so i recently bought a 2nd gen miata (2000) and it will soon be my track toy. even though its not a honda, many of you have tracked miatas. so which roll bar did you get and why?

i drove evan's (elgorey) at VIR once and he had the hard dog hardcore double diagonal which seems pretty rigid, but it really eliminates any visibility from your rearview mirror.

 

nice car, ***

 

I've got that same double diagonal in my '00, but it was installed by the PO. It's supposed to be a good bar, and their website has some pretty convincing pictures. My only real problem with it is its proximity to my mellon with the stock seat. The double diagonal design is actually supposed to improve visibility over the single, but it still cuts a bit out of each corner of the mirror. I'm not really sure if I find it more or less intrusive then the single diagonal style Autopower that my brother has in his '95, which also seems pretty decent.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nice car, ***</TD></TR></TABLE>

You know selling the Miata won't make you straight.

 

I used to have a HD Hard Core Double Diagonal, but I've since changed to a HD Hard Core Sport DD. I have to say that the Sport works much better with the stock seat belts. I noticed that the double diagonals cut down on the rear visibility, but it never really bothered me. I no longer track the Miata, hence the switch to the Sport. If you're going to track this car often, I'd say HDHCDD, if not, I'd say the Sport.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Maengelito &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i drove evan's (elgorey) at VIR once and he had the hard dog hardcore double diagonal which seems pretty rigid, but it really eliminates any visibility from your rearview mirror.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am the original owner of that Hard Dog that ended up in Evan's car. I bought it because it was the beefiest bolt-in I could find. Also because of the pics on their website.

PS- The rearview was still usable for me, at least better than not having one at all.

Jon

 

i'm not saying that the HDHCDD is completely out of the question because of the visibility, but according to this website:

http://www.mmmiata.com/catalogsite/rollbar01.php

that particular bar wont work on the 99+ models

 

I installed the Hard Dog M2 Sport. It's not "SCCA approved" due to bar thickness, but it mounts the same way.
I wanted something substancial that didn't just mount to the seatbelt towers like some others.
It's not a track car.






Modified by johng at 9:03 AM 10/20/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Maengelito &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i'm not saying that the HDHCDD is completely out of the question because of the visibility, but according to this website:

http://www.mmmiata.com/catalogsite/rollbar01.php

that particular bar wont work on the 99+ models</TD></TR></TABLE>

Straight from the source:

http://www.bethania-garage.com/m2_hardcore.htm

Kinda confused,

Jon

 

HD makes an M2 HDHCDD bar. That's what I had in my 99.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Maengelito &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i'm not saying that the HDHCDD is completely out of the question because of the visibility, but according to this website:

http://www.mmmiata.com/catalogsite/rollbar01.php

that particular bar wont work on the 99+ models</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Mine was custom welded and offers more visibility than the Harddog ones IMO

it is also I bit taller and doesn't allow me to run a softtop....

 

take a look into the bossfrog clearview, i bought one for the car but still have yet to install it though, I believe the bars are beefier than the hardog ones and it works with robbins glass tops.. i'll have to let you know about visibility, of note, this bar does impede the retraction of stock seatbelt and the manufacturer of the bar is working on a fix

http://www.bossfrog.biz

 

I believe Boss Frog has worked out a 'fix' for the seatbelt retraction issue, but I'm still not keen on having the bar mess with the factory seatbelt mechanism in a street-driven car. Just me, I guess. Then again, the Hard Dog messes with the hard top side latches, which doesn't matter if you don't have a hardtop, but I do and I don't want to F with those, either (they're loctited into the hardtop and I figure I run a pretty good risk of making a $1000 mistake if I were to damage the hardtop in any way).

There's Brainstorm, but not a lot of information about it. Nobody seems to like the Autopower at all.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 117 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">HD makes an M2 HDHCDD bar. That's what I had in my 99.</TD></TR></TABLE>

hmmm, interesting... i dont know the difference in the mounting points between the M1 and M2 models. is anyone here familiar with all years of miatas? would a bar that fits M1 models not fit M2 models?

 

RTFM f00l

the hard dog site says they are not compatible between generations because of the glass window on the M2

if you yank the top and put on a hard top, like any track miata should, then im willing to bet the M1 rolbar will work fine, they are the same base chassis.

but then I know how you like to cruise around top-down with your boyfriend, so you might not want to do that

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AKADriver &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I believe Boss Frog has worked out a 'fix' for the seatbelt retraction issue, but I'm still not keen on having the bar mess with the factory seatbelt mechanism in a street-driven car. Just me, I guess. Then again, the Hard Dog messes with the hard top side latches, which doesn't matter if you don't have a hardtop, but I do and I don't want to F with those, either (they're loctited into the hardtop and I figure I run a pretty good risk of making a $1000 mistake if I were to damage the hardtop in any way).

There's Brainstorm, but not a lot of information about it. Nobody seems to like the Autopower at all.</TD></TR></TABLE>

hmm, i dont think i'd want a bar that messes with the factory seat belts either since i will be driving it on the street on occasion. i guess hard dog is the way to go. they seem to have the best rep for miatas. now i just need to find one on ebay or something...