Roll bars

[(steven)]

Just brought a Mk1 Mx5 for some track day experience. Given it appears to be made out baking foil I want a bit of roll over protection. I am currently looking at a few different roll bars

• Hard Dog M1 Sport bar (~£400)
• TR Lane Track Day bar (~£300)
• TR Lane GP bar (~£250)
• Left field choice – OMP roll cage (~£450)

I’m 6ft 2in, so I am looking for a bar which I am not going to bang my head on and is high enough to actually be above my head in a crash.

Hard dog has the better reputation, although from what I’ve read, the TR lane bars seem pretty good these days.

I am not sure that the M1 bar gives enough head room and the prices are pretty steep given the cost of the car. I’m leaning towards the TR lane track day bar but I don’t really understand if this is a good idea as it seems to have less mounting points than the GP bar.

The full roll cage is a bit of an outside choice as I would probably have to get that fitted by a professional and get a hard top and then you’re looking at £700 worth of roll cage and £400 pounds worth of roof on £1000 worth of car.

Has anybody got any experience of these bars (or any others)? The car is going to be a track day toy not a daily but I am not planning on spending millions on turning it into the ultimate weapon, just a good budget track day runner.

[garyc3481]

I was recently in the same situation as you, im 6'3 and have a budget MX-5 for back road and trackday fun.

Ive opted for a TR lane GP bar with extra diagonal and harness bar. I wasnt wanting to spend a fortune as like you said, its just a budget track car and never going to be a weapon.

Im still waiting delivery but the TR lane website states the seats still have their full travel and it works with soft and hardtops so I think the height issue should be ok.

The also pop up on ebay from time to time so you might even be able to get one a bit cheaper than normal rrp?

[skinny]

i don't think any full cage (OMP, safety devices etc) is compatible with a hard top.

[covmutley]

I have the TR Lane GP bar. At 5'6 i cant help you with the height issue, although I think my seat goes all the way back. Havent rolled the car so cant say which of those bars is best.

What i can say is that the finish is good, it seems a sturdy piece of kit and it has definately tightened up the rear end as well. Overall,im very happy with it. I know the earlier designs got some stick off some people but i think even they now seem to agree the latest designs are ok.

[(steven)]

skinny said:

i don't think any full cage (OMP, safety devices etc) is compatible with a hard top.

Guess that rules a full cage out. I thought I had read roll cages didn't work with softtops but they did work with hard tops. Thanks for the info.

As an aside, it would be great to know how much clearance there is between the roof and the roll bar. I guess that would give me some indication on how much head clearance I would get.

[Combover]

I've got an M2 sport bar.

Between the roof and the bar there is about an inch gap.

You can get some full cages that DO work with the hard/soft top. I think Al Clark at Mazda On Track had one so possibly ask him.

BTW, if a bar doesn't allow the use of a soft top, it is highly unlikely it will allow the use of a hardtop as it's the front catches that they impede.

[skinny]

at 6 ft 2 you may have to consider either cutting foam out the base of your seat, or changing to an aftermarket seat (probably a good idea if you're thinking about tracking it anyway) mounted straight on the floor to keep the height of the bar above the top of your helmet.

[jamiebae]

Do roll bars work with a glass rear screen? My mk1 has a later style mohair hood but I want a roll bar of some sort for it.

[genericguy]

I'm 6 foot 3 and recently had a TR Lane GP Rollbar fitted.
I still have full seat travel and it works fine with a glass rear scren and a hardtop (I've never fitted a hard top but was told it would work and can't see why it wouldn't).
Tim at TR Lane added another notch to the the headrest for me so this comes up to cover the rollbar so you can't bang your head on it.
I'm planning on carrying out a "foamectomy" or getting Elise seats to lower me, although I wanted to do this anyway.
Fittd pic:

[zac510]

I've got the Hard Dog in my Mk2 but fortunately I haven't tested it yet

Frankly the price difference between these wasn't an issue for me. I wanted it to be beefy and sit under a hardtop.

Then I forgot to spec it with the harness bar.

[Combover]

jamiebae said:

Do roll bars work with a glass rear screen? My mk1 has a later style mohair hood but I want a roll bar of some sort for it.

Yes but only if you buy one that has been designed to accomodate it. Mine is for a glass rear screen so as long as you ask the manufacturer, you should be ok.