The Road To Super Lap Stronger, Safer, Better Part 3 - Our Garage

At the end of the day, motorsport is a dangerous activity. Every time you put your car on the track you run the risk of crashing, be it driver error, equipment failure or even an act of god, there’s always a chance that things don’t go according to the plan. The key to walking away from such an incident is investing wisely in quality safety equipment. I’ve said it before in regards to helmets and I’ll reiterate with respect to the parts installed in this article—this is one area you should spend as much money as you can afford to ensure your safety. You can’t go back to the store after a wreck and buy the good stuff, so splurge up front because you can’t put a value on personal safety.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to scare anyone or discourage you from tracking your car, I just want everyone to be as safe as possible. As you’ll notice, none of the equipment I have installed is cheap, quite the opposite, but you get what you pay for and I’d rather spend money here to give me the best chance possible of walking away from an accident. Not to mention when you have the best safety equipment around and it’s been properly installed you can focus more on driving and leave the “what if” scenarios behind—we all want to go 10/10ths! I hope you’ll pay attention and put what you learn here to use!

Rollbar Install

1 Here’s my new Autopower Industries “race rollbar” in all its glory! I selected this item based on previous personal experience and Autopower’s reputation as the #1 bolt-in kit for Hondas. It’s extremely well-made, has minimal disconnectable parts (added strength), fits well and is a fairly easy install. If you’ve never installed a rollbar before plan on spending the better part of an afternoon and you’ll need a buddy to give you a hand.
1 Here’s my new Autopower Industries “race rollbar” in all its glory! I selected this item
2 The first thing you’ll need to do is remove your rear interior, in my case all I had left were the side panels. If you have an EK like me, you’ll need to remove these metal thingies from your wheel wells prior to test-fitting.
2 The first thing you’ll need to do is remove your rear interior, in my case all I had lef
I found the trick is to remove this piece very slowly, if you work slower you can keep all the tar/glue in one piece that is much easier to remove as a whole than it is to scrape off in sections later.
I found the trick is to remove this piece very slowly, if you work slower you can keep all

3 Now it’s time to test-fit. Making a dumb excited face to show how stoked you are usually makes things go a lot smoother. There will be plenty of frustration ahead so stay positive as long as possible!
3 Now it’s time to test-fit. Making a dumb excited face to show how stoked you are usually
4 Using common sense and a paint pen, ensure the rollbar is evenly mounted and mark the locations of the holes for the hardware. Make a pilot hole in the center first using a small drill bit, then drill out the hole completely—preferably with a 3/8
4 Using common sense and a paint pen, ensure the rollbar is evenly mounted and mark the lo
5 Next, mount the bar again and see how mis-aligned your holes are. With a bit of luck they’ll all fit!
5 Next, mount the bar again and see how mis-aligned your holes are. With a bit of luck the

6 With the bolts through you’ll want to have your buddy put a wrench on the top side while you install the backing plates and tighten the nuts from below.
6 With the bolts through you’ll want to have your buddy put a wrench on the top side while
The supplied hardware allows you to double-nut the hardware to ensure it doesn’t back out.
7 Back inside the cabin you can secure the two bolts that hold the down-bars. Voila! You’ve got a rollbar!
7 Back inside the cabin you can secure the two bolts that hold the down-bars. Voila! You’v

8 I could have called it quits here, but I like to have some beats while I’m driving to the track and since the rear panels hold the back speakers I wanted to put them back in. Plus the car just looks a little nicer in my opinion with the plastic. This required removing the rollbar and doing some measuring, starting at the rear strut bar.
8 I could have called it quits here, but I like to have some beats while I’m driving to th
9 Taking the measurements from the strut tower bar, I made a template so I could mark the rear plastic.
9 Taking the measurements from the strut tower bar, I made a template so I could mark the