I've read through most of the threads that's been discussed here, and just want to do a summary and see if you guys agree with what I've read so far and if I'm missing anything.

Harness Bar
PROS - easy to install, cheaper when all is said and done (labor, time)
CONS - possible road hazard/safety concerns when your car is upside down.

4pt Rollbars
PROS - SAFER, provide roll over protection, strengthening chassis
CONS - time consuming/harder to install, more expensive, takes up more room

My guess is, for an amatuer, it'll be hard to install the 4pt Rollbar, given that you need to drill holes for the bolt in roll bar like Kirk. If DIY, my guess is it'll take about one weekend with a friend and dozen or 2 beers, assuming you don't drill at the wrong place.......... For the weld in ones, well, you'll need to pay someone to get it done for you, which translate to more money....... and will also need to add padding around the head area to avoid banging it with your head (another $$).

For the harness bar, it all seems pretty easy to install, most people get it done maybe in an hour or 2. Assuming that the reason you have this is because you want to wear harnesses during an event, then in case where you flip the car and roll cover, the roof might collapse and you'll be stuck at your seat and may cause serious injury.

I, myself, am still debating whether I should get the harness bar or the roll bar....... but seems like a harness bar should be sufficient for me for now (HPDE, autoX, not real wheel to wheel racing). But in the long run, maybe the rollbar is a better investment........

 

Roll bar or bust, IMO. You can't really drill the holes in the wrong spot for the Kirk. You put it in first, then drill directly through the 8 holes in the plates (two on each side) which allows you to precisely drill through the body. It took me about 4 hours - alone - and I was being ****. You'll need padding for bolt-in or weld-in regardless.

If you want to stay in your seat better without the whole crush-your-head concern, you could use your 3-point with an aftermarket, tighter, seat. This isn't ideal, either, but it's an option that won't kill you in a rollover.

After having two on-track accidents in 2 months, I'm a firmer believer in safety items. I think all HPDE drivers should wear a HANS as well. That purchase accompanied my SA2010 helmet purchase earlier this year.

 

I vote rollbar, and a good supplier is betamotorsports, couple more months and ill get mine from them.

 

Anybody with decent pics of roll bars particularly kirks
Particularly a rear view mirror shot I wanna know how much of your view it blocks

 

Betamotorsports has a nice pic on their site, also plenty of pics in the racing section.

 

unless you reinforce the floor for a bolt in roll bar (i.e. Weld on thicker floor reinforcement plates where the mounting holes go....) IMHO they give a false sense of safety as they given enough force in a roll over event, that bolt in bar can punch through the floor... i mean, four holes with four bolts to the OEM floor isnt going to distribute all the load of an entire car on its roof evenly enough..

 

Still much better than a harness bar

 

Sounds like the installation is pretty straight forward for the Kirk? Since it's a 4pt, shouldn't it have 16 holes (4 on each plate) to drill? Do you have some installation pictures that you can share? I'm just worry that it might be too big of a job for me to tackle, and don't want to go to a shop to get it done ($$).

Thanks for the info!

 

Search over in the racing section, most of the rollbar stuff is over there.

 

Did a search for "Kirk rollbar" in the autocross/road section and came up with this:

https://my350z.com/forum/autocross-r...6k-beware.html

unfortunately, pictures are not there anymore.......and the guy that posted it, his last activity/post was in 2007, I didn't contact him but I doubt he's still around......

 

https://my350z.com/forum/media-share...roll-cage.html

I have one of these sitting in my garage, but I can't decide if I can get over drilling the body. I've been autocrossing for a year now and I'm toying with the idea of HPDE.

 

Yup, quite straight forward. There are instructions on the Kirk site as well. You basically put it in place, see where the holes are (yes, 16 of them), and drill away. It is a snug fit, and it was a bit challenging to load the frame into the car by myself, but clearly not impossible.