Sinned is right on how effective roll bar padding is... it's mostly there to protect you while getting in and out of the car. I've never had padding on any of the roll cages in my trucks. The b pillar will do just as much damage as a piece of tube will though (got a nice bump from it at 5 mph in my old toyota rock crawler once). If my car has a cage it will also have race seats and five points but it's unlikely I'll drive around with a hans device, race suit, and helmet unless I plan on having the cops chase me at high speed
. I'd still like to have a cage in my car... it can't be that safe driving a 600hp car without one. It will be safer at the track though... be it silver state, drag racing, or possibly sneaking on the track at willow spings between races.