Interior Exterior
Q:
When I got my Elise I Drove it home w/ the HT and then proceeded to remove it once i got home. Drove around for about a week topless. In the end i decided I like the ELise w/ the HT on so except for the first week i got it i've had the HT on 100% of the time
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When did you get your Elise? Living in Texas with the hard top on?
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When did you get your Elise? Living in Texas with the hard top on?
Mine stays on during the summer. Keeps the car cooler than the insulated soft top.
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The hard top and soft top are like shirts in your closet. They're either your favorite shirt that you wear all the time, or your 2nd and third favorites that you wear sometimes. Get all the tops. Wear the ones you want when you want. They all look great.
In my own situation, I just took off the hard top for the first time yesterday. I think the car looks best with the hardtop, but I prefer the experience with top off now that the weather is warming.
Shirts.
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I never take it off - luv the way it looks with it on and don't like being hot with the tropical sun and lack of ozone layer. In the end, it comes down to preference.
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Mine stays on during the summer. Keeps the car cooler than the insulated soft top.
Absolutely. HT was on from when I picked my car up last May until the beginning of October and has been off since. It will go back on in a month or so for the summer. Sort of strange here in backwards land with summer on and winter off, but that's the way it is for many of us.
When buying, one of the criteria was that I had to have a HT.
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Just put on my new hard top today, just in time for the torrential LA rainfall we received. Top came courtesy of Patricko... for some reason I had the uneasy feeling that my car was on fire all the way home. Normal?
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I took mine off the day I got my car back in April. I put it back on in November during a really nasty 35F rainy spell. It's still on but mostly my car stays inside during the cold (especially snowy) weather. I imagine I'll take if off again in a few weeks when spring comes around. On a nice day I like taking the soft top off even when it's cold. I just wear a jacket and hat and crank the heat.
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I've taken my hard top off once in the 15 months of ownership.
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The car looks completely different with the HT. It's like having two different cars. If you are going to take the car to the track then it is a big plus. The softop looks like a big ballon at 100mph+. I bet the aerodynamica are significantly better with the HT. I'd say I am 50/50 for use.
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Get the HT. If your car is gonna see rain, you'll wish you had it. I have about 2K miles on my car and my HT has been on and off at least 10 times. Its a little bit of a chore to install/remove it, but no real hassle. Watch the little velcro affixed side covers, they will come apart if you're not careful.
For tracking, the HT may be mandatory depending on which sanctioning body is running the event.
I've washed my car with the ST on and it leaks. The HT not so much, maybe a couple of drops down the inside of the side windows.
The car is quieter with the HT on and allows you to enjoy the stereo.
If your gonna spend 45,000 on a car, why not spend 46,000? Then put the top in the attic if you find it's not useful. It comes with a nice storage bag.
I think the car looks the best with the HT on.
HS
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My question is how often do you use your hardtop?
all... the... time. it came off once but that was just to see what it was like... afterwhich, it went right back on.
and is it a "must have" accessory?
i would say so.
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approximately...
Soft Top: mid April- early Oct
Hard top: mid Oct - early April
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Sorry to hijack... but speaking of hard-tops, how are you supposed to get those little black rectangular covers to stay in place? The ones that go over the rear clamps. I see they have Velcro (er... hook & loop) fasteners, but they don't seem to stay.
-- thx, Bob
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the velcro should hold them..I had to fiddle with one of mine to get it to stay on but eventually it did...
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I never use it -- but the person I sold it to does!
You betcha,it's on the car now.
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I live in PALM SPRINGS and have had it on only once. It took me an hour to put it on and 15 minutes to take it off. frankly it is so great to get in and out with it off, and to drive in the open air.......I may never put it up again.
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Have never had it off....might take it off after the 27th for the first time.
I wasn't going to buy it at all...but when I saw the car with it on, I decided to take it...like somebody said, when u are spending all that money, why not spend a little more.
I do think the car looks a LOT better with it on...and I'm a person that likes tops that come off...
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Those of you that usually go "topless", do you put the soft top on after you park the vehicle? Say you pull into your office parking structure/lot, do you put the top on?
For me personally, I *love* the open-air feeling of having the top off. After a test drive with the top off, getting into another Elise w/ the hardtop made the car feel cramped. I mean, yes it is a small car, but sitting in the driver's seat is completely comfortable, plenty of room to do everything a driver would need to.
That said, I think the car looks sooooo sexy with the hardtop on, topless second, and the softtop a distant third. However, driving the car I would want the top off, and only put the top on if I got caught in rain (which means I'd be putting the softtop on).
Cameron
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Those of you that usually go "topless", do you put the soft top on after you park the vehicle? Say you pull into your office parking structure/lot, do you put the top on?
Yup, that's what I did when I took her to work last Friday.
I will second what others have said about liking the look of the car with the hard-top. I figure once we get into rainy season here, the top will go back on.
I have a lot of people, who are otherwise very smart, ask "so where is the top stored" (referring to the hard top) - meaning, they think it's stored on-board. This is often after getting a full tour of the car.