I have that video too, the photos of the aftermath are buried in the Gallery somewhere, not sure I want to tackle the search engine to find them though....

I think Mercedes started that trend with the SL, it has a full roll bar that pops up when the car reaches a certain roll angle. It was made famous by that crash on the autobahn which was caught on camera - a guy stacks his SL at 100mph+ and comes to rest in front of the camera before staggering out without a scratch

 

There is a roll over post that goes up the A posts and across the top of the windscreen, the windscreen been bonded in place also helps with strength (thats why its so important to have it fitted correctly)

 

I've seen one go over with the top down, both occupants unhurt. Physically anyway.

Someone on here's done it, maybe they will share their experience.

 

you may even be safer with the roof down

as stated, the vinyl offers next to no protection

on the other hand, if the hood is up, the frame has to go somewhere........

 

but you wouldn't have to worry at all if you were in a Fiesta

 

 

I rolled with the roof down a couple of years ago.

Here's the story and here are the pictures (though the roof was up when the pics were taken, the car had been out all night where I rolled so I put the roof up).

I can confirm, there is a roll bar in the windscreen frame, it is bolted onto the X-Frame chassis and is what ensured my first S2000 was a write off (pushed the repair costs too high).

 

As per Tonky's request....

http://www.th0ng.org/s2000crash.mpeg This will only be up for 7 days.

It doesnt actually show the crash, but you get the idea, guy lifts off on a bend. Original (full of flaming) thread here: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49812

 

I think you might be worse off with the roof up - you know that metal bar/frame? It's just the right height to smack your head on in a side-impact (I do it when parking sometimes) if you are tall, and gets a specific mention in the NCAP Report for the S......

 

Holy cr@p AE

There was a thread a while ago on the US boards where a guy did a similar thing in a white S and died unfortunately

I remember because I had posted a thread entitled Dead in the S about a completely seperate, light hearted matter, saw the US thread and immediately got MT to change my thread title out of respect for the guys family and friends