Hey,,

i was was just daydreaming about down the road when I will need to replace my top. It has the plastic insert but the top itself looks great. Anyway, when I replace it I was considering going manual. How does it look? Anything wrong? Does it flop around or anything usual?

 

The soft top motors weight only a couple of pounds a piece. Definitely under 10 pounds for the pair

 

Sounds like you want a Miata.

 

No sure why you'd want to do that? You can add crank windows too while you're at it! LOL

 

The handle is there for emergencies, not as a suggestion. The frame itself makes up most of the weight, but if you're just desperate to save 2-3 seconds at best, it will function without the motors in. I can't say how cleanly you'll be able to stow it since you'll have to fight the weight of the frame with nothing to slow it down when you open it.

 

I am just dreaming about a sort of club sport/ lightweight build. Anybody around here actually done it?



I was also just dreaming about crank windows! Lol

I am just curious. I haven’t altered anything yet—not even the plastic window!

 

If your ultimate goal is a light-weight build, ditch the top for a CF/FRP hard top if you want to shave significant weight. The top with motors is ~70 lbs. Depending on the brand/build, an aftermarket top with a plastic window is ~10-15 lbs with non-OEM mounting hardware. Leave the door windows alone unless you're just going to remove them outright. A crank conversion would be a mountain of effort for negligible gain.

There are multiple threads on shaving weight from the car. Look in the Racing and Competition subforum. You can shave about 200 lbs off of the factory curb weight without extreme effort while leaving the car livable and stock-looking.

 

As someone mentioned already, the soft top motors themselves aren't very heavy. It's the rest of the frame that has all of the weight and you will need it even if you go manual. Window regulators aren't very heavy either.

I'm sure there are tons of thread on weight reduction, but off the top of my head the easiest (not necessarily cheapest) things to do are: replace stock wheels, stock exhaust, oem soft top and seats. Replacing those items with their lightweight aftermarket counterparts should cut a decent amount of weight and is fairly easy to do.