paint, re fasten the sill covers, modify and refit roll bar cover
Replace all the engine ancillaries, fit and adjust new door strikes.
Seal up the rear bulkhead, re fit the rear clam and roof.
Well it was going to be brief when I started...
Remove the roof, rear clam, roll bar cover moulding, seats, sill trims and the internal moulding behind the seats. (Plus stereo speakers, bits of alarm system etc)
Remove door seals and cut away a section of the bonded fiberglass sill panels.
Remove door strikes, all the engine ancillaries that are hung off the backstays, the backstays and existing roll-over bar.
Remove rear window glass.
Trim bulkhead to allow new larger diameter backstays to fit.
Bond in a lexan rear screen (The original glass would have fouled the new backstays)
Mount the new rear cage section, drill sills as required, fish tapping plates into sills and bolt rear section in place. The space where the moulding behind the seats was can be trimmed first if required.
Fit front section mounting plates (some fitting and fettling required usually) using front section of the cage to locate plates. Front section inevitably goes in and out a few times.
Modify sill covers, fit over front section legs.
Bolt all sections of the cage up
Re-instate cut sections of sills, fair and paint, re fasten the sill covers, modify and refit roll bar cover
Replace all the engine ancillaries, fit and adjust new door strikes.
Seal up the rear bulkhead, re fit the rear clam and roof.
Well it was going to be brief when I started...
As Shangani says, we do both 4 and 6 point cages. I recently developed the S2 version because there was nothing else on the market that was any good IMHO. With our Cage there is no intrusion into the passenger compartment, it has integral harness bar, the roof still fits perfectly, the window glass is unaffected, you can still retain inertia reels, it meets all the relevant standards and it's lighter than the competition, you don't even have to remove the rear clam to fit it. My cage is designed by Hofmann's and built by Custom Cages in Daventry who do a terrific job for us. The 4-point is £1370+VAT fitted and the 6 point will be ~1K ore than that, fitted (we haven't firmed up the pricing yet).
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