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Of course this has been discussed in depth historically on this forum however today in 2023, the options are quite different.
I and probably most street/track FD owners are looking for a 4 point roll bar. I will only consider 4 point bars that mount to the shock tower such as Samberg or Raceshop. Unfortunately they are no longer available.
Does anyone still keep in touch with Justin Samberg or Raceshop to see if they will consider orders/group buy?
With the yen as weak as it is, you should consider Cusco or Okuyama. Both offer many different models. There's also a shop called Saito Rollbar that sells a variety of different options, but I'm not sure if they will ship internationally..
I probably would have bought a cage by this point, but I was worried about it interfering with heel-toe, being an RHD car.
^ I have also been looking to upgrade my Autopower 4-point race roll bar since my last few time trial laps in my RX-7
For what it's worth, for anyone looking for a bar that is NASA and SCCA competition sanctioned, the Autopower's are still being produced and a good value
I do agree with Armen's indirect point that the Autopower rear bars design is suboptimal with it not being tied in to the rear strut towers
I have a few great cage fabricators in my area, and will be replacing mine with a custom back half Porsche Cup style (what can I say, it's a safe and aesthetic design) welded in roll bar tied to the b-pillars
Samberg's style with the plastics retention is a really nice design - would be great if Justin or someone resurrected it
AST has some good options too if you'd be willing to import a kit
My two cents and to each their own, I would not recommend or ever trust my life to the Cusco / Safety 21 or similar style roll bar
Worth noting, there was controversy BITD about the M2/Raceshop bar in that, while it seems like a great design, it wasn't actually SCCA sanctioned, due to the bends in the rear stabilizers that helped it meet the strut towers, and the fact that I believe it was thinner walled owing to being chromoly, which SCCA outlawed because it was a cost escallation. There may have been an issue as well with the double-shear joint on the diagonal. Sandbergs I believe was based on that design, but may have addressed some of that. Caveat: I haven't checked the latest rules/directives, I'm paraphrasing an issue since its been a long time and it may have been forgotten.
That's not to say it wasn't/isn't safe (I have one), but it may not get through an **** retentive scrutineer, if you're into that. Autopower will.
If I had to do it over now, I'd find a good race fabricator (like Piper Motorsport here nearby), and have it built to my spec, addressing sanctioning concerns which a good fabricator will know in and out. Some may be willing to build it custom as a bolt-in/removable if that's a big deal. Again, with the way my car has gone, that woulds be less of a concern for me. The illusion that I might someday return it to stock to sell it that was present at the time of I bought the bar, is long gone LOL.
I actually had an m2 roll bar years back. Very disappointed in fitment and just overall design with the rear bars reaching the trunk storage bins so I ended up selling it. Now, after witnessing a few rolls I have realized the importance of a good roll bar.
It would certainly be nice to be SCCA compliant even though most time attack events I've participated in don't uphold SCCA NASA level standards.
I wouldn't mind having a custom fabricated bar made but surprisingly I do not know of a shop that I would trust to do so, even in Los Angeles.
I like the clean look and added structure of the roll bars that bolt to the rear shock towers, but
Other issues with this design (besides above listed) are-
Shock upper mounts arent approved backing plates for the rollbar plate above it.
The large hole in the top of the shock tower for mounting the shock top means the rollbar mounting bolts have less sheetmetal to move before they shear out even with a proper backing plate.
The rear shock tower roll bar mount adds structural rigidity to the unibody at a critical suspension mounting point- most rules dont want your rollbar (safety) be designed to add rigidity/performance (though they all to some degree).
I wouldnt trust my life to any of the rear shock mounting options for the FD. the design just doesnt allow anything solid. There is a place in indiana that sells premade main hoops for FD rx7's if you want to make/weld up your own. The hard part is already done at that point
My two cents and to each their own, I would not recommend or ever trust my life to the Cusco / Safety 21 or similar style roll bar
Sure, you wouldn't use it for a Pike's Peak or Nurbergring 24H car, but for track days they'd be absolutely fine.
No bolt-in roll bar is going to be anywhere near as strong as a full weld-in cage.
No, SCCA and NASA are bodies for governing competition.
Track days are non competilition events and safety is up to whoever is paying the track fees (and hopefully the insurance bills).
Exactly. I'm not sure what HPDE orgs specify beyond a broomstick test for convertibles. So I'm confused by the above references to sanctioning bodies.
One should use the appropriate diameter and thickness tubing for the weight of the vehicle. Probably 1.75" to 2" diameter and 90 or 120 for the wall thickness of the tubing for the FD. The rear bars should probably hit the trunk floor somewhere or the sides of the shock towers with appropriate reinforcing plates. Either are challenging to fit on a car that has an interior - which is why the shock tower became a popular way to do it.
Kirk Racing and Autopower remain the go-to places for bolt in roll bars in the US. Kirk seems to have done a few different designs over the years judging by their pics: Photos | Kirk Racing Products
Searching reveals that there was a Group Buy for the Kirk once upon a time. Nostalgic.
Been looking for a roll cage for about 3+ years myself, was on the failed 2nd group buy for rogue motorsports bar... anyone have experience with agi precision? https://agiprecision.com/mazda/rx7-fd
Been looking for a roll cage for about 3+ years myself, was on the failed 2nd group buy for rogue motorsports bar... anyone have experience with agi precision? https://agiprecision.com/mazda/rx7-fd
Never heard of them, would like to know more about their product as well
Due to rules here, you require reinforcement plates under the feet of the cage - at least for speed events. In the old money, around 19 sq in (not necessarily square or rectangular). Not sure of his current stuff, I'd strongly suspect AGI mounts to the side of the shock tower, but contacting Adam directly would be a far better bet for accurate info. Do know he's sold rx7 cages into the US and elsewhere.
Wrong side of the country and possibly be too flat out to talk anyway, he might be engineering a car over at VIR early in October.
Yeah, it looks like they made the roof bars to clear the headliner, and I think once you put in the forward portion of a cage, you're resigned to no headliner or pillar trim, and cutting the dash to do it right. That looks like a skull cracker.
Does anyone have photos of the Autopower bar installed? It's surprisingly hard to find any. I imagine a lot of the early-2000s install pics are lost to time at this point.
I think the Autopower bar goes through the rear speaker grilles, which is not awesome but I think I prefer to the Kirk which seems to require that the strut covers, jack storage covers, and trunk cover all get removed or cut up.
Has anyone deleted the rear bins in order to mount a rollbar significantly further back?
Does anyone have photos of the Autopower bar installed? It's surprisingly hard to find any. I imagine a lot of the early-2000s install pics are lost to time at this point.
I think the Autopower bar goes through the rear speaker grilles, which is not awesome but I think I prefer to the Kirk which seems to require that the strut covers, jack storage covers, and trunk cover all get removed or cut up.
Has anyone deleted the rear bins in order to mount a rollbar significantly further back?
Crispy and I both have Kirk bars, if you want specific pics I'm happy to send some.
If I were to do things again I'd take the car to Piper @ Summit Motorsports Park and have a true half cage fabbed and welded in place. You'll get more seat depth and it will be stronger.
I actually had an m2 roll bar years back. Very disappointed in fitment and just overall design with the rear bars reaching the trunk storage bins so I ended up selling it. Now, after witnessing a few rolls I have realized the importance of a good roll bar.
It would certainly be nice to be SCCA compliant even though most time attack events I've participated in don't uphold SCCA NASA level standards.
I wouldn't mind having a custom fabricated bar made but surprisingly I do not know of a shop that I would trust to do so, even in Los Angeles.
I'm actually curious—are you sure it was an M2 bar? Mine has no impact on the storage bins whatsoever, and the fitment and design are impeccable.
Crispy and I both have Kirk bars, if you want specific pics I'm happy to send some.
If I were to do things again I'd take the car to Piper @ Summit Motorsports Park and have a true half cage fabbed and welded in place. You'll get more seat depth and it will be stronger.
Thanks! How is the harness bar on the Kirk? In some pics I've seen it looks quite low.
I'm thinking about Piper as well. Are they at Summit now? I know they're the gold standard, and I had them do some work on a Miata like a decade ago.
Sharing this pic for posterity. I dropped a shell at Light Speed and Fab - in Southern IN near Louisville, KY in April of this year. They are planning to use the shell to make a bolt in rollbar for FDs.
I’ve been following up with the owner for updates. Maybe if some other owners bug the shop, they’ll be a bit more motivate to produce the rollbar. My understanding is they made a main hoop/weld-in rollbar for a LS swap owners outside of Indianapolis within the past year.
