Roll bars-Style bars.

Chrissy Currie · Post by **Chrissy Currie** » Thu May 22, 2003 5:45 pm

Hi, My name is Christine and I have a mx5 soft top.I
was recently given a set of style bars for mothers day
and had them fitted on to my car using the same
attachment the seat belts are fitted to.
But have been told now that this is illegal by an
unknown person, who says the police and his garage
have told him and that he had to remove them and
place them else where.
Do you know if there is any truth in his statment, am
I driving around with an illegal car.?
I did not have the bars on, when the last warrant was
done.
I am not currently a member of your club, or though do
intend to be some time in the future.
I would really appreciate help with this question
please. I can be contacted at the above email address.
Thankyou
Christine.

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peter · Post by **peter** » Thu May 22, 2003 6:25 pm

Hi Christine.
I've had a set of "style" bars for three years / 6 Wofs now, with no
problems from anyone.
Best advice : get them fitted , take your car for a Wof : if it fails, ask
to see the relevant legislation they are quoting.
Unless they are very flimsy, I can't see a Wof station getting upset : just
make sure they are tightly screwed/bolted in.

Peter
DRGN-1

Badcat · Post by **Badcat** » Thu May 22, 2003 6:30 pm

hi guys.
i've had mine for years too - always go to VTNZ in kingsland and never
had a prob

k

Ken Newell - Digital Frontier
View my Trademe.co.nz online auctions:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/show ... mber=47351

ph 021-757-187
email ken@kenkong.com

Simon Lord · Post by **Simon Lord** » Thu May 22, 2003 6:31 pm

Dear Christine

This seems to be becoming a regular topic - have seen it several times since I
joined the group when I bought my MX5 last September. It might help if I
attempt a precis of the information which I saved because I too have been
looking at fitting a stylebar (in order to appease my wife).

1. Does a style bar serve any practical purpose?

That depends entirely on how, and how well, it's constructed. As there are no
standards, you can't make any generalities. Some style bars are very strong,
rigid, and well made, others wobble when you touch them. The first type,
whilst definitely not up to a real competition-standard roll-bar, may well
prove beneficial in some circumstances. When it comes to the others, you'll be
very lucky not to be hurt by them in a serious accident.

A lot of people don't realise that the windscreen header rail is a reinforced
structure and is very strong. If a roll-over crushes that, it will most
probably also crush a style bar.

2. Will a car with a style bar fitted pass a WOF test?

This seems to depend almost entirely on which testing station you take it to -
there have been plenty of stories of experiences good and bad. Vehicle Testing
NZ sounds as if it is to be avoided.

The situation seems to be that according to legislation style bars must not
interfere with the seatbelts in any way and must be 150mm rearward of anyone's
head (which many aren't). Any bars between 150mm and 300mm of anyone's head
have to be adequately padded.

There seems to be some confusion as to exactly which of the Land Transport
rules sets this out, and I haven't found my way through the legislation
myself, but it is probably somewhere in Vehicle Standards Compliance 2002,
which sets out the way that motor vehicles must comply with safety standards
when they are new or imported into New Zealand and how they must continue to
comply with those safety standards during their on road life. This rule
includes requirements for warrant of fitness and certificate of fitness
checks.

It can be argued that if a vehicle was imported with a stylebar in place then
it must have been certified as complying with the necessary safety standards,
but I think that would be hard to prove and expensive to fight.

I hope this is a fair summation of all the wisdom that was flying around, and
thank everyone on this list who has helped me to understand the issues thus
far. My original intention was to spend $380 on a lovely chrome bar which
would look really nice on my car and fulfil the promise I made to my wife
before I bought the car. As a result of the above, I now think I would be
wasting my money as sooner or later the car would fail a WOF. The only
realistic option is to remove the bar every time I go for a WOF, which then
lays me open to possible problems in the event of being stopped or having an
accident with it in place.

The point about the potential of an unprotected bar to do damage to your head
is a reasonable one. I guess you have to weigh up the chances of a head, side
or rear-on impact which moves the occupants' bodies about laterally to a large
extent versus the chances of a roll where the occupants' heads might fill in
the gap between the top of the screen and the back of the boot.

A proper motorsport-specification roll bar, properly padded, is the only real
safety option. However, I think most people will live with the standard safety
features as built in by Mazda. The MX5's safety record is generally very good,
and a search of the web will soon reveal any number of photographs of rolled
vehicles where the windscreen header rail has done its job (and a few where it
hasn't).

I hope this helps, Christine - join the club!

Simon

greg.powell · Post by **greg.powell** » Thu May 22, 2003 6:55 pm

Hi Christine -I am looking for a set for my own MX5 and have also been
concerned as to whether or not they are illegal. The LTSA handbook is a
little ambiguous but as I understand it giving a WOF is up to the discretion
of the testing officer. This is confirmed by the fact that clearly some
testing stations will approve and others won't.

Perhaps advise which city you are in and others in that city may be able to
advise which testing station to go to.

Greg Powell