Roll Cage in 2005 Lotus Elise for ST4

[countryboyshane]

I own a 2005 Lotus Elise that I currently compete with in TT4 class within the Great Lakes region. I'm considering going wheel-to-wheel in ST4 and of course reviewing the rulebook to understand costs and also gather questions about prepping the car.

 

One of the biggest questions I have is concerning the two required door bars on the driver's side. I'm concerned that adding door bars will make it next to impossible to escape out the window opening, which is VERY small on the Elise/Exige platform. Other Lotus racers have used this cage that's manufactured by VSA Motorsports, who work on lots of Lotus race cars for Lotus Cup USA. Seems like they have a backdoor handshake agreement with NASA & SCCA to approve their cage.

 

https://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f238/vsa-motorsports-elise-exige-roll-cages-stock-124959/

 

I don't want to dive into the deep end here, then realize that NASA disapproves of a cage like this with NO doorbars. What is the consensus from our safety inspection experts?

[kpearson]

Just a note, there is no mention of NASA in that thread (just SCCA). There is a NASA driver (Phil) in that thread, but he only competed in TT, not W2W.