Too tall for a roll bar?

Dnz · Post by **Dnz** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 2:12 pm

Considering a roll bar for my newly purchased 1998 NB but thought I should do some measurements first to see if it's feasible.

Measuring from the bare metal of the floorpan to the top of the inside of the hard top is 101cm, i.e.:

And my sitting height is 98.5cm, i.e. this measurement:

This leaves all of 2.5cm to fit a seat+mounting somehow and potentially a helmet. Seating position might not be completely vertical which would give a bit more room, but it seems a bit optimistic to think I could fit myself + everything in there safely.

Starting to think I might have bought the wrong car...

Timmo · Post by **Timmo** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 2:23 pm

How tall are you bro?

Dnz · Post by **Dnz** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 2:25 pm

6 foot 2 inches. 189cm.

The important part is the 98.5cm sitting height though as I imagine people vary in their proportion of legs/torso+neck+head.

Skilfil · Post by **Skilfil** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 3:03 pm

Dnz wrote:6 foot 2 inches. 189cm.

The important part is the 98.5cm sitting height though as I imagine people vary in their proportion of legs/torso+neck+head.

Pretty sure Kieran (Furai) is about this height, he drifts an NA with a cage.

Junkwhale · Post by **Junkwhale** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 3:30 pm

Just measured my height again - actually 188cm standing, 98.5cm sitting vertically.

I know there's heaps of up to 6'5" spec miata drivers in the US who seem to manage with a hard top+rollbar+thin alu race seat but I do value my head and spine quite a lot so I want to err on the side of caution.

Junkwhale · Post by **Junkwhale** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 3:33 pm

Oh yeah, same person as op in case anyone's confused- this account is the one I want to use but dug up the other one as I couldn't post imgs due to it being less than 5 days old...

Snapfrozen · Post by **Snapfrozen** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 4:21 pm

I'm just under 6 foot and I have about 3-4 inches of headroom above my head in my Momo T-buckets. Seat choice does alot for it. And you'll end up having to tilt the seat a bit no matter what at that height

Junkwhale · Post by **Junkwhale** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 9:53 am

How is seat tilting achieved? Is it likely to cause problems for wof's/need certing?

CordedBowl · Post by **CordedBowl** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 10:13 am

It's to do with how you mount the seat, and what seat you're using, some seats already lean back on an angle slightly, so I'd imagine if for some reason your seat was quite vertical you'd need to compensate by tilting the rear of it backward via the mount for a very tall person (make an L with your thumb and forefinger and then tilt it back to see what I mean).

But considering the guys in the states racing Miatas with cages etc. It's entirely possible, they would only do it in a manner that would be safe and acceptable!

Furai · Post by **Furai** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 8:14 pm

Im about 6'5 maybe a bit more and I have a bit of head clearance with helmet on. Just make sure to get a decent bucket seat and test fit it.

STIG · Post by **STIG** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 7:14 pm

^ Nahhhhh, my main man Jerome Kaino is just a drop over 6'4 and he's definitely a bit taller than you - I'd say you're a solid 6'3 though

regardless, I'd say 6'3 and a race seat on low rails and you're already pushing the safety barrier. I'm 182cm and my head touches the soft top on factory seats, and with a helmet it would be pretty hard to get comfortably in there!

Furai · Post by **Furai** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:27 pm

STIG wrote:^ Nahhhhh, my main man Jerome Kaino is just a drop over 6'4 and he's definitely a bit taller than you - I'd say you're a solid 6'3 though regardless, I'd say 6'3 and a race seat on low rails and you're already pushing the safety barrier. I'm 182cm and my head touches the soft top on factory seats, and with a helmet it would be pretty hard to get comfortably in there!

196cm mate come measure me

MrGrey · Post by **MrGrey** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:36 pm

heheh just wanted to say that MX5's are one of the few times its good to be a shortass like myself

Junkwhale · Post by **Junkwhale** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 12:28 pm

I've come to the conclusion I can probably fit with the right seats and mounts. Anyone got any good recommendations for where/what to buy in terms of seats in NZ? What are WOF / Cert requirements like for this kind of thing?

The three options I've seen so far that look promising-ish in terms of maximising headroom are Ultrashield or Kirkey aluminium seats (seem to both be available from various places in NZ) or possibly some Bride Vios 3 / Low max seats with their LF rails which are designed to sit as low as possible.

Angreal · Post by **Angreal** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 1:31 pm

Lotus Elise seats

Junkwhale · Post by **Junkwhale** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:09 pm

Yeah they seem to be mentioned fairly regularly on overseas forums. I suspect they might be pretty expensive/hard to find here in NZ though...

Too tall for a roll bar?

Too tall for a roll bar?

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