Red14me

My husband really wants to buy a vette, and I have been doing the shopping. He really wants a convertible, but I think in a roll over, my chances of keeping my head might be a little better in a coupe with targa top. A really nice 2001 in our area just came up on Craigslist....convertible. So, I need advice about roll bars for a street vette. What? Where? Thanks

73Corvette

The roll bars that you see in most C5 vettes are really more cosmetic than function... they might help a tiny bit... but that being said chances of a roll over in a vette are NOT very likely as they have such a LOW center of gravity... we drive a 04 vert and roll over is the last thing I would worry about...GOOD LUCK and Welcome to the madness

Red14me

Does anyone make roll bars for c5 convertible that aren't just for looks? I just want peace of mind, especially if I've got one of my kids along for the ride.

73Corvette

http://www.c5racer.com/catalog/c5-c6...ages-roll-bars

http://www.wolferacecraft.com/install/c5/c5cpbar.aspx

Sounds like you probably should get a FRC... it would even be safer than a coupe in a roll over because the top is NOT removable...

JR-01

To me, it doesn't sound like a C5 convertible is the right car for you. I don't see how you could do a functional roll bar and still have the convertible top open and close like it should.

Red14me

This is going to be my husband's car. A convertible is what he wants, but he was willing to compromise with the targa top because he wants me to enjoy the car too. He does not want a FRC.

JMG2

targa isn't going to give you much more safety over the vert.
For what it's worth, chevy's official stance on this is that they didn't need a roll bar on the vert because the a-pillar is strong enough to support the weight of the car. Not that I'd ever believe that :-)

Keep this in mind though-- these things are not suvs. They are very, very low to the ground, and have a very, very low center of gravity. To really roll one of these things, you'd have to be going such excessive speed and performing such violent manuvers that a roll bar probably isn't going to do much good.

give you a taste of how unlikely a roll is in these cars-- A few years ago I was driving on the expressway with my wife, top down, at around 70ish. Dumbazz in a minivan with a table strapped to the top pulled in front of me, and the table flew off the top. At highway speed, I probably swerved more violently than I ever had, the car simply went into a flat spin, not a single tire left the ground (to complete the story as I was spinning I ended up applying gas, and went a complete 360, and recover quickly enough that I was able to have the car pointed in the right direction by the time I was done and moving forward. Only damage was that I hit a traffic cone on the side of the road ;-) .

My point is, if you really, really think you need a roll bar in a 'vette, I strongly suggest
you reconsider how you or your husband drives first. If you're driving at normal, legal speed, even the +10-20 we all do, you're just not going to be in a situation where a roll is likely. If you still think you need one, you're probably also going to want to invest in a nice 5-point harness, lower the seats to make sure your head doesn't go above the roll bar, etc... basically all the things weekend racers end up investing in (and you're probably driving to fast anyway if you still think you need one). Also, if you think you need a roll bar, the targa isn't going to help any more over the structure of the vert-- FRC is the way to go.

Of course, if this is going to be a weekend road-racer on legal tracks, this is all out the window.

megawatt1203

I have a Wolfe Roll Bar for my vert. It goes on before a HPDE track event and comes off after the event. It limits my seat movement and rubs on the top of the seats. It is required for any track event but I would not consider it for daily use, just to uncomfortable. The top does go up and down with roll bar installed. A custom roll bar would be a better fit for a daily driver if a vert is what you want.

JMG2

not to hjijack, but can you send me a link? I'm dipping my toes in weekend track racing, and bar is the one thing I'm going to have to get.

73Corvette

JMHO... I still firmly believe your concerns about roll over are unfounded... there may be other concerns in the event of some catastrophic crash, but a roll bar may be useless in that case...
You do have options with the roll bar... it will probably be pretty expensive but, for peace of mind it might be priceless

Macleod52

I'm in the crowd of don't worry about it. As others have said if you have a rollover event (which is extremely unlikely) then the chances are a roll bar isn't going to do much for you. If you notice most convertibles do not have roll bars. If there was a wide spread occurrence of rollovers then I would see the NHTSA stepping in and requiring roll bars on every convertible.

Let's put it this way. There are, on average, 210 fatalities a year due to people being ran over when someone is backing up. Now, the NHTSA is requiring that all new cars have back up cameras. 210 fatalities is all it takes.

The point being stop living life in fear. These cars are so low to the ground that a rollover is near impossible. If you must wrap yourself in bubble wrap before you get in the car. Don't force your husband to compromise his dream car because you have this irrational fear of a rollover accident.

megawatt1203

Totally agree. Other than making it legal to track, doubt it would do much good if actually needed. Rear bars are bolted to balsa wood and plastic. If I was a serious tracker and not just doing it for fun, I would not be driving a vert. Driving it on the street without the bar, no worries, love it.

megawatt1203

Here you go!
http://www.wolferacecraft.com/detail.aspx?ID=795

First time you install it takes 6 hours or so. After that, a couple hours for removal and installation. Believe 4 point is OK for HPDE events. 5 or 6 point for drag strips.

73Corvette

You may have stopped preaching and went to meddling... but, I happen to agree with you, I just wasn't going there

Macleod52

Yeah sometimes I don't have a filter. lol I think a little tough love is needed sometimes in this day and age where the media has us frightened of everything and shames us if we don't fit the mold.

73Corvette

Well, crap I agree with you totally again... are we brothers?

tzeller

In my opinion I would not worry about a roll bar unless you plan to track the car.

Bob_VII

For the street, a rollbar may be more dangerous unless you plan on wearing helmets everytime you take the car out.

groundstrike

This is actually a good point, that is steel right by your head. A helmet would be a good idea with the bars. I have considered a roll bar myself but after seeing how close it is to my head I don't know now. I had one in my mustang convertible but the bars were farther away.

JR-01

Good point. You could definitely scramble your old melon on the bar even in a minor collision..