Since safety features aren't always apparent to the eye, we want to show you what years of duning has taught us.  With all this experience we have created a unique design to minimize the risk of the sport.

Our exclusive 12VB design (12 vertical braces) provides an impressive cage of protection.  Other sandcars only use 4VB or 6VB designs to protect passengers, clearly not as strong or as safe. In addition to the number of reinforcements in the cage, all our cars use super strong 4130 tubing throughout the chassis and suspension to maximize safety in the event of mishap.

Seeing to the rear may seem to be a trivial thing in the dunes.  We have noticed that many sandcars don't even have a rear view mirror.  But when leading a group of duners through the sand it's important nobody gets lost.  Keeping track of your followers is key to prevent lost souls from getting left behind, potentially stuck in the sand.  Our Funco 3-pane mirror provides a great view behind the car.  The wide angle of view with no convex distortion is what we like about this mirror, custom made to Funco specifications.  You get 2 mirrors for the driver PLUS one mirror for your passenger to help keep track of followers, all in one billet aluminum unit.

Front Roll Bars

The unique front roll bars offer several advantages.  First, it adds integrity through triangulation to the front of the chassis, adding strength to the whole roll cage.  Second, it protects against objects or vehicles (quads, motorcycles, etc) coming in from  the front, potentially landing in your lap (that hurts thinking about it).  And third, the additional rigidity from this design provides less frame flex, contributing to the nimble handling characteristics of the car in rough terrain.

The added safety of this design is a huge advantage you won't find on most other cars.  You immediately feel more secure knowing about the additional front impact integrity.  The effect on driving visibility with these extra safety bars go virtually unnoticed, and with our higher seat height you actually get a better view from the higher vantage point.  When you go back to a conventional sandcar without Funco's front bar protection, some say you feel more vulnerable, similar to not having your seatbelt buckled. 

Shade is always nice on those warmer days.  But when climbing hills the driver needs upward visibility, essential before blasting up.  Upward vision is also important when approaching the bottom of steep downhills.  Full roof shades can impair driver vision, a potential safety hazard.   

The other problem with a full shade roof is rear seat vertigo, or motion sickness. Passengers in rear seats tend to get sick easier if they cannot see up a hill when approaching.  If anyone in your family gets sick easily a full roof shade will contribute to the problem.  

We recommend a half roof, shading the people in the rear, yet providing clear visibility to maximize a safe driving view up front.  Rear passengers will appreciate the half roof too, having a little more upward view, minimizing vertigo while providing some shade.  But the key advantage to our solid aluminum roof is safety.   The roof adds to the roll cage integrity and rigidity in case of a roll.  A solid roof won't submerge into the sand as much if rolled, versus using cloth or vinyl shades which can easily rip off in a roll.   

In addition to the comfort and roomy feeling of our upright seating, the higher vantage point allows that critical  "go or no go" decision to be made sooner when transitioning from one bowl to another.  The extra split second of view from this higher vantage point makes driving in the dunes safer, especially when leading or going extra fast.  Funco equips each seat with Crow seat belts, available in 4 or 5 point configurations.

This feature is fairly easy to understand.  Vertical roof braces provide integrity and rigidity to the car in case of a roll.  As mentioned, our 12VB design provides tremendous integrity against collapse if rolled. Although extra vertical support would seem obvious to include on a 5 passenger car, other manufacturers have skimped on safety in this area.  Next time you're at the dunes see if you can find any other cars with 12 vertical pillars to the roof.

Most all sandcars have lights, true.  But most add them on as an afterthought.  The BIG 5 provides integral lighting, protected and positioned cleverly, allowing up to 6 lights to be installed to light up the sand for the safest night-ride possible.  We even offer optional Xenon lighting packages to really light up the night, along with an incredible light bar option for the top to REALLY light up the night.

Our cars come equipped standard with Wilwood rear disc brakes that incorporate 4 pucks per caliper and an 11' rotor for superior performance.  Once you learn how fast you can dune with our suspension and handling, stopping fast becomes very important.   CNC front disc brakes are standard in our B kit and turnkey cars with our extra strong front A-Arms to handle the stress of front braking.  To prevent the front wheels from locking up before the rear wheels we use 8"  rotors on the front.