Tall enough to pass spec and to save your head in a roll over is simply going to be dangerous on the street. You likely have no way around this at your height. Bars that sit back further are too short for you. The Ace won't likely pass inspection, it's WAY too low! I've got an autopower street bar, it doesn't sit as far back as the ACE but I still have to sweet talk the inspectors to pass and I'm only 5'8". ( the only reason they pass me is the hard top ) Bars tall enough for you are too far forward to be safe on the street. Get the best quality dual stage foam padding for the bar and live with the idea you could crack your skull anyway.

The only way to avoid this would be a completely custom soft top taller than standard with a custom roll bar to fit it. I have no idea what it would take, or if it's even possible, to have a soft top modded to be taller further back from the seats.

Sorry to be so negative, but it's the reality of the limited space available in Miata's.

 

Uhhhh 01 seats are not nearly tall enough. they clear the bottom of the bar by an inch at least.

my head, not so much.

 

[Bitchin'] i just think that all of you bastards should quit bitchin' and sit a bit closer to the wheel and have your knees bent a bit more You may not be lookin cool like hustler did at prom but i'm sure your head would be far from the bar [/Bitchin']

are any of you guys worried about hitting your head on the vertical bar? I'm 6'1 but i'm pretty sure i sit far enough forward of the horizontal, i'd be more worried about the vertical in a side impact

 

I guess for being 5'11" the 01+ seats seem tall to me
Anytime i get in my gf's MSM, the seatbacks feel like they're taller then me! My AE seats come right to the middle of the back of my head....i also sit kinda slouched in the way that my *** isn't as far back as it could go on the seat bottom. Seems to work fine for me! Though i want to do a foamectomy so i can sit a little lower.

I'll take some pics tonight of me sitting in my car with the BF Double Maxx if any of you want to reference it.

 

My I suggest Autopower's "Race" roll bar. I got mine from Brian of goodwinn racing.

http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda...t/30-1038.html

From all the roll bars I have seen in person, this bar is the tallest by far that will still clear softops and hardtops (without side latches though on HT)

With the seat all the way back to show you can still recline fully, if needed.

 

bolt it to the floor. It gets you another 1.5".

 

doesn't the harness keep your body planted alot more? Isn't that why nascar has those head restraint things tethered to the helmet? Because your body stays still while your head whips forward?

 

The hans (spelling I know) device that's used by a lot of racers is designed to help keep the head/neck/body moving together as one unit. Rather than having your head snap forward. It's not just a harness thing, it's a physics thing....

Hey doppel, can you post the pics of the BF? I've been thinkin' about getting one of the regular ones (to clear the HT). Unfortunately nobody up here in the great white north seems to have one....

Dave,

 

I have to disagree. Then again, my life was saved by a harddog double diag sport bar, so what do I know and I run a Harddog Hardcore double diag race bar now.

This is true, but the way around this is as others suggest, bolt the seat to the floor, this gets you an additional 3-4 inches at least. I had to do it for a lot of tall customers. I'm only 5'10" but with the factory sliders and relatively high seats, it's the same deal as being 6'2" or 6'3" with a race seat bolted to the floor pan.

Mark

 

I know, I need a haircut.
There is a lot of room in the cockpit... it just needs to be maximized.

1st Pic: Stock seat, 1" foamectomy, sitting bolt upright.
2nd Pic: Same seat, standard slouched driving position
3rd Pic: New uber-seat... now you know why I needed the steering column lowered.

The rollbar is a modified Autopower. It's an autopwer main hoop with the rear supports bent to allow the hoop to lay back more so a taller guy has more headroom. The Autopower bolts to the seatbelt mounts and a lot of the HD or BF don't. The single crossmember is a custom piece. That bar is as far back and as tall as it can possibly be without interfering with the top. It could be more forward and taller, but then it would certainly hit my head when driving.

 

the incredible shrinking sam. that's pretty damned impressive.

 

Man that is a huge amount of drop with that new seat. I think if I bolt this momo to the floor i can get away with a standard HDHCDD if not possibly the hard top version. There is a NB local to me with a HT version that I might get a chance to sit in next week that will make or break my decision. I don't sit with my seat at full recline when I drive usually 1-2 clicks vertical just because i prefer that driving position. So I'll try that and in the meantime try to devise from floor mounts.

Anyone besides savington have pictures of what their floor mounts look like? I'm hoping to be able to fab something that I can bolt to the seat and bolt into the car versus bolting it in the car and then drilling holes in the floor of the car so i can run bolts into the seats like some have said they had to do.

 

holy ****, talk about gaining head room...
nice work, how well can you see over the hood in that position, thats one thing i would worry about when auto-xing
im 5'11" and a half, and my seat has a removable cushion to let me sit lower, once i remove it, i feel im too low when auto-xing but feel ok when just driving around

 

In that position, I am slightly slouched... if I sit bolt upright in that seat, it'd raise my up about an inch. I've actually had to learn how to use the clutch all over again. Instead of lifting my foot up, I've got to pull it essentially straight back. I've had a couple interesting launches.

 

Chad, any reason you need the hard top bar over the standard? The difference is simply that you can't use the side latches as intended on the hard core. You have to get creative or make your own or whatever. Or run none. I drove 3000 miles with no side latches coast to coast. No problems.

 

Well a stock seatbelt is supposed to lock instantly upon and sudden movement. So whats the difference between that and already being "locked in" with a harness?

 

i guess you're right, just speculation. isn't that how dale earndhart (sp) died? I guess the speeds are a bit more extreme though.

 

The only reason i say the hardtop version might be better is because its supposedly further back towards the rear or the car. As for side latches, I don't care about them. If i end up needing them for some reason i will get some bolt in spec plates or the uber expensive low profile ones. I don't even own a hardtop right now anyway. So instead of being right on my head it'll be further back from the seat. I don't see myself getting below the bar but if I can get it back enough I figured that would be safer. I could be wrong though. When i talked to bethania he was saying if I can't get below the bar I should get the bar back as far as possible. There is no way i'm getting the ace though, like I said before it's just too queer.

So i found a local with an 01+ with a HD sport and snapped some camera phone pics of me sitting in it.
The first image is with the seat all the way back with me in normal driving position. His seats are un modified and the momo start has about the same seat back height as the 01 seats. The stock 99 seats are like 4" shorter.

2nd picture shows me with the seat all the way back full recline. Looks like I won't even fit in the car in the first picture, kind of like Sam.


I need a haircut as well. Yes my head is resting against the rollbar and the seat is below the bar.

 

here's how i interpret those pics:

hard dog sport = brain damage

it's not any better with the hard core.

i say have bethania make you a custom top hoop that has a slight U-bend (parenthesis bend?) behind your head like a little rollbar halo.

I think, though, that rollbars have to be all one piece so they'd have to bend it that way, not cut 'n weld a chunk. here I drew a picture:

 

nice picture...