How important is your convertible roof?

General Discussion Forums Car Talk
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Hello,

Elsewhere a thread has made me wonder how much of a sacrifice people would be willing to make in order to have a convertible roof.

Obviously with an MX5 you sacrifice very little - for a tiny amount of money you get a reliable car with decent performance, one of the best chassis ever made and you can run it for peanuts. Surely anyone who wants one has one already, it’s such a painless choice to make.

But what if you couldn’t have an MX5? What if you had to choose between a good car or a bad convertible? Which would you choose out of this arbitary and pointless list?

1 - BMW E30 M3 or a mk1 Cavalier convertible.

2 - MINI Cooper or Citroen Pluriel.

3 - Lotus Exige S or Renault Spider.

4 - Honda Integra Type R or a new Beatle convertible.

5 - Lexus IS300 or Toyota Camry Solara Convertible.

You’d be given your choice for free, but would have to live with it as your only car for 12 months and 12,000 miles in the UK. How ruthless are you about being roofless?

Answers for all five please, with reasons, then pick the one car out of the lot you would live with for a year. And yes, I know the Renault is cheating because it has no roof at all.

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maybe not the same thing capitain,, but during 52 years driving all sorts,, the very best was  my  six month old, when bought,, 1980  merc  350 SL,, kept it 12 years,, soft top,,hard top,, in light gold,, an absolute jem,,  note,, would cost a fortune in fuel to run now i think,,, i do like my mx now,, but one i quite like is the bmw sport two seater type,, but they dont seem to have a very good write-up for some reason  
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 I could manage the beetle rag top if it had the 1.8 turbo and I could get it chipped and lowered as one beetle saloon I know. 

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 1. BMW- I just couldn’t live with myself driving a cavalierEmbarassed.

  1. Mini- Where do you store the ridiculous pluriel roof???

  2. Lotus Exige S- At least it has a roof when it pours down.

  3. Honda Integra Type R - fast, reliable and excellent handling.

  4. Toyota- not really a lexus type person.

Overall it would have to be the Lotus as its the only real sports car.

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1 - BMW E30 M3

2 - MINI Cooper

3 - Lotus Exige S

4 - Honda Integra Type R

5 - Lexus IS300

Overall a Lotus Exige

All for the same reason - a good drive carries a lot more weight than a drop top.  Handling isn’t everything though - I’d choose a Boxster over a Cayman if the choice had to be made without a test drive.

 

 

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Deliberately contrary answers

 

 

 

I went off the E30 M3 as soon as Street Machine ran an article showing how you could make a 316 into a M3 with a bit of foam and some fiberglass.

 

On the other hand, I can’t recall ever seeing one of these:

 

Which makes it cool in my eyes. Plus its a sort of Opel Manta. And won’t go wrong as often.

 

Stupid comparison; next up; what do you prefer, a plank or a 2CV… Seeing as I have a piano to move, Plurial it is.

 

The Renault, because it makes you look less like a banker wondering how to spend his bonus. So less likely of being spat at. Plus Lotus are rapidly turning into habitual spongers given their threat to relocate production to Finland, unless the government gives them a bunch of readies.

 

The Beatle Convertible; would that be the Ringo Starr edition? And which Integra; don’t want the chav version.

 

This is of course theoretical; since the US only Solara will likely not get on the road here, unless I’m under a Exchange of Forces Agreement. So by default, because the Solara is illegal, it will have to be the depressing Lexus. If the Toyota is legal, it would have to be the Camry, because at least its proud to be called a Toyota, and not hide behind a meaningless brand inspired by Joan Collins.

 

 

Show me yours and I’ll reciprocate. Can’t expect people to tell you your next shopping decision without indicating whether its the Plurial or Beetle you are currently edging towards.

 

 

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 I had a Cavalier Convertible (not a MK1 though)  for a few years when i had 3 young kids…Smashing car, loved every minute of it & it was a rare sight while everyone seemed to be driving Escort cabs.

In fact i`ve often considered buying another one now as a project.

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Well, yes. If the choices were MINI or MINI convertible I’d learn nothing of the compromises people are willing to make to have a convertible, I’d just find out if they like convertibles or not.

1 - BMW E30 M3 or a mk1 Cavalier convertible.

I’ve had quite a few miles driving E30 M3s, and I like them (I like 325s and 320s too, even though they are a tenth of the price). Whereas I hate convertibles. So the M3.

2 - MINI Cooper or Citroen Pluriel.

Tricky one this, as I hate the marketing of the MINI exactly as much as I hate convertibles. MINI in a dark colour and I’d park it away from my house.

3 - Lotus Exige S or Renault Spider.

I love the Renault, even the version with no windscreen. But I love the Exige more. Plus it’d be like my Elise, but without the convertible roof I hate. I’ve not had anyone spit at my Lotus, despite driving it wearing a suit most days. I got more hate from the public driving a 5-series - people let me out in traffic in the Elise.

4 - Honda Integra Type R or a new Beatle convertible.

I hate the Beetle so much that regardless of what roof it has or how it’s spelt I couldn’t sit in one. I’ve driven ITRs and while I’m not sure I could cope with a white one with white wheels I’d be very happy to have a black one.

5 - Lexus IS300 or Toyota Camry Solara Convertible.

One is big, bland and comfy, the other is big, bland, comfy and saddled with a roof I hate.

Not surprises there - I don’t like convertibles. It’s not a problem with the roof it’s a problem with me, and the point of this thread was to try to gauge just how important this feature is to other people.

Overall I’d have the Exige. It’s a newer, faster version of the car I already have. Plus, for those of you who didn’t know, the roof panel can be removed and replaced with the Elise’s cloth roof, or no roof at all. Airflow in to the intercooler is disrupted without the roof scoop, but you can drive it with the roof off, if that’s the sort of thing you like.

ABZ_Exige_S2_Completed_4.jpg1024×768 111 KB

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Sorry Capt M, but if I ever part with my '5 then I’ll be going to a Landrover: 90 or Freelander…I know, I’m sorry, but I don’t think any of your list (or any other ST for that matter) could reward in quite the same way.

Incidentally I’m considering SORNing the '5 long-term as I may need a long-distance commuter in the near future and cannot warrant insuring/taxing/MOTing three cars, in which case I’m looking at leasing a BMW 3 series diesel then fitting a towbar to get Betsy to the track at weekends…

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I’ve spent many happy hours in Landies (including a Lightweight with a canvas roof). Proof that a car doesn’t need to be a great drive for you to have a great drive.

Not that the point of the thread was to find replacements for an MX5, the point was to find out how important normal MX5 owners think the roof is.

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 Sorry none for me either, i know they have stop production, but i would go for a honda s200, and the Roadsters would stay.

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I didn’t realise you were asking for serious advice. How on earth could anyone in their right mind compare a economical car dating fro the early to mid-70s to a late 80s detuned racing car? Why didn’t you compare a E30 M3 to an E30 325 Convertible, or if you are now including unobtanium grey imports, a 335i Convertible? More logic in that. Or compare the Plurial to a C3 of some sort. I’m pretty sure even Lexus makes a convertible  as well.

Pointless Thread of the year. You haven’t proved anything about other people’s attitude to convertibles. I still view anything made by Lotus these days as derivative Poseurs cars.

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Am I not normal?..I would put a wink in at this point but my work firewall stops them showing up…not that I’m on here during work time…I’ll shut up.

But to confirm, I’m currently trying to convince Mrs P72 that I ‘need’ a hardtop (for aerodynamics you understand) but if I couldn’t keep the option of the ST then I wouldn’t keep the car.

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 Jon if you need an hard top give me a shout{#emotions_dlg.wink}

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 Cavalier convertible, much underated car for a person with a family, I took mine all over the continent and enjoyed every moment never had any probs with it except being FWD it ate tyres on the front. There are very few cars that look good with hood up and hood down the CC was one of them.

 http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww239/llunbwcad/Cavalier%20Convertible/CavalierConv.jpg

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I wasn’t asking for advice, I was asking how much of a compromise people would be willing to make to have a convertible roof. Would they be willing to give up some handling, or some reliability, or have a car with a dreadful image, just so they could drop the roof down? Comparing an M3 to a 325 convertible is vitually no compromise at all.

Maybe I’d have got more sensible answers if I asked people to list the following attributes in order of importance:

convertible roof, reliability, performance, handling, running costs, image, mpg, boot space, purchase price, etc.

…but I thought this way might be more fun.

As for your comments about Lotus - derivative how? Lots of the current cars share a similar chassis, using the technology of the bonded aluminium structure from the S1 Elise, but that’s no more derivative than the 911 is, or a mk2 MX5. As for being poseur’s cars - I seriously doubt anyone has climbed out of an Elise or Exige with any sort of grace. I’m not sure how much you can pose while nearly falling over.
Sure, some of the owners get a bit elitist about the car’s handling, but that’s posing for geeks. As for the Evora - it’s a fairly unique car, and has certainly won enough awards for driving and engineering for it to avoid being just a poseurs car. Being significantly cheaper than the alternatives isn’t a big pose factor either.
The future of Lotus and how it’s cars will be viewed is up for debate, but everything up until now has been engineered in a unique way to create excellent driver’s cars. I suspect the new cars will build on that, albeit for significantly richer customers.

Massively off my topic now though, except that ironically part of my dislike of being in a convertible is worrying that people think that I’m posing - that’s why my roof stays up when it’s warm and sunny - I just want to drive while being ignored by everyone else.

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1 - BMW E30 M3 or a mk1 Cavalier convertible. Cavalier - solid as a rock and cheap to insure and run, unless you buy a rust bucket or one with oil leaks.

2 - MINI Cooper or Citroen Pluriel. Mini - the Citroen Pluriel is uselesss, you have to store some of the roof in your garage, not really a soft-top at all.

3 - Lotus Exige S or Renault Spider. Renault - Lotus looks fab but a bit cramped

4 - Honda Integra Type R or a new Beatle convertible. Beetle (no Beatle!) - based on a Golf chassis I believe, should do well in the winter

5 - Lexus IS300 or Toyota Camry Solara Convertible. Toyota - lexus is too expensive and stodgy for me, I’m only 60 years old, not geriatric!

For a year - the Toyota

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Not that important - a good drivers car is more to the point. The MX-5 combines the two and I happen to drive it as much as possible with the roof down (even if that means turned up collars and woolly hats) because it enhances the experience for me. But if I didn’t have the MX-5, I’d probably have an oldish 911 - and not a convertible which look all wrong, and certainly not a Boxster. So it’s about the car not the roof for me.

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I have followed this thread with interest and one thing that seems clear, it is about the car and not the roof so why do most people in the owners club / forum think the car HAS to be driven with the roof down as much as possible?

I like the car with the hardtop on, with the soft top up or with the roof down if it is a fine day. Bottom line I wanted a two seat sports car and the one I chose just happened to have a convertible roof.

Good thread Captin.