Ive seen more than one video of an evo go upside down and do fine on its own.. without the cage. I would think something like that would be for a little added resistance to crush but have more to do with making that thing ultra stiff for the turns without adding a ton of weight. I could be wrong.
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"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." G.K. Chesterton
"Hope and pray that you never need me, but rest assured that I will not let you down" 3 Doors Down - Citizen Soldier
When it comes to the crunch, some cage is better than none; if the roof was that fragile to begin with I doubt that the car would have been released to the public, much less used in competition. It's mainly to absorb impact if I get pinned between another car and the wall, and to stiffen the chassis as Wytch has said. Its a big improvement[I've driven the car with cage and without] BUT, it's nowhere near as stiff or as good as a load-bearing weld-in cage, which represents a 5-grand, 8-point chromoly job which also shortens the life-span of the chassis[I don't have the funds to re-shell the car every few years AND have a fresh load-bearing cage in every time] It's a compromise for the sake of costs.
I'll need to ask around and see if anyone has actually experienced track-speed impact with this cage. It's MOT-approved in Japan, and I've seen it used in the JPN time attack cars as well as other lower-level categories[fine with me]
However, you might be interested to know that it CAN be approved for up to Improved Production if the front sections are modified to pierce the dash[only a single bend is allowed. This will have to be done if I wanna go up in the classes next year. Which is unlikely; the costs there are astronomical.]
Gregster, I'm a bloody privateer, I do NOT have the kind of funds necessary for a cage that looks like a NASCAR or WRC one.
__________________ "The racing car is not a mechanical exercise, it is not an art object. The racing car is simply a tool for the racing driver."~Carrol Smith(1932 - 2003)
Finally got round to doing up the engine bay a bit more. CDI is in, and it does make the thing feel torquier down low. Won't be able to tell for sure until it hits the dyno for the last time.
Final few things added:
Anti-aeration swirl kit for the water system[changes the bleeding point to the highest area: the reservior]
DIY aluminium catch tank with AN-12 fittings and line
High pressure braided line all round[these are dual-weave braided, not the single-weave covered ones]
Considering the parts were lying around for a few months I reckon it worked out alright. Last on the list, tidying up the ignition leads and I might trade the Cusco braces in for the Carbing ones; those are 1-piece 3-point aluminium.
__________________ "The racing car is not a mechanical exercise, it is not an art object. The racing car is simply a tool for the racing driver."~Carrol Smith(1932 - 2003)
daym your cars come a long way since i was on here last!
pop by on the hyper australia forums sometime!!
Will do!
UPDATE:
I've done a gearbox, finally. 3rd went and died down the front straight, I reckon the synchros are blown, but the main gear itself is somewhat intact[I can match the revs and they'll go though, but not without a little rumble] It's also time to address the gearing issue; I'm at the top of 5th down Calder's short front straight, which means that in a place like Phillip Island or Sandown, I'd be on the rev limiter by half-track.
So. In goes a HKS Kansai 4.111 final drive kit, as well as a second-hand box from the Jap wreckers. And that should see me to 300km/h or above[if I haven't screwed up on the math; been logged at 270 and a bit km/h, so it's probably time to take the next step.]
__________________ "The racing car is not a mechanical exercise, it is not an art object. The racing car is simply a tool for the racing driver."~Carrol Smith(1932 - 2003)
Thanks for that m8. It's been a couple of very long years and a very hard learning curve to get it where it is now.
Update: It also looks like the stock crank might have finally gone to the dogs, or I might need to find some bearings that will take the abuse. If I'm diagnosing it right, the crank has a very mild bend to it now, but enough to keep the engine from turing over. Keep in mind, this is at over 500 horses at the engine IIRC for about 11 trakcdays worth of circuit driving without race fuel.
When the engine's apart[again] we'll know where the weak point is, but from the look of things presently it's time for the crank to be replaced and for the setup to be changed somewhat. I'm going to reinforce the bottom end now, probably with a stroker kit and a 280 degree inlet cam which will yield even more response, hopefully bringing it on-boost in the mid-to-late 2000's.
Added circuit time: Winton Raceway, first session and first time on-track, managed to pull out a 0:1:49:+++ which is on-par with people who have been there 3-4 times before. It's a very different track than Sanddown for sure, highly technical. I'll definitely need more braking power for this one.
Even though its short as heck I'm still revving the engine out. Luckily, the gearbox and final drive have arrived and will be put into the car when the engine is fixed up.
__________________ "The racing car is not a mechanical exercise, it is not an art object. The racing car is simply a tool for the racing driver."~Carrol Smith(1932 - 2003)
Well it looks like the engine is fine; what actually caused the seizure was that the Exedy twinplate snapped its retention bolt, one of the several holding the clutch plates and the discs together in alignment. Yup, one of the retention bolts, at factory torque settings, literally sheared off causing the lockup; we're taking the heads off for an inspection just in case. Also, we went over the gearbox and found something frightening: the bell housing has begun to crack apart under the pressure; a 14mm-long crack in the upper areas was found this evening and some twisting of the input shaft is also visible.
The starter plate has also taken damage for some reason or another; there is a crack in it and it shows signs of being deformed[WTF]
It seems Mitsubishi's engineering is being pushed to the limits by the repeated circuit work at over 300kW ATW, and we seem to have reached the point where we're starting to go beyond some of the stock parts' design envelopes.
As far as reliability goes, it looks like we may be closing in on the limits of Evolution.
__________________ "The racing car is not a mechanical exercise, it is not an art object. The racing car is simply a tool for the racing driver."~Carrol Smith(1932 - 2003)
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3rd went and died down the front straight, I reckon the synchros are blown, but the main gear itself is somewhat intact[I can match the revs and they'll go though, but not without a little rumble] It's also time to address the gearing issue; I'm at the top of 5th down Calder's short front straight, which means that in a place like Phillip Island or Sandown, I'd be on the rev limiter by half-track. 
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