Hard top VS Soft top

[NigelM]

Mesh Top works great when it's too intense for topless.

There's an adult joke in there somewhere......

 

[Doug_G]

The mesh top is especially great if you have dry "desert" heat. Really cuts down the sun. That's perfect for the average California or Arizona summer day.

Up here in Eastern Canada, hot days are often hazy and humid with barely a breeze. On those days the mesh top is great while you're in motion, but at a stop light it blocks what little breeze there is, and that makes it hotter. So on those days, if I'm city driving, then I prefer to leave the top off altogether. The mesh is still very nice on the open road, though. And of course on the occasional day of dry heat it is perfect.

That's the only minor nit I can report. Other than that, the mesh top is lightweight yet solidly made, and it takes up very little trunk space. It's great to have three options for summer driving (top/mesh/open).

 

[SByer]

My car spent almost the entire summer with the mesh top on. With garage parking at home and at work, all I had to do at each end was toss the shower cap on and plug in.

Love the mesh top.

 

[dhrivnak]

I doubt there is a noticeable difference between the soft top and hard top in range and performance. In the 1/4 mile I get 100.5 MPH with the soft top on versus 99 with no top. So there is not much of a difference. I assume the difference between the hard top and the soft top to be even less than the difference between open top and the soft top.

 

[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.]

Has anyone weighed their non-clear-coat hard top yet? I'd be interested if it is significantly lighter than my clear-coat hard top, as others have claimed (based on statements from Tesla employees).

 

[smorgasbord]

I'm picking up my non-clear coat hardtop in Menlo Park tomorrow. I'll see what weighings can be done there....

 

[smorgasbord]

Jake at Tesla just reported back to me that the clear coat hardtop weighs the same as the painted hardtop.

 

[tennis_trs]

Jake at Tesla just reported back to me that the clear coat hardtop weighs the same as the painted hardtop.

Thanks, I figured they probably weigh about the same, but had read people quoting that they weigh less than the soft top, which mine definitely doesn't. Still at about 22 pounds, the hard top is light.

 

[doug]

Jake at Tesla just reported back to me that the clear coat hardtop weighs the same as the painted hardtop.

I had heard from several sources that the clear coat CF hardtop would weight more than the body colored painted hardtop. The reasoning had to do with the differences between structural and cosmetic carbon fiber and maybe the thickness of the resin. However, this was all before Tesla actually started shipping the clear coat tops, and was perhaps speculation. Do we have actual mass numbers now?

 

[Mischa]

sorry for a silly question on an old thread,

but what is a mesh top?!?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dsm363]

sorry for a silly question on an old thread,

but what is a mesh top?!?

It's a soft top that uses a mesh like material to blunt the strength of the sun, provide some shade but also give you the open-top feeling. I don't have one but the people who have it love it.
The Taylor Mesh Top for the Lotus Elise and Tesla Roadster | Facebook

 

[Mischa]

thanks for that, i did not hear about yet.

there is another option for our roadsters discussed on the german forum currently. the Lotus Elise hard top.

Tesla-Fahrer und -Freunde Forum Thema anzeigen - Hardtop

 

[hjr]

The Taylor Mesh Top was a nice addition to my collection of extras for e Roadster. It shades on sunny days and keeps UV off the interior. I also have an Elemental Shower Cap form Shine One that keeps the rain and dust off the car. It is faster and easier than putting the soft top on the vehicle - i usually just shove it between the seats. I also like to know that if there is a little shower during the day i do not have to worry. the over was made for Lotus Elise owners in England where it rains alot!

 

[Doug_G]

I used my mesh a lot this summer. Great on those really hot days where you'd like the top off but the sun is killer.

Got caught for the first time last week. I went into a store for 10 minutes with the sun in the sky. When I came out it was raining! Fortunately I got to it before it got too wet!

 

[Andrew Wolfe]

I got caught for the first time this week as well. Went to the gym at 11:00AM. Bright and sunny California Summer weather. Came out at 12:10. Shopping center had turned on the sprinklers! Who runs sprinklers at noon
Still had a dry towel from the gym - so not too bad.

 

[Doug_G]

I got caught for the first time this week as well. Went to the gym at 11:00AM. Bright and sunny California Summer weather. Came out at 12:10. Shopping center had turned on the sprinklers! Who runs sprinklers at noon
Still had a dry towel from the gym - so not too bad.

At least they thoughtfully aimed the sprinklers at the pavement...

 

[daniel]

I check the forecast. I don't leave the car unattended with the mesh top if there's any chance of rain. It only takes a few minutes to switch. Would probably take about 60 seconds if I wasn't such a klutz. I guess now I'll also park away from sprinklers when the mesh top is on.

I don't get to use the mesh top a lot because I'm away (hiking in Canada) for the best six weeks of summer, and we don't get a lot of mesh-top weather before or after. But when I can use it I love it.