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hopefully buying one, getting side latches in a couple of days, but would it be okay to drive the car at no greater than 60km/h with the hartop attached only via the front clips and the chrome things at the rear?

cheers

You'll be fine at any legal speed. I ran my car like this for 6 months. Definenetly get the side latches though, it rattles a lot less and ties the car together better.

What they said.

I know for a fact that the front latches and frankenstein bolts are good for 120kph+ ... or the ones on the car I was travelling in were anyway ...

Definenetly get the side latches though, it rattles a lot less and ties the car together better.

Yeah, A Plastic roof really makes the car solid.
I've been driving without them for 3 years

I picked up my hardtop and drove from Sydney to Canberra without the side latches because mine hadn't arrived yet. It was fine.

But when they cost less than $100, why would you not get a set for the long term?

Perfectly fine. Mine's had offs at track days, done Melb - Bris and Syd - Melb multiple times, had an ill-fitting roll bar that presses hard upwards on it for about a month, is daily dríven and no problems.

Reminds me though, I will have to get around to that at some point...

GP wrote:

Definenetly get the side latches though, it rattles a lot less and ties the car together better.

Yeah, A Plastic roof really makes the car solid.
I've been driving without them for 3 years

I have to say, if you haven't dríven the car with and without the side latches how can you comment? In my opinion in makes a noticable difference, with the hardtop and all four latches the car feels stiffer.

Its fibre reinforced plastic if you want to get specific btw

bensale wrote:

GP wrote:

Definenetly get the side latches though, it rattles a lot less and ties the car together better.

Yeah, A Plastic roof really makes the car solid.
I've been driving without them for 3 years

I have to say, if you haven't dríven the car with and without the side latches how can you comment? In my opinion in makes a noticable difference, with the hardtop and all four latches the car feels stiffer.

Its fibre reinforced plastic if you want to get specific btw

If its on the net, it must be true. Of course.

I grant you it is quieter, and of course there is less scope for the hardtop to make noises being better tied to the car, but stiffen the car ... well yes, about as much as piece of wet cardboard ...

How much chassis bracing do you have though? If you have a roll bar, front and rear braces etc I would imagine it would make less of a difference.

The fibreglass/plastic itself has to have a certain degree of torsional rigidity other wise the window would probably pop out of it or crack when it flexes. Therfore if the hardtop has any form of rigidity it must when fitted properly with the six mounting points add to some extent to the rigidity of the car.

From a personal experience, I wouldn't recommend not using them. Plus I'm sure Mazda's engineers spent millions (time and money) designing it this way for a reason.

From a personal experience, I wouldn't recommend not using them.

What happened?

Nothing major. The hardtop just bounces on bumpy roads. It can be annoying and can be a cause for concern. And I'm sure if you do it often enough, it could end up damaging the hardtop.