Do you Regret Getting/Not Getting T-tops??
#41
Banned
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: NJ
Posts: 373
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
T-Tops are worth every penny.
They give you the open air driving experience of a convertible, with the security, safety, and look of a hardtop. Plus they are extremely easy to take out, just open the lever and slide them out.
It also gives the cabin a more open feeling as someone else mentioned, since they let some light in even when they are in place. The bubble design of the glass also gives you more headroom, which makes it feel larger inside and also allows for room for a helmet.
They give you the open air driving experience of a convertible, with the security, safety, and look of a hardtop. Plus they are extremely easy to take out, just open the lever and slide them out.
It also gives the cabin a more open feeling as someone else mentioned, since they let some light in even when they are in place. The bubble design of the glass also gives you more headroom, which makes it feel larger inside and also allows for room for a helmet.
#43
12 Second Club
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Bucks County, Pa.
Posts: 4,273
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don't regret one bit not having Ts. Just as I don't regret the lack of; power windows/mirrors, power leather seats, cruise/traction control or even a rear window defroster! I wanted "a race car for the street" so I special ordered a "club sport lightweight" and it cost me under $20K new. If they offered a 1LE with radio and air delete my year (2000), I would have ordered that. Lighter, cheaper, less to break/go wrong, seats are not grills in summer, ice boxes in winter. I love it, and it is rarer than a t top car (maybe less desireable to all but hardcore racers, but rarer none the less!!).
#45
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Vancouver,[KITSILANO].B.C. Canada *WestCoast*
Posts: 8,807
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by 02 wife
I love having a hard top! T/tops are nice sometimes but in the long run bad weather seals, and vandals will ruin the fun!
#46
Launching!
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 246
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I agree with the consensus; don't let it sway you one way or the other. I got my 2nd f-body with t-tops being a must, but now I'm driving a hardtop. I don't car what anyone says, hard-tops are more rigid. Talk to someone who has been on hand for a hardtop to t-top conversion...those pieces that you cut out? Pick one up and then examine the connections to the body, it's not just there for looks. On the plus side, T-tops do kick ***, other than possible minor leaks, hot seats in the summer, and having to remember to lock the tops when you park in a bad area.... I certainly contemplate the idea of converting the top on mine... But haven't done it yet.
#47
Launching!
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 246
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by NHRAMAN
and vandals will ruin the fun ! What are you talking about.??
Sorry, I'm post-whoring here. But as far as t-tops giving more head clearance- nope. the headliner in a hardtop is curved/bubbled just the same. I'm thinking seriously about putting a t-top headliner in my car, cutting the fiberglass skin off the top, and then having a piece of safety glass cut to fit the top. That way I'd still have the stability advantage (what little it may be), but would also have the "open" feeling, and I could always throw t-top shades up there when I left the car out in the summer. Just went home and saw my dad's 54 Ford Skyliner with the glass roof and it has me thinking!
Last edited by DRSITES; 07-12-2006 at 02:49 PM.
#48
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Vancouver,[KITSILANO].B.C. Canada *WestCoast*
Posts: 8,807
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by DRSITES
Just to address that one: Go out to your car, pull the window away from the car, put a hand in and unlatch the top, take top off, climb in. No, it's not subtle, but I locked myself out a couple times and noone ever said anything when I got back in.
#51
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (3)
yeah... i lock my tops too. decreases the chance of flying off, and burglers... my third gen was a hard top. when i upgraded, t tops was an absolute requirement. i live in Yuma Arifuckingzona, it's been steady triple digits for the last month or so, and well above 80 since april or so. i have 170k on my car with no leaks. i say go t tops. just make sure you get the shades to go with them. sometimes the sun is great, but when it's reflecting off of your sunglasses, right into your eyes, that isn't so great.
#52
Staging Lane
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I ordered the car as a hardtop. It's not that I don't like T-tops or even convertables, but I just don't like the sun. And since it only takes 10-15 minutes for my skin to burn, I didn't want a car that would cause me to have sunburns repeatedly.
#54
TECH Resident
iTrader: (28)
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: DFW Texas
Posts: 878
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Decide what you are ultimately going to do with the car. T-tops are great for a crusier and for having fun....Hard tops get my vote for a race car. As for leaking....every frikin F-Body I've owned has leaked, some less, some more than others.
But, like many others have said, it's totally up to you in the end. I guess I would say, never turn down a good deal if the car is w/ or w/o T's.
Kev
But, like many others have said, it's totally up to you in the end. I guess I would say, never turn down a good deal if the car is w/ or w/o T's.
Kev
#55
Banned
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 1,292
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by ChocoTaco369
it adds a lot of value to the car and IMO looks better too. t-tops!
___________
I don't mind T-Tops, I think they're cool ****, but I prefer a Hardtop.
I wouldn't however mind a sliding moon roof.
Originally Posted by K9Kev
Decide what you are ultimately going to do with the car. T-tops are great for a crusier and for having fun....Hard tops get my vote for a race car.
That doesnt mean, however, that you can't get just as much, or more HP out of a T-Top.
#56
TECH Addict
iTrader: (10)
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Seminole County, Florida
Posts: 2,803
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Well if its a true race car, then your probably gona have at least a 6-point cage and some sfc's. With a cage and sfc the hartop wont really make a difference.
I still take mine off all the time.
I still take mine off all the time.
#58
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (24)
hard top
lol i remember following my homeboy in his 89 forumla riding next to a brand new convertable T-Bird. their going down the street side by side and the next thing i know i see this big gulp flying in the air from my friends car to the T-Bird getting the inteiror ALL wet (poor dr. pepper, never had a chance) lol after seeing that i was glade i had hardtop
lol i remember following my homeboy in his 89 forumla riding next to a brand new convertable T-Bird. their going down the street side by side and the next thing i know i see this big gulp flying in the air from my friends car to the T-Bird getting the inteiror ALL wet (poor dr. pepper, never had a chance) lol after seeing that i was glade i had hardtop
#59
Launching!
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 214
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Didn't want T-tops when I bought my car (or leather or chrome wheels) but that was the only way I could get a black M6 (from available inventory in a three-state dealer search) when I bought my car new in 1999. I thought at the time that the hard-tops were stronger, but have since been told it's the same roof structure, just a different panel and headliner. I would still prefer a hard-top.
My driver t-top has leaked from almost day one, dealer couldn't fix. It's not a bad leak, but anything longer than a 5-minute minor downpour will leak at the driver's forward outside corner. Washing the car will cause the leak too.
I have sat in hard-tops and noticed less headroom than a t-top car, even with the shades on the tops. I need all the headroom possible, especially with a helmet on. You will also hit the T-top outer frame with the helmet, doesn't happen with a hard-top.
I have driven with my t-tops out less than 5 times in 7 years. Too much wind noise IMO.
My driver t-top has leaked from almost day one, dealer couldn't fix. It's not a bad leak, but anything longer than a 5-minute minor downpour will leak at the driver's forward outside corner. Washing the car will cause the leak too.
I have sat in hard-tops and noticed less headroom than a t-top car, even with the shades on the tops. I need all the headroom possible, especially with a helmet on. You will also hit the T-top outer frame with the helmet, doesn't happen with a hard-top.
I have driven with my t-tops out less than 5 times in 7 years. Too much wind noise IMO.
#60
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Key West, FL / Dallas, TX
Posts: 1,224
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I enjoy my t-tops, but they weren't a factor when I went looking for my car as much as the fact that I wanted a Z/TA that was black. I wouldn't mind another t-top car either.