Soft Top

[shim2]

What do you guys think they're going to do this time around? I'm hoping for a less complex soft top than what is on the roadster. Maybe something that can easily be put up and down.

[skullandbones]

I'm with you on that. I watched the video on the roadster top when it first came out ($3000+). I couldn't beleive how complicated and labor intense it was to install it. There is also supposed to be a $1600 version that was built initially but I have never seen it. It has to be economical and easy to install. FFR has some real specific hurdles to clear to meet expectations and I don't envy them those tasks at all!! WEK.

[Silvertop]

I'm kind of hoping for a Soft Targa (which might also make a retro-fit hard Targa panel available down the road). This would require the addition of a Targa-style hoop to the body which does not exist on the current rendition of the Track version. It would certainly make installing the soft top quick and easy, and probably lower the top's production cost to boot. Could happen, though I won't hold my breath........

[Xusia]

Since this thread is all speculation, I'll offer mine. A $3k top on a $10k kit just doesn't sound realistic, so I think they are going with something VERY simple and inexpensive. My prediction is that like early/vintage soft tops, it will not be a folding top. The frame will come apart (to be stored in a bag), and top itself will be a completely separate piece that is able to be rolled up. It will probably attach to the header bar by sliding into a slot.

[shim2]

I'm with you on that. I watched the video on the roadster top when it first came out ($3000+). I couldn't beleive how complicated and labor intense it was to install it. There is also supposed to be a $1600 version that was built initially but I have never seen it. It has to be economical and easy to install. FFR has some real specific hurdles to clear to meet expectations and I don't envy them those tasks at all!! WEK.

I too watched that video and was blown away by it's complication. I hope they don't take this wrong but it does make me wonder. Chevy made a convert that folded back in 1969. What's stopping them from doing the same or better in 2012? If anything the roadster soft top looks more complicated than a folding convertible found on a miata.

[PhyrraM]

..... Chevy made a convert that folded back in 1969. What's stopping them from doing the same or better in 2012? ....

The cost of a dozen or so press dies for the stamped parts? The intial outlay for OEM types of manufacturing is huge.

[armstrom]

Since this thread is all speculation, I'll offer mine. A $3k top on a $10k kit just doesn't sound realistic, so I think they are going with something VERY simple and inexpensive. My prediction is that like early/vintage soft tops, it will not be a folding top. The frame will come apart (to be stored in a bag), and top itself will be a completely separate piece that is able to be rolled up. It will probably attach to the header bar by sliding into a slot.

In the EARLY days of the design competition I suggested a design similar to the porsche boxter spyder (which is in turn similar to simple Jeep bikini style tops)
http://www.oldcars.biz/cars/2011-porsche-boxster-spyder-22.jpg
http://www.autotrucktoys.com/jeep/images/BT52508-01-Bestop-Bikini-Top.jpg

As far as I can tell the roof itself is just tensioned fabric with some hooks/clips built in. The porsche includes a more complex vertical rear window but if the 818 went with a single hoop roll bar something as simple as a snap-in plastic rear window could do the trick. If a channel is included in the top of the windshield and tie-down points were included on the rear deck it wouldn't be too expensive to do. I think something could even be done fairly easily if the roll-bar were a pair of hoops behind each seat. all that would be required is a solid panel to connect the tops of the two hoops (creating a flat surface for the fabric roof to stretch over) and perhaps hold a zip-in rear plastic window to seal things up slightly. I'm not under any delusions that this would be something you would want to drive 300 miles home through a rain storm. But it would keep the interior dry during an unexpected shower or keep the sun off your head if you forgot your hat :) I think a truly dried-in solution would have to wait for a full coupe version with roll-up windows. I for one would be quite happy with a cheaper, simpler solution that solved the major headaches associated with topless driving.

-Matt

[Oppenheimer]

If you are designing a car, and wish to integrate a folding top, that is one thing. To take a completed car, that needs to have very specific shape, and details to look 'authentic', and try to add a folding top to that? Near impossible. Yet one enterprising FFR customer did just that, and sold some kits for a folding top. But it wasn't cheap, and it didn't lend to the classic C**** look.

It should be much easier to get a decent top put together when its designed into the shape from the beginning. Yet I'm with Silvertop, hoping the street version is more Targa-ish, so the soft top is really just a Targa panel.

[Xusia]

Ultimately I'd like a targa (as I've stated before), but if they offer a hard top for the roadster along with roll up windows before a targa, I might not be able to wait... :D

[skullandbones]

The examples of the bikini Jeep top and the Boxter convertible top are similar looking but worlds apart in design and complexity. It's a good example of how difficult it is to design a good convertible top. If you have seen the Jeep top on the road, you can see how flimsy and "tacky" it looks. It would not look very good on a modern looking vehicle like the 818. If you create a fabric top that actually fits the shape of the 818 and simulates a coupe look, that will be difficult because there are some design subtleties that have to be addressed. I was a sailmaker for many years building bimini tops and other form fitting fabric products. Although the tops look flat and straight, they have to be formed to fit the frames or shape over which it is stretched. And beleive me, those fabrics do not stretch in a friendly way. I think it is easier for the fabricator to build a complicated frame and "farm out" the fabric cover. It takes a little more effort to build a simple frame and shape the fabric so it fits nicely and naturally. JIMO, WEK.