Power Removable targa top

Driveability?

What, the link doesn't bring up a video of a Del Sol with a power targa top for you guys?

oh, the link works just fine ... it's the content that has me


why would one want to go through all that trouble and add all that additional weight?
Andy

I think it's cool. I'd love to get in the car and stow the targa top at the push of a button. I'm not a big fan of getting in and out of the car multiple times to stow the top. I guess I'm just lazy.

then go buy a lexus! i hear they now park themselves ...

Andy

I have to admire the work it took to do that. But I'm fine with walking around and stowing my own top.

So.Cal.914,
Thats no easy an task, please don't get me started on that project!!!!!!
Very slick, its just a big CD changer

It is cool, however, I keep my top stowed and only drive when it's not going to rain. Got the Jetta for wet weather.

Not me, I keep this in the trunk...

I guess I don't understand the "getting in and out of the car multiple times" thing.

I do it all from the drivers side and only get out of the car once.

While sitting in the driver seat, I usually but not always roll both windows down.

I undo the drivers front latch, driver rear latch, passenger rear latch,
passenger front latch.
Then I get out and open the rear trunk.

Then I walk forward and stand right next to the drivers door.
If you are worried about the top falling down, leave the drivers side
front latch for last after you open the trunk.

If the windows are up the, drivers door must be open for this next step.

I then lift the top slightly and slide it back slightly so that I can
grab the top with the left hand at the center of the front edge and the right
hand at the center of the rear edge.
I then lift off the top.
While taking the 3 steps to the back of the car, I rotate the top in my hands
so that I'm gripping the top from the sides rather than the front and back.

I then put the top in the trunk, close the trunk and get back in the car.

While the Del-Sol automatic top definitely has a coolness factor about it,
it seemed pretty complicated and kind of slow.
I think I normally do the 914 top in about the same amount of time or
probably even a bit faster than the 50 seconds to 1 minute that it took.

Hmm..... perhaps this could be a tech article?

--- bill

I'd be all over that like white on rice. The targa top is too bulky for me, and I usually have to set it on top of my foot after removing it so I can reposition and get a better grip. As for putting the top back on, the windows have to be rolled up to for more contact surface, and usually involves a clumsy drop or plop of the targa top onto the car. I don't have the strength or arm extension needed to gently set it on the proper spot on top of the car. I've always wanted a painted top, but will never do it because I know I drop my top, or at least scrape up the sides on the parking lot.

Thanks for sharing Demick.

Jen

What?

You guys have tops? I thought that was an option.

I don't drive mine with a top.

from the transformer generation. [remember those toys that change from a what ever to a robot]



{he now goes back to find some thing actually worth looking at}

hey Jen after you unlock the targa top latches front and back and still sitting in the car try lifting the top up and rotating it 90 deg stetting on the windshield frame and the targa bar right over your head, then when you get out you can pick it up from the short side and go to the trunk with it. then i set it in the holders that way. maybe it'll work for you.

Wasn't the automatic top a factory option for the non-US market Del-Sols?

Movie coming out on Independence Day! I can't wait!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZp75fWe-ssTransformers trailer

Thanks for the tip for the top. Sounds like it makes for easy removal. Any ideas on how to *ease* it back on?

Jen

just reverse steps.
it's easy to see where the top goes when your inside.

I like the targa top on the smart roadster. The middle is cloth and rolls up in to the targa bar like a window blind, then if you want the full targa effect you can remove each of the side bars individually. I can't find a video anywhere of it.

Yes.

The only thing I liked about the del Sol was the power r. window. The added weight, complexity and loss of trunk space are not good trade-offs for that power roof. BTW, speaking from personal observation as being affiliated with a Honda (car) dealer for 28 years, the del Sol removeable tops leak too, so I guess Honda copied that feature as well!