Rollbar review
 

Hi guys- still searching IMpatiently, found the perfect car on Ebay but wife forbid me to buy something without driving it first:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-Ma...QQcmdZViewItem

Anyway, I wasted much time today looking into rollbars. Here's what I think I found out:
Boss Frog = $$$
Hard Dog = good people and lots of options
Autopower = not as cheap as I thought it would be; a $200 bar quickly grows to $400 when you had a harness bar and diagonal.

BF says harness tabs aren't needed, just run the harness around the bar; HD says you do need it, but their harness tab just looks like an eyelet right next to the bar. I can easily add my own real harness bar if a real bar is preferable.

Hard top, soft top, plastic, glass windows all contribute confusion. It looks like the best way to go is either the HDS with harness tab and diagonal ($385) or the HDHCHT at $425; the additional rearward room would come in handy on the street, and a real harness bar would be better than a "tab".

I was initially planning to get a four point that could be upgraded with a weld- or bolt-in cage, but it looks like that really isn't practical; SM cages and rollbars are really different animals.

So, the downside is a rollbar for HPDE is going to be more pricey (unless I can find one used); the upside is I don't really need to be too concerned with an SM spec cage any time soon.

Sound about right? Anything you guys would like to add? Trying to get all smart before I find the car.... gives me something to do other than search for a car (and search and search and search... Gawd I'm sick.):gay:

Hard Dog is coming out with a new bar soon called the Brainless one which is essentially a copy of the old now defunct Brainstorm Racing bar. It's supposed to have the most room for hardtops, glass windows and the like.

get the HDHCHT, I have double diags. and a harness bar. it's great!

You might want to check out kirk racing as well. I have a kirk bar and am very happy with it. The finish is not the same as the Hard Dog but the price reflects that as well. One other benefit is there are add on side bars that you can get welded in later for more lateral safety without going full cage.

how does the kirk guy fit with glass rear windows and hardtop
s

I have a 99 top on my car and it fits just fine with the stock glass rear window. As for a HT, I'm not sure as I don't have one anymore.

I too have been looking at the Kirk Rollbar for my '99 with the slug bars. I've heard that the forward slug bars help a ton for chassis stiffness. Sort of like adding overheads thus turning the convertible into a coupe. I'm to tall for overheads being 6'3" but something like kirks slug bars would be great if they made a substantial enough difference.
-I'm not sure i'll go kirk though, there is a local roll cage fabricator that might get my business though i'm not sure. All he does is fabricate roll cages and roll bars for cars and I have seen his work.
Kirks price of $485 for the 6 point plus shipping compared to the local cost of around $425 for the same thing is tempting. Kirk is tried and true though without many fitment problems and I hear great customer service to boot.

i have an NB HDHCDD with tabs in my '92. i added a '99 top last year. i like this bar better than the NA HDHCDD it replaced, it will fit a hardtop, too.

try calling up kirk no asnwear everytime i call.i really wanted the side bars.

I ordered harness tabs on mine...but I don't think I got them...anybody have pics of what a harness tab looks like?

BTW, look on auto-x forums and track clubs and you can find used bars for sale, I don't know if you'd want to buy a used bar, but unless the car was wrecked it would seem that it would be safe.

Thanks for the feeback! I did see the tabs on a Hard Dog, they were basically a wider base for the rear uprights... with what looked an awful lot like a basic screw eye sticking out of it.

Be careful with that car in the picture. One of the oldest tricks in the book is to spice up the photo with something to make you think a little old lady drove it. The cane and the stupid fluffy steering wheel cover could be props. Nobody who needs a cane would drive a Miata... and come on, the only mod on the whole car and it's a big fluffy steering wheel cover.

Here's what I think: :bsflag:
Sorry I have nothing to add about roll bars, except GOOD ON YOU for making the decision to get one!:bigtu:

I should add that I have an M2Sport, but wish I would have gotten a hardcore so I could have gone to trackdays and stuff down the road.

For the street the M2 sport bar is the better bar, believe me, I tested one... that's my 10AE on Hard Dogs website... I upgraded to the HDHCDD, and although I am happy with it, I had more room for my head to be away from the bar on the street. The M2 sport clearly saved my life.

Mark

I have a sport bar that I scored for $100, and welded in a harness bar with a single diagonal. The hardtop barely fits, and I can't get the side latches.

Oh well, its raining today, and not leaking.

What precludes you from using the sport for HPDE? As near as I can tell, all you really need is a fourpoint.
Good points, indeed. There's also a mysterious "we" in the text of the ad... AND "she" has only been a member since 8/1/06, and sold nothing so far. Not to mention it's supposedly been in OH for eight months but still has TX plates.

Thanks Sam! I needed some support, I'm jonesin bad. :D

My opinion on Miata roll bars for the street: You are much more likely to be involved in a collision where your head will contact the roll bar with enough force to do damage than you are to roll a Miata. If you are only driving on the street and occasional autocrosses I would not install a roll bar. If you are doing solo1 or HPDE’s, install an SCCA or other sanctioning body legal bar and be sure to pad any area your head might touch.

Hi Pete-I agree 100%. The car will get 4-8 HPDE's a year, so the rollbar is a must. If it's easy enough in and out, I might just make installing the rollbar part of the preflight checklist.

It's also the reason I was looking at the (insert obscure acronym here): to gain rearward room. Both my wife and I are pretty small people, so it shouldn't be that hard to keep our domes away from the hard stuff.

The only one I've ever installed was a HardDog Hardcore. That one is not something you can remove and install easly.