As above… I have the soft top, but just want to gauge which is the most popular with any ND owners…? Thoughts and what you have welcome… 
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For me the soft top is the first reason I love the car, it’s quick, it changes everything about driving after years in a box, plus the visibility is awesome, the RF looks pretty from the outside roof up, but I’m not sure I’d enjoy it as much or have the roof down every chance I get.
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The soft top defines the ND for me as it did with the earlier variants… Agree, the RF does look pretty with the roof up, but more like a targa-top car than a roadster when it’s down…
Roof down for me too at above about 7 degrees C and not raining
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I would guess very much personal preference. I think the RF is one of the best looking cars with the roof up, and if I wanted one as an all season every day car then I may well have gone for an RF for practicality, but for a second / fun car it’s soft top all the way for us as the roof is down 95% of the time…
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I think that some people go for the RF in particular for security if the car is to be left on the street. As I have a drive, I prefer a full convertible and so pick up my new ND soft top on Thursday!
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I was torn between purchasing the soft top or the RF . After a lot of thought I purchased the RF as it’s the best of both worlds with enjoying the open air and security … plus it looks stunning .
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Soft top for me. I drove both and the RF suffers terrible buffering with the roof down. Both suffer terrible visibility in the rear quarters roof up but at least on the soft top that is fixed with the roof down. But the star of the show for an open top car is surely the looks with the roof off, and here is where the RF falls on its face for me, it is a half way house. At least the older power retractable hardtops fully retracted, the RF leaves half of its roof up. The RF is also heavier. If anything could convince me to get an RF is would be the automatic box because they don’t do it in the soft top (unless anyone knows better), I’d love an auto box in soft top.
However to answer the question more specifically Mazda say the RF to ST sales are almost 60/40 in favour of the RF.
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I had a mk3.75 prht, chosen as it lives outside and is a daily driver. I wanted to change it for a 30ae, with the obvious choice being the rf. Before taking the plunge i tried a friends rf nd1 as i really like the look of it with the top up. The result was that i went for the st as i didn’t like the targa effect in the rf, much prefering the open feeling of the st.
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For me it’s the RF which I bought last summer . I think it looks good with the roof up and down and the added security if I park it while out and about is a plus . At my age I prefer a bit more protection from the elements and watching the roof go up and down at the touch of a button is the icing on the cake !
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Spot on. I would rather the soft top but street parking in London, makes me uncomfortable. Glad they do the hard top versions.
With the roof up the RF is better looking.
With the roof down the Soft top is better looking.
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Both my ND’s are (were) soft tops, to me that is what the marque is all about, and I’d always wanted a 2 seater convertible sports car since I were a lad. Having said that I will say that the RF looks really great with the lid closed and IF Mazda had made a PROPER ND coupe I’d probably ended up with one, as well as a soft top, finances permitting!
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Just been to see my new car that I pick up on Thursday. They had mine (a soft top) and an RF, but this one suits me better as security is not a factor (have a secure drive) and I will get the full wind in the hair feeling. However unless I get a haircut soon, this will be an issue…
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I hadn’t really thought about security since buying but my driveway light with sensor failed recently and I replaced it very quickly since hearing about CAT thievery. Driveway lights up if a mouse walks by on the road now. I actually have 3 automatic lights on the vehicles and three more via switches. No one is getting near my trade vehicle or my soft top without the whole neighbourhood knowing about it. 
For me it was the potential for reliability issues in the complex RF roof mechanism a few years down the line, combined with a soft top 2 second lowering compared with waiting 13 seconds while the RF roof did its party trick at each end of the journey.
And I have always wanted a fully open car and finally got one!
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I must admit I was bitterly disappointed when the RF was introduced. I was hoping for a full ND PRHT not a half way house. If one had been introduced I would have swapped my NC2 for one straight away, as it is I might as well stick with my 1.8 soft top.
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I think many people buy the RF because it’s electric and the soft top isn’t.
But the soft top is so easy to open and close it really doesn’t need electric assistance or operation.
Having done a fair few miles in the father in law’s RF, it just didn’t feel ‘open’ to me. Too much buffeting and wind noise.
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And it seems a lot easier than the NA to put the roof up, as you can do it whilst sat down, which as I am a bit older now, I couldn’t do in the NA I have just sold…not without regretting it afterwards!
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Hi have the 2l RF Sports Nav with BBR upgraded exhaust system, I chose the RF because I do a lot of motorway driving and the soft top is just a bit too noisy during the times the roof has to be up. I have the roof down at all times apart from when it’s raining or snowing thanks to the amazing heating system in the 5 and my leather heated seats even at 530am on my way to work in the dark 
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I no longer have my Mk4, but when I did it was the RF. Would I choose it again? Possibly, not sure. As a drivers car it felt a lot stiffer with the roof up and in all honesty that is mostly how I drove it, so probably an RF again. If I could!
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I dropped the soft top today at 25-30 mph while driving, it’s so slick I can just imagine the guy behind me saying “smooooth” as I was leaving him behind. 
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