[Ron Sutton]

For chassis strength, the triangulation of the door bar makes up for the bend & then some, making it stronger.

But often the door bar being lower doesn't offer as much side impact protection in a crash. I say "often", because it all depends on the height of the bar versus the people in the seats.

Ultimately, for safety, you want the door bar to prevent things ... cars, telephone poles, ends of concrete barriers, etc ... from coming in & hitting the driver or passenger in side impacts.

Stock Car style bars with uprights & 1/8" plate work best & Pro/Stock X-braces work well too, but both require people to "crawl in". For single down bar with braces, I prefer the structure & placement in this photo.