I know that alloy cages have been banned from motorsport for some time, but can an alloy cage still be safe or are they all "show" cages? I'm looking at buying a track car that has an alloy cage fitted and although it wouldn't be used in competition, I want to know that it's going to provide the expected level of protection should the worst happen! Thanks.
I think it's a decision only you can make, putting into context what you plan to do with the car, and how hard you intend to drive it. Obviously no one can really make that judgement but yourself. In theory it should be better than no cage.
I think you're right. Was the reason they were banned from motorsport purely based on their strength versus steel cages?
I believe they used to be more inclined to snap tubes on impacts, though I cannot recall where I picked this info up - aluminium properties vs steel etc. It's back in the late '80s when they were canned, so being largely irrelevant for today, there's little info I've seen, but give it a Google. Even Historic racing/rallying requires the steel cages now - so 'period' racing is still brought up to current spec. This more or less has an anti-negligence legal stance written all over it, their usage cannot be jusitifed across the board due to steel predecent etc.
I'd happily run an ally cage for track days, as long as it was a proper one, rather than home made. Plenty of competitors have walked away from big impacts in ally cages, back in the day. That's my personal point of view though, rather than legally binding advice It's probably relevant that they were banned at the same time as Group B rallying was in its heyday, so high speed tree impacts and falling down cliffs weren't uncommon. If you're going to run as quick as a Group B Quattro, then maybe you can afford to lug around a steel cage, to be on the safe side.
My whole perspective on this is why run an alloy cage and take the risk. I would re-fit with steel as it's best to be safe than sorry. A few hundred pounds extra is worth every penny if it can save your life. I'm sure alloy was banned for a good reason.
Was the car you are looking at on ebay? I would question whether it was actually alloy, as it looked like a recent cage install. Im guessing the person selling the car doesnt realise that its more than likely a CDS cage rather than alloy.
