I was reading about the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet in road and track, and I saw an interesting feature to the car:

"The Cabrio's electrohydraulic folding roof has been wind-tunnel tested to 209 mph (safe, since Porsche puts this car's top speed at 174, same as the 4S Coupe's), but now the 4S Cabrio driver can raise or stow the top while the car is in motion, at speeds up to 31 mph; a red hash mark on the speedometer face reminds you of the threshold. Actuation is one-button simple, and the whole operation takes about 20 seconds as the top performs its Z-bend fan dance, its articulated hard cover moving fore/aft for clearance and finally docking flush with the bodywork."

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?se...&article_id=761

I guess for $93,200 I would expect cool stuff like that, but it sure would be cool to get that ability in the S2000 from the factory!

Does anyone know of any other Convertibles that have this ability from the factory? This is the first that I have heard of it, but I wasn't sure if it is on the luxury convertibles or not.

 

It can be done on the S2k. I can do it.

Basically all you do is cut the wire going into the top module under the passenger dash. If you look at Lucid's website and look for the instructions for the Sony DCI it is the SAME wire that the Speed Sensitive Volume is hooked into. There are great pix there. Just snip that wire, then you can "one-click" the parking brake and away you go.

 

wow those motors must use allot of 'juice' (battery).....so i wonder how much torque those motors have

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ruexp67
It can be done on the S2k.

 

Had a thought: 209-174=35 mph headwind allowed. What is wrong with my brain?

 

I've done this mod on mine. I never put the top up/down going more that 25 mph and this hasn't caused any problems.

I have a habit of finding small things that bug me with ANY car. My last fixes involved a mod to let you put the top up and down while moving -- instead of being fully stopped, and a mod to let you open the passenger door and trunk while the car is running, without having to reach over to the passenger door and manually unlock it (pain). See here for more info on the TOP mod and some others:

a few s2000 gripes/concerns? Passenger door locking, and conv top

 

Since nearly all cars are drag limited, a 35 mph headwind will greatly reduce your top speed. It's possible that the Porsche isn't, but I doubt you'll be able to move the car anywhere near 209 mph airspeed anyway. So that 209 mph safe speed has a nice factor of safety built into it.

What I wonder is what happens at high speeds in directions other than forward. Say you're on a track with the top up (hey, it could happen...) and you spin. Can the top take it?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by AirWolf

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ruexp67