Hard top VS Soft top

[W.Petefish]

Has anyone tested the performance figures with the Hard top and with the Soft Top?

Any range difference?

[vfx]

Has anyone tested the performance figures with the Hard top and with the Soft Top?

Any range difference?

What about No top?

Mesh Top?

[Doug_G]

I doubt there is a performance difference; the weight difference is trivial.

The hard top is quieter on the highway. It has a smoother surface. I have no idea whether either of those things translate to better range.

[S-2000 Roadster]

There is more to it than weight alone, but the hard top is actually lighter than the soft top. I remember a decade ago when the S-2000 was new, and the track-tested top speeds were faster with a top than without. The absolute top speed, though, was with the side-view mirrors removed. I can't help but imagine that the Roadster mirrors have even more drag than the S-2000.

I'm still waiting for the quieter freeway ride from my hardtop...

[W.Petefish]

I have my hard top, but I have to wait until the weather cools down here before I do any sort of testing. (it was over 100 today!) That being said, it is going to at least be October.

[tennis_trs]

I finally weighed both of my tops today. The hard top is heavier, as I'd expected (I believe I've seen a post in another thread indicate the opposite like quoted below), but obviously both are light.
Hard top: 22 pounds
Soft top: 12 pounds
[soft top included support slats, but not bag, since I never keep the bag in the car and none of this adds significant weight]
[Note: my hard top is a clear coat one. I assume that there might be some significant difference in the production process, but wouldn't think that there would be a significant weight difference from a non-clear-coat one. Someone should weigh a non-clear-coat one and post here if it is significantly different.]

There is more to it than weight alone, but the hard top is actually lighter than the soft top...

[S-2000 Roadster]

Hard top: 22 pounds
Soft top: 12 pounds

Thanks, man. My Tesla salesman told me that the hard top was lighter. He quoted 8 lbs for the hard top and 12 lbs for the soft top. But he's gotten a number of other technical details wrong, too, so I guess I should weigh these for myself (although I don't have the proper scales - I'd have to weigh myself with and without the top, and that's not terribly accurate).

What tech did you use to weigh your tops, and did you get tenths of a pound in accuracy?

[tennis_trs]

... I'd have to weigh myself with and without the top, and that's not terribly accurate).

What tech did you use to weigh your tops, and did you get tenths of a pound in accuracy?

I weighed the tops by holding each while on my bathroom scale. I'd bet each is accurate to within a pound or two. I believe my scales displays in 0.2 pound increments; the values I got were 22.2 and 12.2 and I rounded them for my previous post.

[S-2000 Roadster]

the values I got were 22.2 and 12.2 and I rounded them for my previous post.

I just weighed my soft top, and got 13 or 14 lbs, but my bathroom scale has whole pound increments. That's not terribly accurate, so I'm not about to remove my hard top for such a coarse measurement. At this point, I might as well report the weight in cats. The soft top is 1 cat, and I presume the hardtop is 2 cats.

[tennis_trs]

...That's not terribly accurate, so I'm not about to remove my hard top for such a coarse measurement. At this point, I might as well report the weight in cats. The soft top is 1 cat, and I presume the hardtop is 2 cats.

It's plenty accurate enough to verify that your salesman was way off and the hard top is significantly heavier than the soft top, but that both are fairly light.

By just lifting one after the other I could easily tell which was heavier before I had a scale available.