Ready to start playing with my toy....
Ok guys...... I'll be picking up my midlife crisis this week from its clutchectomy.
I know you all have your preferences, but I really want a Boss Frog clearview roll bar.
I'm also gonna spring for a set of Azenis for the stock wheels. Size?
Do we have discount deals working anywhere? Any suggestions on best retailer?
Hello, my name is OUTRACE and I'm a motorcyclist. It has been zero days since my last ride.
Most of us print out the cheapest price we can find online for Azenis and get Discount Tire to price match. I used the DT at Forest and Josey in Dallas. I think I was $230 or so installed and others have gotten them a little cheaper. Check
www.edgeracing.com or www.onlinetire.com
for prices.
Re: Ready to start playing with my toy....
The 14" Azenis only come in 1 size (195/60 R14). I paid around $225 out the door for my last set at Discount. (If you call enough of them in your locale, you should be able to find similiar pricing.)Originally Posted by OUTRACE
Kewl.....
No advice on the roll bar?
Hello, my name is OUTRACE and I'm a motorcyclist. It has been zero days since my last ride.
check pm...
03 LS FM2ish TDR I/C
99 Disco, the go anywhere ride
Hey OUTRACE Glad to hear your getting your car back!!
It looks cool!Anyone have one???
I don't know what the "Boss Frog clearview roll bar" is, unless it's the Boss Frog Double Hoop bar (click on "Double Hoop Bar"). How about a link to a picture of that clearview model?
If it is the Double Hoop bar, I like the look, but I'd be worried about the clearance for my head. Check out that picture of the bar installed in the 1991 smurf blue car... the seat is pushed under the hoop and against the middle down-tube. It probably would be a problem for me, since I'm only 5'8" -- the seat would be up far enough so that the bar wouldn't be an issue. But for anyone 6' or taller, I can see that being a big problem...
Here ya go! A LINK
I kinda like it... Just curious to know if it's tall enough.
Yea I was thinking the same thing, it's hard to tell without someone in the car. But the shot with the hardtop on the car makes it appear short.
Hey Altiain how much room does your bar have between the hardtop & the bar??
Excellent! I didn't know they made anything but the Double Hoop. That Clearview is a good idea, since the thing I don't like about diagonals is that they partically obstruct rearward vision. By moving the point of connection to the top bar out from the center, that problem is solved. The other thing I like about Boss Frog is that they seem willing to say they've fully tested the bar (destruction testing), and have apparently gotten official SCCA approval. No more wondering if it meets the SCCA's rules/guidelines or not.
Height is always a concern with a rollbar. In order to fit under a Miata's soft (or hard) top, the maximum height is [obviously] restricted. Tall(er) people are always going to find it difficult to fit under a rollbar in a Miata. On the other hand, that Boss Frog Clearview looks lower than the Hard Dog that altiain has in his car. IIRC, his bar very nearly touches the inside of his hardtop (the picture of the Boss Frog Clearview seems to show a bit more clearance between the bar and the top).
About 1/16th of an inch.Yea I was thinking the same thing, it's hard to tell without someone in the car. But the shot with the hardtop on the car makes it appear short.
Hey Altiain how much room does your bar have between the hardtop & the bar??
If you want my opinion on the Boss Frog Clearview, here goes - it looks almost exactly like the Hard Dog Hard Core bar, except that it is much lower. From the pictures on the website, it even looks lower than a Hard Dog Sport bar to me, which - imho - pretty much negates the primary benefit of having a roll bar.
Personally, I would still recommend a Hard Dog Sport bar for shorter people, or those who plan to use their bar with a factory hardtop in a street car. I would recommend the Hard Core for taller people, or those looking for as much head clearance as they can realistically get without losing the functionality of the hard and soft tops. The Hard Core will work with a hard top, but it does require custom fabrication of the side latches, and it does rub occasionally.
As for the main "benefit" of the Clearview - rearward vision, apparently - I say it's an answer to a question that was only asked by people who have never owned a double diagonal Hard Dog bar. Yep, the diagonals do cut off small portions of the corners of your rearview mirror. However, having driven my car with a double diagonal bar for almost three years, I can state that this was indeed a problem... for maybe the first 90 minutes I drove the car with the bar. It is so unobtrusive that I haven't noticed it since.
Now the rear quarter blind spots with the top up are another story... but that has nothing to do with roll bars whatsoever.
Iain
"We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
FWIW, the SCCA doesn't actually "approve" roll bars or cages at all. They supply the minimum construction specifications in the GCR (General Competition Rules), but they don't test or certify aftermarket roll bars. Since most real race cars (the only ones the SCCA requires to have rollover protection) have custom fabricated cages, that would be an expensive and lengthy process, wouldn't it?... and have apparently gotten official SCCA approval. No more wondering if it meets the SCCA's rules/guidelines or not.
If you actually read the link to the engineer's report, the test regimen was apparently to meet FIA certification. There is no mention of the SCCA in that report. I'd also like to see a link to the actual FIA standard wording, since a resultant force of 9.4Gs is pretty minimal - FIA homologated racing seats have to meet a minimum standard of zero deformation under a loading of 15Gs.
Iain
"We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Sorry... you are right of course. The SCCA doesn't approve Boss Frog - or any - roll bars, as that might make them vunerable to a lawsuit. But the manufacturer has paid close attention to the guidelines and made sure their bars fit those "rules". They've also tested it (I'm sure the other manufacturers have as well), and are willing to say so (which the other manufacturers kinda waffle on). And Boss Frog provides a "Specifications Comparison" that you can take to an SCCA event as "proof" that their bars meet SCCA guidelines... something the other manufacturers don't do (as far as I know). And this is for Solo I application, which is more stringent than Solo II.
All I'm really trying to say is that Boss Frog seems to take the SCCA guidelines seriously, and really helps the customer (1) know that the bar meets those guidelines, and (2) has something to help ensure your local SCCA Solo I/II event folks will agree that it meets those guidelines (if you are ever questioned). Good for Boss Frog for actually trying to make this "soft" area clearer!
Having said all that, I'll still be taking altiain's advise and putting on a Hard Dog Sport Bar -- sans diagonals -- just like onething and Majik (and others?) have done. I like the stealth look (with the top up, you can't even tell the car has a roll bar), and I know that I fit just fine under that bar.
I just realized something interesting.
Hard Dog makes a distinction between M1 and M2 roll bars. Boss Frog makes no distinction and is showing only M2 cars.
I have an M1.
Does anyone know how much shorter the Hard Dog "short for hardtop" is in comparison to their soft top bar?
Hello, my name is OUTRACE and I'm a motorcyclist. It has been zero days since my last ride.
This one is installed in an M1. Note the stylish door handles!
Damn, I hate it when others can recognize my car better than I can.
I guess that's what happens when you keep it under a tarp and at the mechanic's place all the time.
I'm gonna go get my baby tonite and I'll make sure to take note of its stylishness.
Hello, my name is OUTRACE and I'm a motorcyclist. It has been zero days since my last ride.
It's amazing how much fun the Miata is with a clutch.......
Hello, my name is OUTRACE and I'm a motorcyclist. It has been zero days since my last ride.
the only differnce that i have seen in the m1 vs m2 bars is the rear down tubes are more towards the front in the m2 version to allow the glass back windo top to lower all of the way.
03 LS FM2ish TDR I/C
99 Disco, the go anywhere ride
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