Does anyone have pictures of after market FUNCTIONAL roll bars in there Cabriolet? I am thinking about replacing the factory ones and removing the rear seat head rests to assist with rear viewing. The parts obviously must be as functional as originals.

 

Never seen or heard about such a thing....

We're talking with a reputable rollbar manufacturer here about potentially designing such a thing... but haven't found anyone local willing to give up their car for a month to support this project....

 

I've been wanting to do this as well. A single wide hoop with no head rests would greatly increase rear visability. To me this is more of a safety feature than having rear head rests in a car that rarely sees an adult passenger in the rear. Problem is you will probably not get any company to make this mod for liability reasons. Thus this will probably need to be one-off owner mods for owners with the ability to DIY.

 

Not necessarily true - there are several companies who manufacture cabrio track roll bars for other cars (e.g. Miata)... and at least one is willing to make them for MINIs... but they need a loaner car for product development.

 

I hope you are right - I'd be very interested in getting one if you can get a company to do this.

Where is the the company you have in mind located? NC?

 

Winston-Salem area in NC... anyone willing to loan them their car for a few weeks gets a FREE one, I think... PM me if you're interested and I can put you in contact with them.

 

Those seat headrest rollbars seems to only work on 2 seater cars b/c there seems to be more bracing points that would intrude into the rear seats of a 4-seater. The functional aftermarket ones for a Miata is pretty hefty in size. The non-functional styling bars will be just another thing that may break apart and impale you should you roll over.

I've always wondered how the stock, flimsy looking rollbars on VW Cabriolets would even work, but they do. Most aftermarket rollbars seems to need at least 4 points bolted/welded.

You can always get a custom built rollcage installed for $1500-2000 at many speedshops. Although, slight collisions with a rollcage and no helmet can result in head injuries.

 

i would be in! sorry i missed this post earlier. i will admit to some anxiety tooling around the track with just the oem roll bars. i called askmini to find out what the thickness of the bar was (to comply with a local track reg)...they didn't know.....then called later to say that they wouldn't tell me because i was using the car for an unintended purpose!?!?

paul, please keep me posted

 

From the pic I took of the cut-a-way, there really isn't too much holding the OE roll bar/head rests in place. Who has the time, pipe bending skills, and figuring out extra connection points to make a better roll bar?

 

Wow. Not much bracing those. It looks like they would be fine against rolling, but if you have forward or backward momentum they look like they would buckle. I just made a mental note not to test mine.

 

Yeah... I plan to leave my untested, as well....

 

nice pics!

they definitely don't inspire confidence, that's fo' sure

 

I think somethings are better left un-answered. I don't ever plan to use them, but it makes me feel better knowing they are there

 

See posts on back-up camera. I'm planning on installing that on my 05, already have the camera, but the monitor is on back order. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...up-camera.html

 

Looks like 2 separate ideas here on the aftermarket role bars - I think the orginal post was asking about changes to the stock roll bar to increase visibility - like eliminating the rear head rests and maybe making it a single hoop roll bar instead of a double, while some of the other replies were talking about installing competition-approved roll bars.

I am interested in improving the rear visibility and installing a rear view camera is certainly one way to go - this may be the best and cheapest way, but I still think a single hoop bar which opens up the entire rear window would be a great improvement. The bar itself would be fairly easy and cheap to do but this is not the biggest problem. Its the plastic trim pieces which would need to be replaced or modified in such a way in order to look stock which would be the hardest part.

 

If no one uses the back seat then the no head rest idea would be ok. Anyone try to take off all the plastic trim and just paint it black or uninstall it and have it cleaned up ( cut out backing for headrest ) and chrome it, maybe even plastic dip it..That would help a ton alone. Could always get the foam padding and then get it covered to match the interior on the stock bar or a hoop..

 

IIRC, there's a thick aluminum plate behind the headrest on each side... which may be structural (adding to the rigidity of the hoops)...

I painted my hoops body color... does nothing for visibility... but looks nice when the top's down.

 

The popup rollbar on the new cabrio looks a lot like the single hoop you are thinking of (just not always up). It's a neat trick to keep the ability to drop the rear seats down.

But this idea seems rather extreme just to get a little more rear visibility. And expensive. I can just imagine the amount of work involved in stripping the car apart to get to what you see in that cutaway.

Plus I imagine you'd be killing your resale value.

But good luck with it if you proceed. And just be careful. The OEM rollbar is well designed and really works - you can search the archives for real world examples of that. If the rear visibilty really bothers you, get a rear camera, or better side mirrors (they really do work) - or just get the new cabrio!

 

You may be right Paul.. I'm guessing though that that brace there is mainly for your head to not be able to pass thru the hoop in case of a rear ender..
Most of the hoops strength will be from the bends I'd think.. I too don't plan on testing this theory..

Painted ya plastic trim huh.. I'll have to pay attention to that the next time I see ya..

 

Any pics?

 

I posted pics on the Detailing Forum I think... but can't find them right now. Here's joshamman's car with painted hoops, where I got the idea:

 

OMG.. love the painted rollbar..

care to share how it done adn where? and price tooo

 

Thanks Paul. Looks really nice! I'd still like to see yours since it's also Cool Blue. Is the plastic cover painted or is the cover removed and the roll bar itself painted?

Thanks again for posting.

 

OK - here are some pics of mine... I intentionally finished them in a little more "matte" finish than the factory paint, to reduce reflections.

 

My hoops were wrapped in checkered vinyl by Lyle at VinylStyles.





I am really paranoid when backing up with the top up. Lucky for me that's only about 1% of the time.