1++

 

Im just no big on the looks of the OEM HT. It reminds me too much of the miata and I dont want to be reminded of a yata every time I go to get into the S

 

I won't buy another replica hardtop again. forbidden replica hardtop was driving me nuts. it was the worst purchase made for my s2000.

 

The real mugen has fitment to rival the OEM top. However if you don't like the price of a used OEM top you will hate the price of a new Mugen. I think they are up to $6k and it doesn't come with hardware or paint. Also unless you find a used local one good luck getting it shipped.

I do not get the relation of the OEM to a Miata when the 2 cars still look completely different.

Spoon only looks good on very very heavily modified cars. It also by and far has the worst visability of any of the tops. Oem is best mugen is the same as the softtop and the spoon is the worst to see out of so if you drive regularly or daily OEM is the best.

 

Most of my car buddies use to tease me about driving my first 03 nfr. They use to say to tell me "nice miata, girly boy." Even my wife thinks my car looks like a mean miata lol. So, I can see how non-Honda or roadsters enthusiast could mistake a s2000 looking like a miata/mx5, especially the 98/99+ models. I believe that is when they change the flip up headlights to projectors. OEM S2k HTs look very similiar to OEM Miata HTs, just smaller. I decided to buy a rep Mugen HT from Forbidden due to the Black Friday sale. $1200.00 for a painted HT was just too good to pass up But if OEM HTs weren't overpriced, I probably would of bought one of those instead, because of the fitment quality and noise reduction.

*sidenote* When my Mugen Rep HT is shipped and installed, I'll let y'all know how the quality and fitment are.

 

What didn't you like about it? I just bought one.

 

If theyre still available evasive motorsports still has the Mugen hardtops on their website and theyre priced at 3800. Which isnt too bad seein what some of the other tops are being sold at used.

 

http://louisville.craigslist.org/pts/4272061296.html

On your side of the woods...

 

I don't see the big wow about the amuse hard top. If you want a big window, grab the oem hard top.

I would get the spoon hard top if I had a dedicated heavily modified track only car that got trailered to and from the track as it would be a pain in the ass to access the trunk.

If it's daily function I would get either the OEM hard top or a Mugen Hard Top. The fit and finish of the mugen one is as good as oem so far as I have seen. I also like the look of the mugen on a range of cars from stock to modified. The 2 things the oem has on the mugen are defrost and a big ass window.

As far as replica or original. If you have the coin, support the inventors, but if you don't have the coin - i'm a little torn. I do think mugen/spoon/amuse pricing is a little outrageous with the jdm tax but if not for their vision, we wouldn't have the options we do.

Hard tops are fairly lightweight, even the oem ones, so if it's weight savings, I'd save it elsewhere.

...oh btw, between my friends and I we have 2 oem hard tops courtesy of having CRs and another friend has a mugen hard top. The mugen one is ironically the quieter one. Our oem cr hard tops squeak and rattle like crazy - absolutely drives me nuts!!!

 

My Mugen CF HT was my favourite. I had an OEM HT before I got the Mugen. Sometimes you can find used Mugens for a decent price compared to new, the new price is up there though.

I much prefer the sound with the Mugen top in place, not that it is louder or quieter it is just a much nicer sound inside the car. The OEM HT traps noise inside the cabin, all of the mechanical noise coming off the engine bay and tranny/powertrain seems to get trapped in the cabin due to the construction of the oem headliner. It has sound insulation properties, it may keep road noise out but it traps mechanical noise in the car, almost like being in a sound proof room. Once I moved to the Mugen HT it was a much cleaner sound, maybe a bit louder than OEM but it sounded much better IMO. It's hard to explain unless you can drive both back to back with the windows rolled up.

But I was really surprised how light the OEM top is even compared to the Mugen. The OEM is full double sided metal with a large glass window. The Mugen is carbon fiber with a plastic window and the weight difference is less than 10 lbs. Honda did well to keep the OEM top's weight at a decent level.