Doody

for those of you who have or have seriously considered tracking your SL55, what is the thinking on rollover protection?

i never tracked my 996 Cabriolet - even though it had the pop-up roll bars, most club events didn't consider that sort of protection safe enough. though if you put the hardtop on a Boxster or 996 Cab the groups are usually okay with it (my understanding).

but the SL55 has a hard top built-in plus, in theory, some rollover protection.

what's the conventional wisdom on this? is an R230 with its top in the closed position (ie: not open) as safe in a rollover on the track (g-d forbid) as a coupe? how are different tracks and different groups looking at the R230 in this regard?

doody.

PS: sorry to those of you who already saw this post. i originally posted it in another thread that has turned into a random off-topic debate.

den500sl

..you wish to know which configuration - 1) open w/ rollbar, 2) closed w/without rollbar or 3) fixed coupe - provides maximum protection to driver and passenger? I'd take the fixed coupe but it would interesting to see how a retractable top holds up in a rollover incident.

97 sl500 triple black
sport pkg 1
24K miles

Doody

here it is put more succinctly:

does the top, in its closed position, offer any substantial rollover protection beyond, say a standard droptop's canvas top?

does the rollbar offer ALL the protection and the hardtop is just mostly a cosmetic and marketing tool?

or is it really structurally useful? i assume it is NOT, but am curious to know if perhaps i'm wrong.

doody.

northbenz

If you are going to race this car with liklihood of rollovers then the only way to go is to have a professionally built roll cage installed. Neither the fixed pillars in a sedan or the pop up roll bars on a convertible are designed or intended for racing. They are better than nothing, but hardly what any professional race car driver would want to rely upon in a track roll over.

Doody

i'm not talking about "professional racing" by any stretch of imagination. of course a "race car" should have roll bars, an extinguisher system, etc. etc.

i'm simply talking about club track events and DE sort of stuff.

regardless of what one is doing on a track, rollovers are a possibility, and aren't to be trifled with. that's why the PCA et. al. have fairly strict (to extreme) rules about the drop-top p-cars.

to-date, i have never tracked anything but factory coupes.

my question remians: does the factory hardtop convertible roof provide any more substantial protection than a canvas top? i can certainly imagine a locking structure between the beams in the roof that could be more than beneficial, and nearly as strong as any coupe without a B pillar. but was it designed that way, or is it "just a top that's hard instead of soft"

thanks.

doody.

blueSL

I do not believe the folding hard top provides any measurable roll-over protection.

To start with, it is hinged between the roof and the rear window and even though there is a locking mechanism to lock the hinge when the roof is up, this is to stop the thing vibrating in the air flow at speed. If you roll the car, it will collapse, no question.

This contrasts with the A pillars and the rollover bar which are immensely strong. The popup bar works whether the roof is up or down.

Not sure the SL55 is the ideal track car. It's weight counts against it and if seriously pushed will eats its way through tyres and brakes like you wouldn't believe. I once got though a new set of Bridgstones on a 911 Carrera by driving 12 laps on the Nurburgring Nordschleife. By the end of the day, they were shot.

SL Boy

I have just seen a rolled SLK32AMG. Driver exited a roundabout too fast in a 30 mph zone, lost control, hit central reserve and rolled it. Car ended up on its roof which was completely demolished. Windscreen pillar remained intact. Impact speed I guess no more than 25 mph.

The good news was the driver managed to crawl out through the gap between the windscreen pillar and the rollover bars and was shaken but unhurt.