Long Beach Jim

Are those plastic rollbars behind the seats of the Roadster merely decorative or do they have steel underneath? I'm curious about the strength and integrity. Has anyone heard of anyone rolling their roadster?

Haji

its got steel underneath and is decorative.
its stiff, but wont hold the car weight when you go upside down. drive safely.

elyliu

is that tru, haji? If a rollbar can't hold the weight of the car, why do we even have it? A half smashed head is still no good. Might as well have it completely smashed.

If i remember correctly, i've seen the s2000 roll over before, and the rollbars on the s2000 does hold the car up.

julian

some cars come with proper rollover bars and some are just decorative. s2000's probably do because they were allowed at the road track with the stock config. i believe boxsters also have functional roll bars. not sure about the z though

Haji

I've checked again.

S2000 roll bars seem to hold the car weight, but is not allowed at Motegi circuit (and you know who owns this place).
I suppose you shouldn't rely too much on this car's roll bar.

Similar with 350Z. It will be better than nothing, but not fully safe.
Besides it's only a 2-point roll bar, so there is a limit.
This was also not-track-approved.

FYI the roll bar on 360 Spyder is a total gadget.

Haji

Now my question: is there anyone who installed a "Track approved" roll bar on the Z convertible?
Here I mean the real thick, four point (or more points) roll bar that would hold the car when you go upside down.

If you can install such roll bar without killing the hood function, I think the car would look great.

ohw

It is steel. Someone posted this picture before on one of the sites, which shows what's behind the plastic cover. May need a rule book from the SCCA and an engineer to determine if it is track approved.

Haji

age

AndyB

The roll bars are tubular steel and are welded to the floor through a thick flange/plate.

My guess is that they would hold up the car if it rolled "gently", but if you flipped the car going 60 mph I doubt they could take it.

They are very solid feeling and fully welded to the floor.

This picture shows the bar going to the floor and the flange at the base. (pics are from my stereo installation)

It is also attached at the sides of the body (also visible in pic)

Haji

those photos look like its from the movie terminator

John

iTrader: (17)

Factory 2-pt roll bars are not "track-approved."

ct roadster

Depends on the track, John. Here in the Northeast, NASA and PDA say the stock factory roll hoops are ok for HPDE at Pocono, Summit Point, and Watkins Glen; they are not acceptable at Lime Rock. (LR tends to be very tough with tech/safety in general -- and rightly so.) CART, a Connecticut club, says the stock roll hoops are unacceptable for all events.

I've looked at the metal under the plastic cover, and I'm pretty ok with the stock bars for me at HPDE events; everyone should make their own decision about this though -- it's your life! I do want to install a 5 or 6 point harness, and I'm trying to figure how to do that without too much interior disruption. I'd prefer to keep the sotck seats as a) I like them, and b) race seats attract way too much attention.

-frank

John

iTrader: (17)

There are some tracks that don't require a real roll-bar. For those that do, the factory one doesn't qualify.

Haji

I once saw a Jag Convertible equipped with a track-spec roll bar, and it actually looked quite nice.
Would someone want to try that with a Z conv?