KaiPL
Enthusiast
I had the Autoform roll bar installed in my car this past week. It looks good, and the Autoform replacement trim panel meshes nicely with the original trim. I got the black coated bar. The convertible top works just as before, and the new bar doesn’t detract much from the stock appearance. The seat belts are just a tad more “sticky” retracting than before, and they had to tweak the convertible top latch a bit to get it to work properly, but overall, it is a pretty nice aftermarket part.
I was really surprised at how flimsy the stock “sport hoops” are. The aluminum is not that thick, and the hoops are mostly rubber. They clearly wouldn’t support the weight of the car at all. I feel a bit safer with the Autoform bar.
The rear-view visibility is now pretty much non-existent. The cross bar is right in the center of my field of view. Raising or lowering the cross bar would give much better vision, but perhaps there is a structural reason for placing it where it is. I’ve tried repositioning the rear-view mirror a bit, and that has helped some, but I’m resigned to the big blind spot now. I’m just using my side mirrors more. I suppose if Formula 1 drivers can make due with side mirrors, then so can I.
Overall, however, I think that the new bar is worth it. I track my car a bit, and it’s comforting to have the additional security of the roll bar in case I screw up big time.
The Autoform install cost me about $650 for the install, which seems pretty reasonable. I had it done at Redline Motor Sports here in Colorado. They did a nice job.
http://www.4redlinemotorsports.com/
While I was there, I peeked at their Viper tuner project. They’re building a twin turbo silver 03 SRT-10 that looks like it will be pretty amazing when finished. Whoever their customer is (some lucky guy from California) he is going to have a big smile on his face when he picks up his car. Should have some pretty sick performance figures.
Kai
I was really surprised at how flimsy the stock “sport hoops” are. The aluminum is not that thick, and the hoops are mostly rubber. They clearly wouldn’t support the weight of the car at all. I feel a bit safer with the Autoform bar.
The rear-view visibility is now pretty much non-existent. The cross bar is right in the center of my field of view. Raising or lowering the cross bar would give much better vision, but perhaps there is a structural reason for placing it where it is. I’ve tried repositioning the rear-view mirror a bit, and that has helped some, but I’m resigned to the big blind spot now. I’m just using my side mirrors more. I suppose if Formula 1 drivers can make due with side mirrors, then so can I.
Overall, however, I think that the new bar is worth it. I track my car a bit, and it’s comforting to have the additional security of the roll bar in case I screw up big time.
The Autoform install cost me about $650 for the install, which seems pretty reasonable. I had it done at Redline Motor Sports here in Colorado. They did a nice job.
http://www.4redlinemotorsports.com/
While I was there, I peeked at their Viper tuner project. They’re building a twin turbo silver 03 SRT-10 that looks like it will be pretty amazing when finished. Whoever their customer is (some lucky guy from California) he is going to have a big smile on his face when he picks up his car. Should have some pretty sick performance figures.
Kai
