Gary, you're really putting me on the spot here, because I'd never try to second guess a chassis builder who probably has an engineering degree and access to stress analysis of his product. I have dabbled into it through the years and I've determined that you always want to install a bar using tension or compression, never putting a bend in it or introducing a bending load into it from another tube member. Like you said, I've looked at a bunch of cars through the years and have determined that the stiffest cars use lots of triangulation, the strongest geometric shape. I can appreciate your remark about fuggly, but you know Gary, there is nothing fuggly about a properly triangulated cage/support with "too many bars". On the contrary, it's a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Your remark about "heavy" is appreciated, however, each 100 pounds in a car equals 1/10th second in e.t., so what does it matter if you put another 100 pounds in the car and go 6.90 instead of 6.80? One tenth quicker won't seem so sweet if you begin to develop stress fractures in the whole mess. There's a builder here in Phoenix named Neriz who has taken the cage building craft to a new level of art form. He has triangulated bars going every which way and it is absolutely beautiful. He has had a little trouble with chassis cert in the past because he has tended to use undersize bars. In other words, where a 1 5/8" bar is called for, he might use two bars of 1 1/4", so although you can see that the car is probably stiffer than using one bar, it might not adhere strictly to the rules. Irregardless, you just have to stand back and admire one of his cages with bars every-damn where like a fine painting.

Sorry, I got off on a tangent. As far as the long bars shown in black that go from the B-bar to the rear of the main frame rail, I would try to make them straight without a bend in them and eliminate the short vertical green bars near the bend. Those short bars will be in a bending load during chassis flex. I'd leave the vertical green bars in at the chassis hump. Although they'll also be in a bending load, they'll help to support the black rear braces in their long run to the back. I'd put the blue and yellow X braces in and I'd also X-brace the black rear braces and I'd run a cross-bar between the black rear braces at the intersection of the X, like a top fuel wing strut.

Gary, I hope all this doesn't wipe the smile off your face, but I tend to go with Rich's assessment. I don't think it's possible to overbuild a car and if you vary the diameter of the tubing at different points, it'll add to the eye candy, breaking it up into a visually-appealing art form. Personally, I'd rather have a car that's stiff enough to maintain its integrity through many years of abuse that might be a tenth slower than to have a flexi-flyer with stress cracks that nobody wants to buy down the road. That's my $.02 worth.