Monster Motorsports 4-point roll bar

[3/6/2002] Reviewed by: Anonymous

Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter

4 Point Roll Bar

Many mechanical specifics have been addressed in previous reviews...I'd like to address aesthetics. This is, IMHO, a very aesthetically pleasing bar. The main body of the bar parallels the windshield support brace...the rear side of the "wing" window. All of the other bars I've seen are much too vertical, creating a new "line" which just confuses the look of the car. Above the main body of the car, you have one strait line for the "A-pillar", another for the aforementioned windshield support brace and (with any other bar), you add a vertical line as well. With the Monster bar, the two rear lines (windshield support & roll bar) are parallel making it much more cohesive, less "busy" visually. I realize that aesthetics are subjective...your visage may vary. FWIW...

Difficult to remove without leaving damage


[6/1/2001] Reviewed by: Bruce Rosen - bruce.rosen@nist.gov

Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter

This is a 4 point roll bar that mounts to the top of the shoulder harness towers and through the back deck to the lower unibody.

Installation was fairly straight forward, with some cutting of sheet metal and plastic required. Installing this roll bar means you must remove the cross tower brace that comes stock in newer Miatas. Nice part is that, unlike many other bars, this roll bar lets you use the stock mount points for the shoulder harness loops at the top of the towers. Installation was a bit of a problem on the passenger side as the support plate had to be cut a bit to avoid the pass through hole for part of the car's wiring harness.

Be sure to check your parts before beginning installation. The nuts that came with mine did not fit the stud that comes down from the mounting plate and passes through a hole in the top of the tower.

Difficult to remove without leaving damage


[5/27/2001] Reviewed by: Antony Figueroa (aka Nookie) - gofastant@hotmail.com

Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter

roll bar marketed as a style bar because no testing has been done. fits both hard and soft tops. black powder coated

some people had scratches on their bars. I had some on mine but not to the metal. Just surface scratches that took the luster off the powder coating. To be honest, I really don't care. I will scratch it more unzipping the window. The installation sucked. It would have been fine if the rear supports were welded 1/2" farther apart. I had to cut 1/4" off the side of both backing plates. Now the holes are .01" away from the edge. Also, one of the holes for the rear support on the right side lined up with a grommet in the sheet metal. I had to drill a new hole in the bar and the backing plate. Then I had to cut the corners off the plates to clear the grommet. All this took extra time and effort. what's your time worth to you? I don't value my time more than minimum wage.

So I guess it was worth the $100.00. But if I had the money to spend, I would have bought a legit bar.

Difficult to remove without leaving damage


[3/20/2001] Reviewed by: JB Babcock - jb.babcock@integersystems.com

Applicable to: '90 - '97

Black powedercoated 4-point steel rollbar.

Buying was quick and easy on ebay, price was good for sure at $100. Installation was not hard and trimming was minimal compared to what I expected. Mounting points are substantial for sure. Minor blems in the powdercoating which is why they are selling for so little.

I am 6' tall and researched what bar to buy. I did not get a Hard Dog because it mounts much further forward and I my seat is set way back, such that my head/face would hit the bar in a sideways impact. This bar is further back and does not have that problem. BUT, being that it is farther back, it cannot be as high to clear the tops when they are up. Now I want to take the car to the track and there is NO way to get my head (with or without a helmet) under the rollbar/windshield line. Hmmmmmmm. If you have a shorter torso, might not be a problem, but beware that this appears to be lower than the Hard Dog Hard Core.

Difficult to remove without leaving damage


[2/18/2001] Reviewed by: Dan Goren - dncdm@mindspring.com

Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.8 liter

4 point roll bar. Main Hoop w/2 rear braces.

Saw Product on E-bay. Purchased and received within a week. Some rust spots at the welds, which I was able to cure with Permatex, Extend rust treatment (bonus is, it turns black which is the color of the bar). Three members of our local Miata Club helped me with the installation. Took us three hours to complete the project. The bar fit well and was easy to install. Had to do slight modification to the bottom plate in the wheel well of the passenger side. Seats did not have to be removed from vehicle. Plastic trim needed little cutting.

For the money, this is well worth the price.

Difficult to remove without leaving damage


[11/12/2000] Reviewed by David Booker - bookerndk@aol.com

Applicable to '90 - '97

Four point rollbar - main hoop with diagonal braces.

Very good over all experience. Bar is well made, fits perfectly. Absolutely CAN NOT beat the price for a real bar. Think they must be selling off the ones that are not perfect(there are some very minor scratches to otherwise very nice black powder caot finish). I can't think of any other reason they would be selling a "real" rollbar for $100. Not SCCA approved, but looks substantial. Instructions were to the point, but farly complete. I printed some instructions & pictures I found of some guys installing a Hard Core bar, and found the installs to be very similar.

I was looking for added rollover protection without spending big piles of cash in the process. Came across these guys on E-bay. Called and they said they would sell me one outright. The guys I spoke to were very knowledgeable. Bar arrived a week later, I installed it the following weekend. Took about 8 hours over two days, but I was not rushing. (also took advantage of a few opportunities to crack open cool ones along the way) Install was fairly simple, but time consuming. Must remove seats and rear carpeting, remove panel under carpet, drill 3 holes through body for each rear brace, trim the metal panels behind the seats, trim plastic interior panels at top of seatbelt mount tower, trim the carpets & backing, and put everything back together again. Main hoop uses existing holes in seat belt tower, and the seat belt bolt itself.

Difficult to remove without leaving damage


[10/28/2000] Reviewed by Donald Cripe - mocripes@hotmail.com

Applicable to '90 - '97

4 point roll bar with black powder coating. Three bolts per mounting point.

This was the first roll bar I have installed, but had no real problems. I was impressed with the speed of delivery (ebay auction closing date to my home in 7 days) and the price ($135 with shipping) The roll bar is heavy and gives a slightly more aggressive look to the car. The front two posts mount to the seat belt tower, while the rear posts go through the tinfoil rear deck and bolt to the thicker unibody. I spent about 2 hours a night for 3 days to complete the job. I spread the job out to prime, paint and undercoat the newly exposed metal.

The Monster Motorsports instruction page was nearly worthless, but I could figure it out anyway. Anyone buying this kit should remove the seats first. I figured that out part way into triming the deck to fit the rear mounts. The bar does not intefere with the soft top, but does extend into the field of vision for the rearview mirror. I believe this product was well worth the price.

Difficult to remove without leaving damage


Back to Product Reviews 2 April, 2002