Thanks Sparky
There is a couple fairly major differences between bikes and cars;
If we say the speeds are the same the most relative difference is weight, my bike will will be about 600kg (1300lbs) when it runs, I believe that Ack Attack is the heaviest bike around as well as the fastest at 950kg (2100lbs, confirmed with Mike Akatiff).
I've not researched a lot on cars but believe from what others have told me that 2750 (6000lbs) is a fairly realistic number.
Ack Attack is roughly a 1/3 the weight of a car even if I'm out a bit on the car numbers.
The other is speed, 3 bikes have gone over 350mph I believe.
Just scanning the streamliner/lakester records quickly I saw 15 records over 350mph.
That indicates tha cars have a higher speed potential than bikes.
E=MC^2 is the most well known formula in the world I think.
In this example;
E is the force a rollcage has to withstand.
Made up of;
M the mass of the vehicle
&
C^2 the square of the vehicles acceleration (deceleration in this case)
If the vehicles mass is 1/3rd and speed is same, the energy is 1/3rd.
If the vehicles mass is the same and the speed is 4/5ths the energy 2/3rds.
IMHO if cars and bikes end up with the same size cage the bikes are oversdone or the cars are underdone.
If my bike comes seriously unstuck at a decent pace it's not a deforming cage that I'll be worried about, it'll be the deceleration of my body.
A stronger cage isn't going to make that safer.
Show me it's safer and I'll shut up.
jon