A roll bar has been on the shopping list for quite a while now, and with TR Lane now selling them through MX5parts, the time seems right - especially since MX5parts are currently offering 10% off everything until Friday.
That brings down the cost of the standard black GP roll bar to Ā£243 + delivery. The silver is Ā£280.80 + delivery.
What Iād like is some advice on which one to choose. I have a Merlot and I was thinking that the silver version would go well with the grey colour scheme (grey seats and hood).
However, Iāve realised that this silver colour isnāt the colour of the steel; i.e. itās not stainless steel, itās just paint. With that in mind, Iām not sure how good itāll look. The black is at least a safer colour which would at least go with the carpet and hood interior. And itās cheaper. Any thoughts?
I was also wondering whether it was worth paying the extra for any of the roll bar variations with diagonals, etc, such as one with a single diagonal (Ā£270 in black) or one with an internal V (Ā£297 in black). I think Iād prefer the standard version, if only to save space, minimise weight, and keep the costs down, but Iād like to hear whether you think the diagonals make any significant improvement to safety.
The Merlot also has a bar (presumably for stiffening) behind the headrests, as seen here; does anyone know whether this gets in the way of the roll bar?
You do realise that a rollbar really needs to be padded up for safety reasons, otherwise you risk fracturing your skull in a rear ender. In which case, the colour of the bar is irrelevant. Iād go for the black bar, and get contrasting padding, or have a matched colour leather cover made to go over the padding.
Some people say the crossbraces are worth it, but I donāt know what they are basing their comparison on. No rollbar has been safety tested; Iād suggest the standard bar is more than up to the job, without loss of rear vision.
All Mk1 1,.s have a cross brace; this was installed as part of a side impact system, where the stiffening effect is secondary. Under the rubber, the actual bar is a pirce of 1" wide 5mm thinck steel strip. Not all that much to it.
Thanks for the quick reply. Does the whole frame need to be padded, or only those sections directly behind the driverās head (and that of his passenger)?
Interesting information regarding the side impact system, thanks.
Thank you for this !Ā I was thinking about the same.Ā Iām interested the comments about padding.Ā Iām 6ft 3 and a bit concerned about the height of the bar when fitted.Ā Anyone out there with a bar fitted who have had isses to do with their height ?Ā Onlso fitting padding - does this impeed use of the roof ?Ā Any further comments would be appreciated.
You can do the whole lot, or just sections. The foam from Demontweeks is split, with the centre bore offset, so it shouldnāt affect how the roof fits.
You can buy a velcro neoprene cover, in various colours, called Rap-Z, from Summit Racing.
I foolishly once ran the car at Curboroā without padding. 2 laps destroyed a new Shoei helmet (cracked). Admittedly one of those Japanese rollbars, but it was a saliant reminder.
If youāre tall (and donāt want a full cage, rather a roll bar (hoop) behind the seats then the GP bar would be best. Look at your seatbelt towers and imagine a line across the cabin space from the bolt that holds the seatbelt retainer on, thatās where the bar attaches to. Therefore this bar allows full rearward travel of the seat but may cause some snagging depending on how far back you like the rake on the seat. Iām 6ā and had no issues with either the leather Mk2 seats I had in previously or the current Cobra bucket seats that are fitted. As for cross bracing, tās as much about form than function. If you imagine a triangle is the strongest shape then the GPX is clearly the strongest (being four triangles formed from the X brace). I have the diagonal fitted to my full cage (essentially the same rear hoop) and I do find that this can partially block the rearview mirror but not to the point where it becomes redundant.
If you want a more track-focused bar then Iād personally suggest the TD bar. This is slightly wider than the GP bar and sits slightly further forward, connecting to the chassis via flat plates that are drilled through the firewall behind the seats, rather than to the top of the parcel shelf floor. Because of its position it can impeed rear travel a bit, again especially if you like a more reclined seating position.
All three of the above are compatible with both soft and hardtops. Some cross bracing will snag on a softtop if you have a glass rearscreen though.
Iāve had all three designs over the years and cannot recommend Tim and his team at TR Lane strongly enough. Great bunch and will happily take on custom builds if you think you may ned an extra inch here or there. A visit to the workshop in Stroud is a real eye-opener to what goes into making these bars and remember steel has gone up in price quite a lot recently yet his prices have hardly movedā¦
Ā Ive fitted 3 now and the cross will hold up better in rolls because of the triangles. Also like āATā points out, a rear end shunt on the road without padding will cause more injury to the back of your skull than not having a cage at all. Note that some jap roll bars have bolts sticking outĀ right behing your head .
This is a TR lane with cross bracing and good rearward seat travel . Needs the padding still.
This is a link to a you tube guide I made to fitting this bar.
I had a look at a roadster sitting in a breakers that had been through a roll. The Japanese 4-p rollbar (bolts behind the head) had held up well; there are slight deformation of the floor where the main bar was fitted.
Its worthb reflecting that one of the earliest cars to be fitted with a Hard-dog bar was rolled (Frankenstein); Shiv Pathek still walked away scalped, so theyāre no guarantor of safety.
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And that TR Lane cross-braced bar has some pretty serious design flaws; as far as I can see, the extra bits are only there to look butch. Note how Bethania (Hard Dog) do it:
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The cross braces actually brace the main bar; just welding them to the rear stays isnāt going to do anything for the main bar, but I supose its easy to make that way.
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Other TR Lanes are different though:
Hard Dog M1 Sport
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Given the choice, Iād go for the Hard Dog products; better design.
There is nothing very wrong with the TR Lane design other than it is all a bit agricultural and that a similar strength could be acheived with less weight through better design.
My only issue with TR Lane cages is that they just dont fit particularly well, last one I fitted to a customer car needed pulling with turfers and pushing back with jacks to get the feet parallel to the floor and boot floor (keeping a very careful eye on the door-shut gaps), I even had to jack the rear regs apart so the holes in the feet could be transfered to the car without ending-up blind inside a box section.
Very interresting thread ! Iām a new forum member, residing in France near Paris and owner of a 2000 1,8 NBFL.
I use the car mainly for weekend trips but Iām very interrested in going for a couple of trakdays a year. At the moment, my choice for a future buy is for the TRLane GPV but I saw on MX5Parts the TT model. Does any of you have an advice for his model ? In term of design it looks more well integrated to the car and donāt change that much how the car looks, but what about safety regarding a GPV or other GP model line ?
I start to worry also a bit about possible head injury on road use, I donāt know if statically speaking I have more chance to roll over on the track or have someone hitting me rear on the road, ā¦ the issue is that most track wonāt alloz me to enter if I donāt have the item. Hard choice here !
Yes - thanks for all the feedback on this, very interesting.Ā As for me I think I will go one of the cross braced HR Lane jobies. Interesting to read Dr Eunosās comments about fitment of the Lane device - Roddisons in Sheffield said exactly the same.Ā Iām still slightly concerned about the height issue as my head sticks well over the top of the seat headrest when Iām driving (I am a big old lump) but as mentioned, with the correct roll bar padding I still think this is the route to go.
Thanks again for the information - always impressed by the feedback on this site (and I purport to know a thing or two about cars - after 30 years in the car industry).
I am just fitting a TRL cage to oneĀ of my cars (picked it up before the price rise). It required a little bit of adjustment (to get the hood catches to clear the front bar) but it was straight forward. I am happy with the design and fitment.Ā Its based on the TD bar which is pretty much like what the Track Dog Hardcore bar M2Ā Hardtop looks like (which allows use with glass rear windows - rear stays moved forward). I went with a single diagnol. Their GP bar is pretty much the same as the Track Dog Ace bar. And the TRL TT is pretty much the same as the Hard Dog Deuce bar. I dont understand what people say TRL is not as safe as Hard Dog when the design seem to be essentially copies with the same mounting points as the Hard Dog. There does not seem to be a TRL equivalent to the Hard Dog Hardcore M1,M2 bar (which looks like it will be the safest design but no hardtop/Glass window compatablity)
Using bucket seats so my head is below the head rest and mounted lower on brackets so my head wont touch the side bars (still going to fitting some padding though).
Itās already been mentioned by AT but there isnāt a bar out there thatāll fit with a roof or soft top that will give you the height you want.
You have to go down the Safety Devices / Caged route to get this (ie MaX5 / Ma5da racing spec) and thatāll set you back >Ā£800 and without the option of a roof.
Swings and roundabouts but assuming that youāll be wearing a helmet on track and very unlikely to flip the car off it, surelyĀ any protection is better than none?
Rollbars give people a false sense of safety. The same people worrying about fitting rollbars for the track are often seen on the same tracks with lowered roof, lowered windows, and exposed arms. And cheap 4-point harnesses.
OMP also build a FIA approved cage, not just SD.
Just in case anyone thinks they must have a thumping, multi-cross braced rollbar to survive a roll:
Great discussion, some very useful points made here.
In light of whatās been said I think Iāll go for the basic TR Lane model, in black. The 5 is my main car so I donāt want to sacrifice too much space in it, nor compromise rear window visibility (albeit slightly). If the basic TR Lane GP bar is likely to do the trick Iāll opt for that.
Was also reading this information on the 5 Speed website - obviously theyāre trying to flog Hard Dog bars, but what do you think about this statement?
TRL roll bars are nearly identical to the eqivelent Hard Dog roll bars (one wonders where TRL got their inspirationā¦), hence mounting points are the same. Non of them mount to the parcel shelf (besides maybe the sylistic TT bar) or the seatbelt towers.
[1] Japanese rollbars do not bolt to the rear deck and seatbelt towers. They bolt to the unibody. The first SCCA approved street rollbar was the Autopower rollbar, which bolted to the seatbelt towers. Mazda engineers have endorsed this mounting points.
[2] No rollbar uses M6 bolts, that would be ridiculous. And the strength of a bolt is determined by its rating, not size. Bolt in roll bars, when they fail, they fail when the unibody fails because it has been weakened due to drilling. Like what happened to the 4P bar in this Mustang:
Note the rollbar footings that have punched through the floor.
Bolt-together rollbars, common in Japan, use a shanked design, ensuring that bolt strength becomes redundant, to an extent. This is a design described in the MSA Bluebook.
No SpecMiata will ever use a bolt in cage. They use welded cages, which, incidently, the factory hardtop will fit over.
The Bluebook contains some guidance as to what you should ask TR Lane, and anyone else:
The rollbar maker should be able to present the spec of the tubing used. Rollbars should also have a scrutineering hole, where the thickness of the tubing can be checked.
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