Anyone here have a zippered soft top? Also vinyl or canvas?
 

Just curious what its like to drive with the zippered section out, windows up or down.

Seems like canvas tops are almost twice the price of vinyl ones... with the same 6 year warranty. What justifies the extra cost? I could see if the canvas ones had a 10 year warranty or something...

I kinda liked the zippered window because I like the airflow of convertible but hate the sun in my eyes and/or getting sunburnt while driving topless, and also hate wearing hats. So it was a pretty decent compromise.

Canvas doesn't look nearly as bad when exposed to the elements for some time, doesn't expand/shrink as much (iirc) and is just nicer overall. There's probably more reasons, but that's all I can think of.

Having owned all of the 3 you're describing, the canvas + zippered window was my fav. (2nd of course after hard top :) )

I have a zippered soft window (not glass) and I'm a huge fan. It's damned hot here in summer, and I like the shade with the roof up. But driving with the roof up and the windows down leads to a lot of buffeting inside the cabin, which the zip-out window eliminates. The air goes straight through the cockpit.

This is exactly why I prefer zip out plastic window. Long drives on the interstate are so much better this way.

I have one for sale marcello

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...43f42bcd42.png

It needs black zip ties.

My car doesn't have A/C, so zipping the rear window down with the side windows open is how I stay cool on longer drives if I don't feel like messing with sunscreen.

sean,

I'll give you $350 + shipping for that work of art. Please don't sell it to anyone else, I need this

laughed so hard at that add! :D

Good to know, guys! My oem top is, uh, falling apart. For the time being there is fabric glue holding it together, but I'm gunna replace it with a zippered robbins top when the glue starts failing.

If anyone knows a robbins dealer hookup, lemme know. 732 dollars is hard to swallow

Vinyl is for poors. Canvas is opulence.

Plastic window degrades faster than the rest of the top, so I would recommend glass if it's an option (price, roll-bar concerns). Vinyl becomes hard in cold weather and sometimes make it hard to latch as it doesn't change shape as easily as canvas. It is easier to take care of vinyl top though.

Sorry, already traded for a hard top. The other guy came out better on the deal, I just asked him to pay it forward.

+1 for canvas, it just looks nicer and feels nice, kinda wish i got a zippered one, or a glass window.

Can you guys elaborate on the differences in care? Does the canvas take a lot of effort to keep clean? more sensitive to products?

Personally, I thought the canvas was easier to keep looking nice. I never did much of anything other than wash it like the rest of the car using normal car wash soap and water. I can't say how easily tree sap would come off but everything else was easy. Like the other comments, the canvas just adds a nice touch to the car. With the care you seem to put into the exterior I can't see you going for vinyl just to save a couple hundred.

I also have both canvas and vinyl. I don't really mind either one and both seem about the same care wise. I avoid glass windows like the plague on NA's. They generally are not unzip-able, not usable with most roll bars, and I have seen the glass fall out of the top due to weight to many times.

Hm, I'll have to try and see the canvas tan top in person, they don't offer the same color as oem, the light tan. It's only a regular tan. Not sure I'd like that.

The car looks much better with the hard top on anyways, the soft top is for function only. Just to keep the rain or wind out if I'm going to work with a nice HAIRDO :) I might just get the vinyl to match the car better.

If you are using the hardtop the majority of the time, I would just go with an ebay softtop for $200 and call it a day. I have used well over a dozen over the years without issue.

Oh, I just said the thing about the hardtop because if we are talking about looks, no soft top looks good (so I was thinking of getting the vinyl over the canvas) I run the soft top almost all year round, love going topless, even in freezing temps :)

every few months i use a soft top sealant type of spray on my canvas top. Basically makes it hydrophobic, i guess any waterproofing spray of the sort would work, but other than that just normal washes, also don't even think of using any kind of terry towel to dry or clean, it attracts lint like no tomorrow.

I had a Robbins canvas top with a zippered glass window on my ex 99 miata and I could not open the top unless I first unzipped the glass window, otherwise the top would get stuck at the last 30% going down.

that was such a royal pain in the ass to do each time to open and close the top, especially with a double diagonal roll bar....

maybe the previous owner used NA frame or something....?

Did you notice if the rearward hoop was getting stuck, or was it sliding normally towards the second hoop?

it had nothing to do with the roll bar, it's was like that even before I installed the roll bar. The top simply would not fold all the way without first unzipping the window. I always thought it was a stupid top design

Oh i meant the hoop of the soft top. Not sure what the proper term is. My oem soft top gets stuck at before the bottom if the two hoops dont meet. I am now in the habit of just pushing the hoops together as I let the top fall.

oh the rear hop of the soft top frame, maybe mine was getting stuck there, not sure, I always thought it was a feature of the zipper glass top that I have to unzip it before opening the top, but could have been the rear hop getting stuck...

don't have that car anymore to check this theory

vinyl with zippered glass on my NA. The majority of the time my glass is down. Harddog made a double diagonal bar at some point that works with it. They probably still do.