Current soft top choices and recommendations

in the making · Postby **in the making** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 2:22 am

Hi All,

I know this topic has been discussed in the past. Thought I might ask what the current preferences were.

I'm looking to replace my NA (roadster) with an original looking vinyl zippered rear plastic window.

Seems the choices are:
Prestigetops
softtopsonline (Robbins)
Random eBay purchase

I plan to put it on myself.

Is there something better out there? Which one would you suggest?

Cheers,
Itm

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 9:20 pm

I'm looking for a new one for my NB too at the moment. I've come up with EZY Fit Soft Tops on top of those other results.

Does anyone have any extra advice on what's good and what's not?

rossburns · Postby **rossburns** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 10:17 pm

I was more than happy with my robbins cloth top with glass from softops online, I had it fitted by a motor trimmer :beer:

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 4:39 pm

I would not buy a cheap product without a warranty and some sort of reputation for quality- don't just select on price. If you buy on line take a look at what are the policies for products that fail to meet requirements. Local agents or fitting experts might be useful- 93clubman probably knows.

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 6:03 pm

Mr Morlock wrote:I would not buy a cheap product without a warranty and some sort of reputation for quality- don't just select on price. If you buy on line take a look at what are the policies for products that fail to meet requirements. Local agents or fitting experts might be useful- 93clubman probably knows.

Most of the websites say they'll fit blah blah, so that's pretty good. I'm mostly looking at the Australian based websites anyway to make sure I have someone to call should it all turn poo shaped. I don't mind paying more money if I get local warranty/support.

Any other suggestions beyond the Robbins ones?

green_comet · Postby **green_comet** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:28 pm

These guys have a good reputation over in the UK, they sell through ebay also.

http://www.mazdahoodshop.co.uk/MAZDA.html

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 10:09 pm

The KG Works triple rear window model looks interesting. I'm over the cave syndrome that you get with an NB top. You can order this one straight off their JP website. Anyone tried one?

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 7:43 pm

That UK one doesn't look too bad. I wonder what the shipping would be to Australia?

I'm going to start sending emails to companies later this week to see what they come up with, mostly because Mania aren't back on board until tomorrow. At the moment I'm thinking a cloth/mohair top in green. If I'm going to change it up, I may as well 'upgrade' it to something a bit more interesting than the standard black.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:10 pm

at a guess I would say that black has probably the best UV/ fade resistance.

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 10:28 pm

Mr Morlock wrote:at a guess I would say that black has probably the best UV/ fade resistance.

Well, if you're talking physics, then technically white would be the most resistant to UV/fade as it bounces the most amount of light back. Black would actually absorb more light, and thus be the most UV/fade prone.

Besides, I'm not worried about colour fade as my current top hasn't really faded in the 16 years since it was made. It's more the brittleness of the material over time. Cloth will definitely be more supple over time versus vinyl.

marcusus · Postby **marcusus** » Wed Feb 04, 2015 6:00 pm

Okie dokie. Been doing a few ring arounds and have come up with a few options. Best bet so far is Ezy Fit Soft Tops for price at around $750 including shipping to Sydney. The guy also sent me an awesome swatch chart with all the different materials, colours, etc. It's actually pretty handy, and I'll probably hang on to it for future reference. If anyone wants to have a look, just let me know. It has all the Twillfast, German original, leather grain, etc options on there.

I also checked out Soft Tops Online who do Robbins tops, but don't have any green cloth. Prestige Tops weren't far off on price, but were maybe another $50 on top of Ezy Fit for price. They both supply EZOn tops.

I also asked Classic Coach Works in Mortdale NSW for a quote. It seems they manufacture the top here, which is interesting. However their price for a cloth top was $850, so it's a bit of an increase of the pre made ones. Installation from them was about on par at $450. The guy made an interesting point though, which I'll put out there to see if anyone has an answer. He reckons that the NB isn't suited to having a cloth roof. The way the roof folds apparently can cause excessive wear on the roof. You can also end up with a bit of a saggy roof according to him. Does anyone have any first hand experience on this? Would love to know whether it's true or not.

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 4:02 pm

marcusus wrote:He reckons that the NB isn't suited to having a cloth roof. The way the roof folds apparently can cause excessive wear on the roof. You can also end up with a bit of a saggy roof according to him. Does anyone have any first hand experience on this? Would love to know whether it's true or not.

I believe the US version of the NB SE (called Mazdaspeed over there) had a cloth top from the factory in the higher specification release.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 4:08 pm

manga_blue wrote:The KG Works triple rear window model looks interesting. I'm over the cave syndrome that you get with an NB top. You can order this one straight off their JP website. Anyone tried one?

I havent, but I recall one of the USA based retailers selling a similar model (the 3 window MG style one)
It was either Prestige or Robbins from memory.

KG Works do nice stuff, but they also charge an arm and a leg (sometimes a few fingers too)

pcmx5 · Postby **pcmx5** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 4:13 pm

I remember reading some reviews about the 3 window ones which have been around for a while(were available when I first looked around 2002) and they didn't like the way the side windows folded ,might be something on Miatanet about them.My guess is that if they worked well given their better rear vision they would be allover the place and they aren't so perhaps my memory is correct.They weren't KG ones though.

Peter.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 4:27 pm

^ True, from memory one of the downsides was that due to the way the MX5 roof folds the side windows were being folded down the middle, which caused them to wear much faster than the back window.

I can't really see how any MX5 softop could fix that outside of having those windows zip out separately like the back window on NAs?