TR Lane GP Roll Bars

[car.chic]

www.trlane.co.uk - are they any good anyone bought one from them.

How hard to fit, easy DIY?

[MX-5 Lazza]

We (PlanetMX5 Motorsports) are looking at these for our track car. If we do go for one well probably specify a few changes from what I've seen of them so far to make the mounting more solid and allow for the fitting of door-bars.
Do a search on Nutz and you'll find more info.

[snotrag]

Theres a huuuuge discussion over on MX5nutz.com regarding these. Read it with an open mind and tongue in cheek, IMO, a lot of keyboard warriors...

As for the bars - I'm considering one. Purely as a looks/chassis stiffening exercise, not as a roll bar.

[car.chic]

Thanks

Will take a look on nutz, any idea how these compare to hard dog bars?

[bluetone]

MX-5 Lazza said:

We (PlanetMX5 Motorsports) are looking at these for our track car. If we do go for one well probably specify a few changes from what I've seen of them so far to make the mounting more solid and allow for the fitting of door-bars.
Do a search on Nutz and you'll find more info.

Are you sure this is wise? The bar's rear struts bolt to the parcel shelf which is no way strong enough. The Hard Dog installation involves cutting holes in the shelf and fixing to the chassis. I am really surprised they are marketing this as a safety bar rather than a style bar tbh.

Now off to Nutz for some entertainment

[anonymous-user]

bluetone said:

Are you sure this is wise? The bar's rear struts bolt to the parcel shelf which is no way strong enough. The Hard Dog installation involves cutting holes in the shelf and fixing to the chassis. I am really surprised they are marketing this as a safety bar rather than a style bar tbh.

Sorry but that's just wrong, I suggest you do some updated research on these. They do not bolt to the parcel shelf.

[bluetone]

Mac. said:

bluetone said:

Are you sure this is wise? The bar's rear struts bolt to the parcel shelf which is no way strong enough. The Hard Dog installation involves cutting holes in the shelf and fixing to the chassis. I am really surprised they are marketing this as a safety bar rather than a style bar tbh.

Sorry but that's just wrong, I suggest you do some updated research on these. They do not bolt to the parcel shelf.

Yup, agreed - looks like the design has evolved quite a bit since the original fit-to-parcel-shelf design and is looking a pretty good option tbh.

It was/is this design that is stated as securing to the rear shelf:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

There is a little disagreement on this point @ Nutz, as pointed-out already..
http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2...

I would suggest this bar looks to be far better than having no protection but I am happy to have a Hard Dog fitted as I know these are a proven design..

Edited by bluetone on Saturday 25th April 08:26

[MX-5 Lazza]

We are going to talk to them to see if they can add a front mounting point to the top of the firewall the same as Hard Dog bars. As well as adding strength to the bars this will also make it easier for us to add door bars which will strengthen the chassis.

[Combover]

snotrag said:

As for the bars - I'm considering one. Purely as a looks/chassis stiffening exercise, not as a roll bar.

I've got a hard dog on mine and really rather regret doing it. Contrary to popular belief, it hasn't stiffened the chassis to anything like a noticeable degree.

Plus when you're coming up to traffic, there's always a nagging feeling that if someone were to rear-end the car, my head would connect with the bar in a rather brutal fashion.

Roll bars only really work if:

A. they're someway behind your seat i.e. away from your head

Or more likely

B. If you have a high back seat and harnesses.

If I roll mine, without a harness, it is liekly that I would get scalped...but at least my head won't come off.

[Combover]

car.chic said:

Thanks

Will take a look on nutz, any idea how these compare to hard dog bars?

They look like thet're improving all the time, whilst still being easier to fit than a hard dog.

It took roughly 7 hours to fit mine and some months on, I still haven't finished cutting the trim for it.

It's not an easy job to be honest.

[ciderminx]

Definitely not that easy to fit. My boyfriend ended up using the old brace bar as leverage (like using a scaf bar)to get the bar to fit. With one of the bolts on the seatbelt tower, it was around 5mm off the other bolt.
Now that we've got the two bolts on the seatbelt towers, and the bolts arrived in the post (these were forgotten when my bar was dispatched) we found that the bolts they sent aren't long enough, because the rear struts sit about half an inch from the rear shelf.
It has been a right pain to be fair. Dispatch takes ages because (i presume)they are made to order, despite claiming 3 are available on the ebay listing. The bolts were missing when it did arrive and now its a good way off fitting flush.
However, i love the look of it and the guy on the end of the phone was really helpful and the missing bolts were sent in the post pretty quickly.

Oh just to clarify, i got the bar that has two hoops over the seats, not the GP Style.

Edited by ciderminx on Monday 25th May 07:39

[Chris71]

Combover said:

Roll bars only really work if:

A. they're someway behind your seat i.e. away from your head

Or more likely

B. If you have a high back seat and harnesses.

If I roll mine, without a harness, it is liekly that I would get scalped...but at least my head won't come off.

How difficult is it to get that sort of setup in a '5? I was looking at a couple of cars at the weekend - a Westfield and a TVR and (stupid as this must have looked in the showroom!) I tried and failed to hit my head on the roll bar fitted to either. Has anyone here actually realised after fitting it that they could nut the roll bar?

[MX-5 Lazza]

Sit in your car with your seat-belt on and try to head-butt the steering wheel. As long as you do it quickly so the seatbelt locks you can't reach it. Now try driving the car into a tree and 50mph. You'll find that you can reach after all.
The same applies with roll bars. If you are rear-ended by someone driving at speed your seat will flex, you will lift up as far as the seat belt allows, your neck & back will stretch. You will reach MUCH further than you would expect. Anyway, the cross brace isn't really the most dangerous bit, it's the vertical bars at the sides, they are very easy to reach.
Skinny (sorry mate but I'm going to use you as an example ) has a nice roll-bar - single hoop style. At Donny he took a passenger out but on the final chicane he crashed sideways into a barrier. The crash wasn't that big - the car was fine other than a bit of bodywork damage but the passengers head hit the roll-bar upright. Even though he was wearing a helmet he felt pretty bad afterwards, possibly a bit of concussion. It's the sort of impact that is easy on the road, probably more likely than on track!

[Combover]

Chris71 said:

How difficult is it to get that sort of setup in a '5? I was looking at a couple of cars at the weekend - a Westfield and a TVR and (stupid as this must have looked in the showroom!) I tried and failed to hit my head on the roll bar fitted to either. Has anyone here actually realised after fitting it that they could nut the roll bar?

In the older cars it's quite easy. In the newer cars you need to fab your own seatbelt buckle mount.

I fitted my bar and then realised how dangerous it could be due to the way I sit in my car. Some people who are taller then me (it's not difficult) have now tried my car for size and realised that they couldn't actually drive it with a bar in due to their head permanently resting on the top hoop.

It does look kind of cool though and if I were buying an MX5 as a track car, i'd want one without a shadow of a doubt.

[bluetone]

Combover said:

I fitted my bar and then realised how dangerous it could be due to the way I sit in my car. Some people who are taller then me (it's not difficult) have now tried my car for size and realised that they couldn't actually drive it with a bar in due to their head permanently resting on the top hoop.

WTF!?

[MX-5 Lazza]

Combover said:

I fitted my bar and then realised how dangerous it could be due to the way I sit in my car. Some people who are taller then me (it's not difficult) have now tried my car for size and realised that they couldn't actually drive it with a bar in due to their head permanently resting on the top hoop.

That doesn't sound right. Which roll bar do you have?

[Combover]

Hard Dog Sport M2.

Admitedly, the chap is taller than me, but the way he sat in the car put his head on the bar.

[bluetone]

Combover said:

Hard Dog Sport M2.

Admitedly, the chap is taller than me, but the way he sat in the car put his head on the bar.

I have the HD Sport M1 and the top bar is a good 6" behind the rear headrest, having said that, I have the seat about 4 clicks forward from rear-most seat position. I guess if you are *really* tall to the extent your head is above the headrest and the seat is in the fully back position then this could indeed happen. Time to purchase some foam tubing/cable-ties..

[Combover]

As someone on here said, would you accept someone hitting you with a baseball bat so long as they'd put a bit of foam on it first?

Kind of like blowing on an oil rig fire.

[bluetone]

Combover said:

As someone on here said, would you accept someone hitting you with a baseball bat so long as they'd put a bit of foam on it first?

Kind of like blowing on an oil rig fire.

Well if it's a choice between that and having your face grated-off with tarmacadam, possibly.