For almost 25 years now, I’ve been installing roll bars into both my cars and friends’ cars, and nothing does more for driver feel than installing one; well, maybe except for coilovers or 200tw tires… But for sure, a roll bar is up there in terms of overall driving enhancements (at least on older chassis from the golden era). I remember the first one I installed in my first ’94 Civic back in 2001. I actually removed the JDM EG6 rear interior I had previously installed in the car because, even back then, I knew that function over fashion was an ethos I would live my life by.
Over the years, I’ve done installs in Integra’s, Civic’s, 240’s, heck, in 2007, we even installed one in my friend’s ’92 Mitsubishi Mirage! Around 2009, I began to outgrow the simple roll bar and started fabricating my own 6-point roll cages in some cars, but I’ll never forget how it felt the first time I installed a roll bar. Not only did it make the car feel tighter, more responsive, and more like a race car rather than a street car, but it also gave me the “look.” You know, the “look at this guy, he has a roll bar in his car, this guy must be serious.” Well, at least back in 2001, when roll bars weren’t as common a sight on road cars like they are nowadays.
Anyway, back when I was installing roll bars into ’90s econoboxes, the contrast was stark, as it would immediately turn the economically mass-produced vehicle with its floppy chassis from a strictly utilitarian pedestrian vehicle to a car that more closely resembled a McLaren F1, with its rigid chassis and impeccable handling.
Nowadays, though, cars are built with stiffer, more reinforced chassis, especially those labeled as sports cars. So, that begs the question, why are we, today, more than ever, looking to install roll bars into our cars?
Well, one thing people often reference when thinking about installing a roll bar is safety. They think, “Hey, I’m hitting the canyons quite often and with more spirit each time, I think I should install a roll bar to keep me safe in the event of a rollover, and it will also make me look cool.”
Secondly, people reference chassis stiffening and increased handling. They figure that they are going to the track and they are looking to squeeze every last tenth of a second from their car, so they install a roll bar, and it will also make them look cool.
Third, some people just flat-out want to look cool, so they install a roll bar because … it makes them look cool.
The funny thing is, in reality, roll bars don’t always make the car safer, and quite honestly, they can sometimes make it less safe. For instance, if you are just driving to work, not wearing a helmet as you wouldn’t be, and then you get in a heavy car accident, you now have the possibility of your head bouncing off the hard chromoly steel roll bar, potentially causing all sorts of head trauma that you wouldn’t have gotten from the same accident if you didn’t have a roll bar installed. And this, my favorite argument: federal rollover safety standards! These have gotten so much stricter and evolved over the years, just as material and design improvements: 2010 and up vehicles used advanced materials like high-strength steel and better structural designs, especially in modern sports cars, including reinforced A-pillars that were neither possible nor available in the ’80s and ’90s, which, to be honest, makes the “I installed it for safety” argument invalid, and without a doubt, you’re making it less safe since the driver isn’t usually wearing a helmet and doesn’t have a 5 or 6 point harness holding them in. I mean, don’t get me wrong, in the 1960s, rollovers were a significant cause of death among car crashes. So yes, in your ’65 Mustang or ’69 Camaro, having a roll bar did increase your safety. But 60 years on, cars are so much more technologically advanced in not only their design and engineering but also have to pass far more stringent safety standards, for example, increasing the rollover safety standards as written in FMVSS 216 (Roof Crush Resistance). In 1991, it was 1.5 times the GVWR of 6,000 lbs or less, but then in 2009, this standard was upgraded to FMVSS 216a, which raised the standard of roof crush resistance to 3 times the GVWR of 10,000 lbs. or less vehicles.
Even funnier,
- The 2023 Subaru BRZ has a 5-star overall safety rating from NHTSA.
- It has a 5-star rollover rating with a 10.7% tip-up risk.
- It received 5-star ratings in frontal and side crash tests.
- The BRZ complies with FMVSS 216a for roof strength.
- The IIHS awarded the 2023 BRZ a Top Safety Pick designation.
- The BRZ earned “Good” ratings in all IIHS crashworthiness tests, including a roof strength ratio of 5.69.
None of this leads me to believe you would need to install a roll bar to increase safety on this chassis.
But here we are, bolting a roll bar into Marlon’s 2023 BRZ. If you’ve made it this far and you don’t want to return your recently purchased roll bar for a full refund, please feel free to read on as we go through the process of installing a Studio RSR bolt-in roll bar into Marlon’s BRZ.
The Install:
Unfortunately for us, the only day that our schedules happened to line up just so happened to be on Vegas’ second hottest day of 2025 sometime in the middle of August, coming in at a sweltering 112 degrees. We were fortunate enough to spend a full 8 hours doing the install as well, which gave us plenty of time to experience near heat exhaustion as we baked like calzones in Marlon’s east-facing garage, which got direct sun from the time we started at 8 am until we went to grab lunch.
I pulled up to Marlon’s house at 8:15 a.m., just 15 minutes late, but let me tell you, that morning was pure chaos. In the mad rush to get out the door, I misplaced my phone and spent a frantic 15 minutes tearing through the house, retracing my steps, only to find it sitting in my car after I left it when I’d gone to the garage to start it. That little detour cost me a missed call from Marlon and a text that read, “Want anything from McD’s?” I’m betting the call was about grabbing me some breakfast, too. As I said a hurried goodbye to the family, jumped into my car, and peeled out of the cul-de-sac onto the main street, I grabbed my phone to let Marlon know I was on the way. That’s when I saw it, his missed call and unread text about McD’s.
It was already 15 minutes past his message, so I didn’t bother replying. Marlon’s the kind of guy who’d drive back to McDonald’s just for me, even if he’d already been, and I’d feel like a jerk if he did that. But! Because Marlon’s the best damn friend you could ask for, he’d already picked up something on the off chance I’d want it. God, I love this guy! I mean, who the hell wouldn’t want a classic sausage McMuffin and a crispy hash brown? Marlon handed me that warm, greasy bag, and suddenly, my chaotic morning felt like a win. But, little did I know this would end up being the highlight of the day.
I scarfed down the McD’s and jumped straight into taking pictures. I had high hopes that this install would only take a few hours because all we were doing really was just drilling some holes and bolting some bars in; sure, the seats needed to come out, but that was relatively easy on this car, especially since we had already installed his Recaro driver’s seat a 6 months earlier.
The sun was so harsh that even my ND filter couldn’t fix the bright light and dark shadows. Below you can see how the roll bar was packaged; note that Marlon had picked up the roll bar from Studio RSR in La Habra, CA, while he was down in Southern California on vacation with his family. So this was not shipped, and I’m sure if you had it shipped from them, it would come a lot more carefully packed.
The roll bar comes in two pieces; the main hoop.
And the rear down bar section.
When ordering the roll bar, Marlon opted for a custom powder-coating color that ended up looking a lot like nardo grey. After talking with him, I don’t think that was exactly what he was going for, but he was still happy with it.
Marlon also opted for the rear seat delete, which is designed to keep the rear of the car looking neat and tidy after removing the rear seats; which, in my opinion, is quite the contradiction, and I will elaborate more on this later.
Gotta have a picture of the Type R.
A few days before the install, I told Marlon to clear all the vehicles out of the garage and position the BRZ in the center. When installing a roll bar, you need plenty of space on both sides so the doors can fully swing open. That makes it much easier to pull the seats and finesse the roll bar into place, since it usually has to be twisted and angled in a very specific way.
Peep those EVS mirrors! Easily my most favorite thing we have done to Marlon’s car thus far. Tasteful and not over the top (unlike some of the other modifications on his car).
Jacking the car up as high as possible also gives you more room to maneuver the roll bar when coaxing it into the car. I leaned on my past experiences here, since I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, but it ended up sliding in surprisingly easily. Technically, you wouldn’t need to jack the car up at all to install this specific roll bar. But as you’ll read later, it’s a good thing we did, not only did we need the extra clearance to bolt in two of the mounts, but having the car higher in the air saves your back too. And once you’re past forty, that sort of stuff really starts to matter.
With both doors open wide we began removing the seats.
Marlon started on the passenger side. Sliding the seat all the way back allows for easy access to the X2 12mm bolts up front.
Next, slide the seat all the way forward to reveal the two 12mm bolts on the backside of the seat. Once those are removed, you can easily access the three electrical plugs that need to be disconnected before completely removing the seat. Marlon’s car has three plugs because of the seat heater option; on less-equipped BRZs, you’ll most likely only have two.
Artsy wheel shot.
This bad boy is heavy, but oddly enough, when we installed the Recaro, we weighed the difference between the complete OEM seat vs Recaro with complete rail and slider and the difference was a nominal 4.9lb weight savings.
- OEM seat with rails: 38.1 lbs.
- Recaro Seat with rails: 33.2 lbs.
Now Marlon’s gone off to the driver’s side to make quick work of removing the Recaro.
And before I can even get the camera repositioned, he has already unbolted the X4 12mm bolts, accessing them with ease the same way we did the passenger seat by sliding it forward and backward. Not forgetting to unclip the electrical plugs attached to the seat before completely removing it.
Here is what the rear looked like with all the interior in and the seats folded down.
Marlon jumps in and begins attacking the bolts to remove the rear seat back. It’s best to start removing the back first then move on to the bench part.
12mm bolts secure the seat hinge/bracket to the chassis. It is the exact same on the other side as well.
With the back removed you can more easily see the hinges/brackets the back is bolted to.
And just a zoomed-in one just to more easily show the hinge/bracket I’m talking about.
Then there are two white plugs on the bench part of the seat (one on each side, passenger and driver). These will both need to be unplugged.
With both white plugs disconnected, we now move on to the 10mm bolt that secures the bench part of the seat to the chassis. There is one on each passenger and driver side.
After removing both bolts, lift the front portion of the bench to a 45-degree angle. Then, use your fist to firmly strike the rear part of the passenger and driver’s side bench downward to release it from the bracket. Aim for the padded seat area closest to where each white plug is connected. This ensures the force is applied directly to the area that needs to be unhooked.
Now here is what it looks like after removing the complete rear seat.
Here is a closer look at what the brackets look like that held in the rear bench.
And what it looks like on both sides.
As you can see we’ve jumped ahead quite a bit from the last picture. We now have the trunk carpet out, a large foam piece that goes across the trunk space, and the rear plastic interior pieces are removed. To be honest, I just got wrapped up with helping Marlon pop out the rear plastic interior pieces, and with the excessive heat, I just couldn’t be bothered to run around and take pictures.
To remove the rear plastic panels, follow these steps:
- For the two clips located in the trunk area on each side, use a trim removal tool or flathead screwdriver to carefully pry them loose.
- The remaining clips are hidden behind the panel. Pull the panel quickly and firmly away from the surface to release these clips.
- Start at one end of the panel and grip it firmly with both hands.
- Pull the panel outward to release each of the six clips securing it. Move your hands along the panel as each clip pops out.
I then had Marlon remove all the seat bracketry. Since we are adding in so much weight from the roll bar, it’s best to try and remove anything that you no longer need in an attempt to save some weight. (foreshadowing, we should have left the brackets in. They are needed to mount the rear seat delete to. If you don’t have the rear seat delete, then you can remove them)
Now on to the other side.
Brackets and seat belt fastener from one side.
Then the seat belts themselves.
With everything removed that we needed to remove. It was now time to get on to test fitting the rear seat delete kit. Unfortunately, neither the roll bar nor the rear seat delete kit came with instructions, so it meant we were sort of figuring it out as we went along. Now normally you wouldn’t think you need any sort of instruction for a roll bar install as it should just be
- Take all rear interior out.
- Bolt in roll bar (as it really only should fit in one spot)
- Enjoy!
This one, however, was thoroughly designed to ensure you could keep all interior pieces, rear seats, seat belts, etc. This is somewhat paradoxical because why would you install a roll bar to make your car look and feel like a race car, yet retain all factory car amenities? Frankly, I don’t get it. After the installation, even Marlon was left shaking his head, wondering why he opted for the rear seat delete kit. The idea of “keeping your interior looking clean” is such a contradiction because, supposedly, you’re installing this roll bar for function, not fashion, yet here we are, worrying about aesthetics again.
The rear seat delete kit comes with a few pieces of hardware (not pictured in entireity)
- Two thin metal strips, each bent slightly at one-third of its length, feature one drilled hole and another with a nut welded over it. These strips are attached to the rear seat delete bench piece, as shown in the pictures below.
- Two small allen bolts that secure the thin metal strips to the delete kit.
- 3 hex head self tappers which we did not use becasue self tappers are lazy, and permenantly dmamage the car by making ugly holes in it.
This is the piece that coves the bench area.
The rear seat delete is just simply some aluminum sheet with some brake bends in it and cut-out areas to fit around the roll bar, center console, and contours of the rear seat around the plastic interior panels. Then finished off with some suede glued to the aluminum with upholstery spray glue (like Super 77 or similar).
This piece (rather two pieces bolted together to make shipping easier I assume because you can bolt the two pieces together like we did and then slide it in the trunk.) is the back or upright part of the seat delete.
And below you can see I have put in the 3 hex head self-tappers where they are technically supposed to go; however, just to reiterate, we didn’t use them.
Here is what the seat back delete looks like bolted in. You can see that one of the two bolts that secure it is just a bolt that was originally holding a small seat bracket in that location, which was no longer needed.
You can also see that we had to reinstall the seat brackets that we had just removed because the bench delete uses part of the bracket (the hinge that held each side of the seat back) to secure the top side of the seat delete.
Now the bench delete goes in. You will need to source your own two nuts and bolts to secure the top part of the bench seat to the rear seat bracket. Keep in mind that the nut is underneath all of the bench delete, making accessing it with a wrench really tricky, and you almost have to be a contortionist to reach them. It looks easy in the pictures, but in the pictures we don’t have the plastic interior panels in yet because we are just test fitting everything.
Then, with the two provided strips of bent metal, you will attach the lower part of the bench delete to the holes where the original seat bench was bolted using the 10mm bolts. The bench delete is designed to sit on top of the center console but will require some pushing downwards to get the holes of the brackets to line up with the chassis.
With the delete pieces in it was time to now test fit the roll bar. See picture below of the mounting hardware that comes with the roll bar.
- 4 black socket head cap bolts for the interlocking clamps.
- 4 gold bolts to secure the main hoop to the chassis.
- 4 nuts welded to some intrestingly bent peices of steel.
- 8 wasers.
It’s worth taking a close look at how tiny the bolts are that Studio RSR provides to “secure” the main hoop to the chassis. For reference, I’ve compared them side-by-side with the stock bolts Subaru/Toyota use to mount the seats, and the difference is stark.
As you can see, the size difference is shocking and leaves a lot to be desired, especially if you’re trying to sell this as a “safety” upgrade. Studio RSR seems to insinuate that a few washers on the nut side are enough to properly secure the main hoop, instead of thick steel plates.
I’ve installed plenty of roll bars over the years, and they’ve always used a thick steel plate (same footprint as the upper mount) to sandwich the chassis for real strength and rigidity. But here, they’re supplying these tiny, thin washers and calling it good, and without any instructions saying otherwise, it’s fair to assume that’s what they consider sufficient.
NASA rules (for reference) require mounting plates to be at least 3/16″ thick in many contexts, no way those washers hit that, even if you stacked four of them.
Again, just highlighting how thin the supplied bolts are compared to the beefier seat bolts Subaru/Toyota use for what they deem “safe” in stock form.
So to begin test fitting the roll bar, start by unbolting the one (yes, only one) strut nut on each side where the rear down bar section bolts to. Then take the rear down bar section and guide it through the cutouts in the seat delete until it lines up with the strut bolts. Then have someone thread the nuts back onto the struts, securing the rear down bar section of the roll bar.
Next you can move on to putting in the main hoop. Just make sure you line up the interlocking tube clamps perfectly, then hand thread in one hex bolt per side just for now, for the test fit.
Aside from the interior plastic side panels, everything is now test fit, and this is what it should look like when we are done. At this point, we also took a step back and made sure everything lined up and was symmetrical because we were now at the point where we needed to mark the holes we needed to drill.
Yes, you will need to drill a total of four holes in your car, two per side (driver and passenger). Mark them when you are certain the cage is symmetrical and fits without binding or contacting any part of the car. Honestly, the cage fits quite well and there really isn’t any need to adjust its positioning. With the four holes marked with a Sharpie on the chassis, you should remove the main hoop and drill them out. Pro tip: drill the holes before you put back in the plastic interior panels (if you are putting them back in).
At this point, after all was marked, we decided to take a break, get some food, cool down, and regain our composure after almost dying of heat stroke.
When we returned from lunch, we jumped right back into it. Removed the main hoop and the bench portion of the rear seat delete so we could drill the holes and reinstall the plastic interior panels. It’s worth noting that we still haven’t completely tightened the rear down bar section where it attaches to the strut. Leave it slightly loose to ensure you can get the interlocking clamps lined up easily with the main hoop when you go to reinstall it.
We then reinstalled the bench portion of the rear seat delete and the main hoop.
Here you can see a bit more clearly where you will be drilling and bolting the roll bar to the chassis.
Next, you’re going to have to embark on the most tediously frustrating task you have ever done, playing Jenga with Jesus would be easier than what you’re about to do.
Studio RSR expects you to remove these two circular black stickers that cover holes in the chassis from the factory. Then they expect you to fish the nuts welded to those funny thin bent pieces of metal through the holes and line them up with the bolts to begin threading the bolts in.
Below, my finger is pointing to one which is too small to feed the nut through without grossly deforming the metal of the chassis. And even if you could get it through, you wouldn’t be able to get it aligned because the plastic interior panel prevents the ability to feed it in at the correct trajectory. And you can’t install the plastic panel once the main hoop installed. Oi vey!
The other hole is here.
Here is a clearer visual of what they expect you to do. Feed that whole piece of metal welded to the nut through the hole, and then it will sit inside the chassis, and the strip of metal will prevent the nut from spinning as you tighten the bolt down. This is the only way because there is no access to the area you drilled out under the car. It’s in a boxed-in section of the chassis. I mean, I guess theoretically you could use a hole saw to drill a hole in the bottom of the car, but I fear that would weaken the boxed-in design.
As you can see below, we have switched to the other side and you can see we have employed the use of some needle nose vise grips to ensure making lining up the nut with the bolt a little easier. And as you can see, this only works for the bolt furthest away from the factory hole in the chassis, which makes things even more complicated.
Just to be sure we were doing this correctly, Marlon reached out to studio RSR via text (I’m not sure how he had their number) and props to them for actually responding back, pretty quickly, and on a Saturday of all days too. And they confirmed that yes, you’re supposed to fish the nuts through those holes. There is just no possible way to do the second one with the interior panels in, believe me, we tried for way longer than anyone should have.
Now back to the other side. Just look at how asinine this whole thing was.
Clip the vise grip to the very edge of the metal strip.
Carefully feed the nut through the hole.
Then line up the nut perfectly with the hole and try hand-threading the bolt on. Honestly, it’s not impossible and it just takes a lot of patience. But that’s just one of the bolts; the second bolt… forget about it, it would honestly be easier to find a needle in a haystack than fish that thing through with the interior panels installed. And I’m sure you’re wondering why we didn’t just take out the plastic interior panels to make the install easier… WELL! You can’t slide the plastic panels back in with the roll bar installed, so it all must be installed before placing the main hoop in.
So this was how we did it.
Go under the car directly below where the main hoop bolts to. You’ll have to remove some plastic pieces.
After removing the plastic panel, you’ll find a few plugs that, when removed, allow access to the boxed-in area of the chassis. We removed a few just to allow for better visibility using a flashlight to shine into one. But the one I’m pointing to below needs to get popped off (on both sides of the car).
So it should look like this.
You can also remove this one I’m pointing to or even the larger mini hotdog-shaped one (we did this one too).
Then you’re going to want to take a small telescoping magnet and place the nut perfectly centered on the magnet and then fish it up into the chassis and tediously attempt lining it up perfectly with the bolt that Marlon is trying to thread in from the top side of the car. I had the other plug removed so I could better see into the dark boxed-in chassis area.
Studio RSR is insane if they think you could also stack the washer onto the nut and center both perfectly. Like I mentioned earlier, I guess you could have used a hole saw to drill out the underside of the car, allowing for easier access, but I just wasn’t comfortable doing that in such a structural part of the car.
This was so stupidly difficult that it was nearing the point of just calling it quits and saying one bolt in the main hoop per side was good enough. But I wouldn’t allow myself to settle, because I wanted Marlon to reap the fullest amount of chassis stiffening from this bar as possible even if it wasn’t going to be much. If there were only two bolts holding the main hoop (one per side) and two bolts holding the rear down bar, this thing wasn’t going to do much more than just look cool, which goes against everything we stand for here at FunctionTheory. So we were finally able to get both nuts threaded on from underneath the car on both the passenger and driver sides. Now we could at least say that we had a total of four bolts holding the main hoop in, even if they were a thinner diameter than the OEM seat bolt. I needed to make sure this bar had the best chance of offering some sort of overall driving improvement.
Below you can see how the rear down bar portion bolts only to one of the three strut bolts. Having one bolt secure the rear down bars isn’t going to offer much strength. But honestly this might have been the best option they had to make this a “bolt on” roll bar that allowed you to keep interior without having to heavily modify things. This just proves my point that this bar is only designed for people trying to look cool.
What it begins to look like as we reassemble the trunk area. It’s a bummer that they only apply the suede to the part that you can see in the cabin of the car and not the trunk side. Because, when you open the trunk, all you see is raw aluminum with some fabric wrapped around it, which looks kinda tacky.
See what I mean. Once you get all the trunk pieces back in, the raw aluminum look really starts to stick out like a sore thumb.
I’m not sure if Marlon wants to still keep the rubber mat in the trunk (I hope he doesn’t because that’s not very functional), but if he does, I think he really needs to cut it so it fits better. But again, I argue, what’s the point of making the trunk space look good with raw aluminum with edges of suede wrapped around it looking all unfinished?
Here’s to finished product all installed.
Overall, Marlon was left with a sour taste in his mouth from the small bolts used to secure the main hoop, especially without a proper backing plate to confidently sandwich the chassis. The fact that the down bars only bolted to ONE bolt per side, and it was a strut bolt at that too, and finally, the sheer weight of this thing is huge, especially when you consider that it really doesn’t do much from a safety improvement aspect or chassis rigidity one because, as I mentioned earlier, cars nowadays have to comply with very stringent rollover standards. The BRZ was rated 5 stars for rollover, and being a sports car, it already had a relatively stiff chassis.
I don’t blame him either. I mean, just look at how many bars there are. The main hoop has two diagonal bars forming an X, and it has a horizontal one. Then the rear down bars have two diagonal bars also forming an X. And it’s not like this ramps up the rigidity or safety by that much. Just look at examples from other companies.
I feel like the CMS one is what I would go with if I had a BRZ and wanted a truly bolt in one.
Because, as you can see below, they have a unique way to bolt in the main hoop. While I admit it’s probably not the safest way, it is for sure substantially better than the mounting style of the studio RSR one and inspires much more confidence.
There is then the Autopower roll bar which is probably the one most focused around safety and chassis rigidity. However, it is not 100% bolt in and does require some welding, and does not allow for you to keep the interior in either.
https://www.autopowerindustries.com/Applications
Below you can see how the main hoop does require welding to the chassis. But from my experience this doesn’t seem like that difficult of a job and I would be willing to be that you could install the roll bar at your house, bolt in the rear down bars and then drive to a local welder/fab shop and they would have no issue welding it in and likely not charging you more than 100 or 200 bucks (200 is on the very high end of the scale too)
You can also see how the down bar bolts to the chassis with three bolts and have a separate plate that goes on underneath that makes it much more secure.
Renown Garage also seems to make one that motorsports oriented.
https://www.renowngarage.com/4-point-roll-bar-toyota-gr86-subaru-brz
Walker pro motorsports also makes one but it does require some welding. And despite the link saying Gen 1, they also have one that works with Gen 2.
There might be a few other kits out there but honestly these are the only ones I would be looking at. There are definitely some things to take into consideration from the varying options listed. For taller drivers specifically, some brands’ main hoop design do not allow you to fully recline the seat so you can fit in the car properly. This is definitely something to consider if you’re taller. Next, I would be looking at what type of steel it is manufactured with, and lastly how it is secured to the car.
But the most important thing of all to take into consideration. Once you put any of these roll bars into your car, you will no longer have any sort of storage. this means if you plan of driving far to an event you can really on bring one full size spare barely leaving enough space for tools and a jack, especially if you’re like me and want to use a full size jack.
FK8 FTW! I can fit all of this in my car.
Anyway, back to the finished product in Marlon’s car. As for fit, finish, and overall quality, the Studio RSR bar checks every box, it’s top-notch in execution. To me, though, it feels geared more toward folks who want the looks and clout of a serious roll bar without fully committing to track-level rigidity.
I’ll admit the GR86/BRZ chassis throws some unique quirks at designers for a true 100% bolt-in setup, no welding, no major mods, so I’m guessing that’s why Studio RSR went this route with the mounting compromises. They do offer super functional bolt-in cages for other platforms (BMW, Camaro, Porsche, etc.), but this chassis just has its own specific hurdles that force trade-offs.
I still maintain that the rear seat delete is kind of a contradiction. Sure, there’s a market for it; lots of people want their car to stay “classy” and finished-looking even with a roll bar, but you could argue it actually worsens NVH. Without the rear seats and upholstery, you lose some natural sound deadening, letting more road noise, exhaust drone, and vibrations creep into the cabin from the exposed metal (wheel wells, floor, trunk area), and I feel like maybe the delete kit just enhances some of that by creating a box area of dead space, allowing these noises to echo and resonate more possibly.
Here you can see just how close that seat back is to the roll bar. Can you imagine if the main hoop bolted to the floor!
I mean, it definitely looks menacing and gives the “racecar” vibe.
Outside of the garage in the sunlight you can better see the jungle gym of bars in the rear of the car.
Below are some snips from rule books that clearly state the Studio RSR V2 bar would not meet the requirements.
In the world of automotive enthusiasts, the allure of a sleek, race-inspired interior often leads many to install bolt-in roll bars in their GR86 or BRZ. While these additions undeniably enhance the vehicle’s aesthetic appeal, it’s crucial to understand their actual functionality and compliance with racing standards.
Final Thoughts:
The fitment was phenomenal, and this design lets you retain all the interior pieces, including the plastic side panels. But it left me questioning Marlon: Why even get a roll bar in the first place? Who installs something as extreme as this Studio RSR half-cage and still wants to keep the full interior? I mean, the backseat becomes totally useless after installing it on the GR86/BRZ chassis anyway.
Marlon did go with the rear seat delete, which looks aesthetically pleasing, but really it just adds weight and permanently seals off the trunk area from the cabin, like a firewall, but for the trunk.
Not only is there basically no room to fit anything in the rear seat area because of all the diagonal bars crisscrossing everywhere, but the rear seat delete panel itself has zero structural integrity, you’d probably deform the aluminum if you put more than 10 lbs. on it and drove around.
That said, the delete kit is well-engineered and fits perfectly. The only downsides were the fact that the suede didn’t cover all the aluminum and leaves exposed aluminum visible if you’re looking in from the trunk, and those tacky thin steel brackets that bolt into the original 10 mm seat holes. But let’s be real, you won’t even see them once everything’s buttoned up and the interior’s back in.
Again, I just want to reiterate: From a product standpoint, this thing does exactly what it promises. The fitment is perfect, I’ve never seen any roll bar (bolt-in or otherwise) fit this precisely. The welds, though MIG instead of TIG, are clean, consistent, and nicely done. The interlocking tube clamps connecting the rear half to the front aligned flawlessly and bolted up with zero hassle. Everything is symmetrical and lines up dead-center with the car, whether viewed from the front or rear windows.
One note: Marlon had his powder-coated in a custom color, and before install, I spotted some leftover green poly tape on the interlocking tube clamp pieces. With tolerances that tight, it might’ve made connecting them a touch trickier. Still, everything about this product feels top-tier.
However, as mentioned earlier, it’s something of a paper tiger in terms of mounting strength. The rear strut mounts use just one point per side, and the main hoop’s attachment to the chassis leaves a lot to be desired. As you saw in the photos above, the small hardware and lack of broader support mean the nuts simply sandwich the main hoop plate against the chassis floor. In my opinion, it doesn’t inspire much confidence for true chassis tying and rigidity, it’s missing a large under-chassis plate that would properly sandwich the floor between the upper plate and a lower reinforcement.
That said, I’m fully aware this design choice prioritizes seat travel for taller drivers, letting them slide all the way back in this tight cockpit where space is already at a premium. For context, their original V1 version bolted the main hoop directly to the floor with larger hardware and a proper sandwiching steel plate, but that setup blocked full seat adjustment, making it ergonomically impossible for taller folks. The current version clearly trades some mounting robustness for better daily usability.
This isn’t a safety upgrade. It’s a cabin decoration that happens to look like a roll bar. If your goal is actually to stiffen the chassis or meet any serious motorsport requirements, this isn’t it. But hey, if your goal is to get more likes at Cars & Coffee, then congratulations, you’ve found your bar.
So here’s the bottom line: from a pure product standpoint, this thing is top-tier, every dimension, every joint, every weld is exactly where it should be. But as an upgrade? It’s a half measure. It looks serious, but it mounts like a showpiece. It eats your rear seat, blocks your trunk, and gives you maybe a little extra stiffness. If that’s all you’re after, great, you won’t find a cleaner bolt-in. But if you think you’re getting real cage-level safety and rigidity, you’re buying the look, not the full benefit.
One last thing to mention: After installing this roll bar, I asked Marlon to drive around and see if he noticed any improvements in structural rigidity, enhanced handling characteristics, or overall chassis stiffening. He really struggled to pinpoint what the bar did for him, he couldn’t identify any noticeable improvements. For me, that’s crazy, because everyone I’ve ever installed a roll bar in (including myself) has immediately felt the benefits.
You could argue this is because the cars we were installing roll bars into weren’t “sports cars” and were built in the late ’80s/early ’90s, so their chassis were undoubtedly floppier than a 2023 BRZ. Or you could argue that the insufficient mounting of the Studio RSR cage made it hard to gain any real improvements. Or, most likely, it’s a combination of both: a modern car with an already stiff chassis, plus suboptimal mounting.
Unfortunately for Marlon, he learned the hard way: He bought this roll bar, let me help install it and document the whole process, and then I ended up tearing him apart for it in my blog post about it. Honestly, after writing this whole thing, it’s a total hindsight-is-20/20 moment. I wish I’d known everything I know now about BRZ/GR86 roll bars back then, I could’ve guided him better, especially after seeing firsthand how the main hoop mounts to the chassis.
In his defense, though, there was a killer Black Friday sale he jumped on back in October ’24. But then it took Studio RSR over six months to build and custom powder coat it, they didn’t reach out until around April/May ’25 to say it was ready for pickup. He finally scheduled his California vacation in July ’25 to grab it.
TL;DR: Do you need a roll bar in your GR86/BRZ? Probably not, unless you’re racing every weekend in an actual class-based league with points on the line. But then I feel like you should just get a full cage welded in at that point.
If you only hit the track a few times a year for HPDE/track days, skip it. It’ll just add weight, kill your storage capacity (goodbye, trunk space for tires/gear), and cost money better spent on pads, fluid, tires, or entry fees.
If you still feel like you absolutely can’t live without one, at least look into options that add real structural rigidity (better bracing, chassis ties, etc.) and fully weigh the pros/cons, most bolt-ins lean toward more cons for street/track mixed use.
And if you’re just doing it to look cool… dude, save the cash and go for some baller-ass wheels with aggressive fitment and meaty tires. Make sure the car is slammed and maybe even spring for the AP racing BBK. Trust me, that’ll break necks way faster than a roll bar ever will.
As always, I hope you enjoyed my perspective, albeit a bit alienating, narcissistic, and pretentious. Some may even call it a ‘hard pill to swallow.’ But I believe sometimes people need to stop perpetuating the nonsense of just looking cool.
I know some who read this might take offense. Others may scoff and say I don’t know what I’m talking about. But my only hope is that some lost soul searching the internet for ways to make their BRZ/GR86 look cool stumbles across this, flips their perspective, and just decides to buy tires, pads, and brake fluid, then head out to the track. Enjoy the car without chasing clout, instead, find true enjoyment in the feeling you get from driving it at its limit and the excitement that comes from seeing yourself improve
I would love to hear from you, your perspective, or if you think I’m just a bitter, washed-up has-been who hates what the car scene has become. Feel free to reach out via email at Billy@Functiontheory.com, Instagram @functiontheory, or simply comment on the post below and I’ll respond.
And just take solace in the fact that at least you’re not Marlon, who not only bought a roll bar that pretty much just looks cool but also had to have me there in person as we installed it, listening to me ridicule him the whole time about how pointless it was.