Why would you HAVE to paint it? It looks pretty darn good as is. The OEM vs Mugen debate is entirely subjective, but leaving the Mugen hardtop black/CF seems to be the point. Your soft top is black, nobody is complaining about it not matching.

The lack of a defroster would bug me though.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jaded41
[B]Thanks Luder,

Scott actually called me the other day and said he had some carbon fiber ones in stock, but there's no way I'm going to pay $4,999.00 for it when I can get one for $2,600.00 that's fiberglass.

 

It wouldn't look bad if I left it unpainted, but I have seen painted ones and I like that look better.

 

I'd also like to see a photo of the top painted, silver if there have been any.

Also it would be great to see a side profile photo. There are a bunch of photos on the king site, but none are straight-on side views. All are angled, front and rear shots.

 

I think the Mugen one looks a million times better than Honda's, and it's also been wind-tunnel tested so I would presume it has better aerodynamic qualities.

 

Similar to helmets - you can buy a heavier fiberglass helmet for less, or a compund which weighs less for double. I have some friends with "purpose built" Porsche's. Unlike me, they have money, lots of money. They bought used cars just as molds. They replace the frame with a tube frame and pitch the original. They take the hood, each fender, door, etc, and use it to mold carbon fiber body parts. They get their cars down between 1800 to 2000 lbs and nothing goes onto the frame that is not as light as possible. These guys are of a different breed and don't use the street thinking you are using to evaluate this top. This is not a, "I want to look cool top", unless you're loaded, this is a "purpose built" racing component. Out of my league, I think I'll opt for the roll cage, but when you get around people who burn up 3 sets of $1400 slicks per event, registration fees, hotels, trailers, pick ups to pull trailers, etc, they would view it as "what's best for the car".

 

You are correct, Jay, the kit on Scott

 

I realize that, but $5,000 still seems overly expensive. Hell, I think what Honda's charging for their aluminum top is way overpriced too. I'm just saying that I like the look of the Mugen top, so is there any feasible way I can get a CF one for around $3,500 or how do I get the fiberglass one for $2,600?

Beside's I'd like to meet some of these guys who will drop five large for a Hard Top. If their spending that much money why don't they just buy $50,000 car to begin with like an M3?

 

Jaded41, I didn't mean to sound like I was ragging on you. I was just pointing out my take on the Mugen top and on Mugen, in general.

It is expensive, no doubt about it. The issue is that a ton of R&D has gone into the development of the top and that's one factor that drives the high price. That's probably what I should have said in my last post!



[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jaded41
[B]I realize that, but $5,000 still seems overly expensive.

 

From my past email to king, I seem to recall that the CF top needs to be painted. Only the sides could be left unpainted and the CF texture left alone. I could be wrong though.

 

Well for me, without a lot of money, I didn't buy a $50,000 car because I would have been too limited on what I could do with it, and thus, I would have had to settle for it the way it came. With a $33K car, I could modify the suspension to allow it to handle as well as an $80K car for $5-6K. I could then max air flow via cai, TB, header and exhaust for 3-4K. Move on to beef up the drive train with a clutch, flywheel and improved gearing for $2,500. Finally, with $45K in, I'd have $5K left for engine work and an ECU if gains were proven, and 2K left for safety equipment. This is simply the $50K car I prefer over an M3 or Boxster S with out the financial room to improve on them. Plus the fact you can mod or sit any given month depending on your cash flow.

For me, I'm not concerned with the label, just the results. A $50 - 55K S2000 is a better toy than a stock $50K car. Just me