Seibon CF Hardtop Review - 3.5 Years Later
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 3,045
Likes: 45
From: Las Vegas
Seibon CF Hardtop Review - 3.5 Years Later
I wanted to give a follow up review of the Seibon Hardtop I purchased in June of 2008.
I originally posted this review, where I purchased the top, shipped, for $2999.
Link to Thread
Here are some basic fitment photos I took then:
Inside the hardtop
Latches from the softtop bolted to hardtop and issue with bolt hole not lining up
Rear latches
I took these pictures a few moments ago with an iphone.
Pass. side roof to windshield top
Rear fitment and gap
Fitment to top of roof and windshield
Rear window weather stripping and fitment
Driver side
Over the past 3.5 years, the following has happened to the car and hardtop:
- 20 track days
- 60+ autocrosses
- Survived thunderstorms in Texas
- Survived 120' heat waves and direct sunlight in Vegas summers
- Survived a humid Georgia and Florida summer
- Survived the crazy dust storms in Vegas
- The car was driven from Georgia to Vegas
- Been rained on, snowed on, rocks from poorly covered construction trucks have pelted it
- The top has been removed/installed probably 300 times, 60% done by myself
- The car has had mixed garage and non-garage storage
The car and top have gone through quite a bit... And it still fits as it did from day 1, and still looks just as clear.
There have been cheaper replicas made, some as cheap as $500, but for being the second lightest hardtop available (lightest being the Challenge CF OEM replica) and fitting almost as well as the OEM and matching the fitment of the Mugen... I'm been quite happy with my purchase. Especially since the $1500 I saved from the Mugen was used to take a Lotus Exige S240 around the Nurburgring for 6 laps.
I originally posted this review, where I purchased the top, shipped, for $2999.
Originally Posted by Driven
Seibon Hardtop Review:
... the Seibon only comes with the Hardtop and rear window installed... and bolts for the front, side, and rear attachment points.
The fitment of the front latch bolt holes are pretty bad. One latch is perfect while the other is off by about 2-3cm. This allows me to use two screws for one latch, and only one screw for the other, so the latch can pivot to latch to the window frame catcher.
Next, since it doesn't come with any of the weather-stripping, installing without it causes some huge gaps. since I haven't gotten the weather-stripping in yet (read above), I can't say for certain if the other attachment points are good or not.
Finally, it does look pretty sweet on berlina... it's also very very light, weighing in at 30lbs with hardware.
Overall impression, it's lighter than the mugen, cheaper than the mugen, and has one latch that is off. is it worth $1500 in savings... so far, yes.
... the Seibon only comes with the Hardtop and rear window installed... and bolts for the front, side, and rear attachment points.
The fitment of the front latch bolt holes are pretty bad. One latch is perfect while the other is off by about 2-3cm. This allows me to use two screws for one latch, and only one screw for the other, so the latch can pivot to latch to the window frame catcher.
Next, since it doesn't come with any of the weather-stripping, installing without it causes some huge gaps. since I haven't gotten the weather-stripping in yet (read above), I can't say for certain if the other attachment points are good or not.
Finally, it does look pretty sweet on berlina... it's also very very light, weighing in at 30lbs with hardware.
Overall impression, it's lighter than the mugen, cheaper than the mugen, and has one latch that is off. is it worth $1500 in savings... so far, yes.
Here are some basic fitment photos I took then:
Inside the hardtop
Latches from the softtop bolted to hardtop and issue with bolt hole not lining up
Rear latches
I took these pictures a few moments ago with an iphone.
Pass. side roof to windshield top
Rear fitment and gap
Fitment to top of roof and windshield
Rear window weather stripping and fitment
Driver side
Over the past 3.5 years, the following has happened to the car and hardtop:
- 20 track days
- 60+ autocrosses
- Survived thunderstorms in Texas
- Survived 120' heat waves and direct sunlight in Vegas summers
- Survived a humid Georgia and Florida summer
- Survived the crazy dust storms in Vegas
- The car was driven from Georgia to Vegas
- Been rained on, snowed on, rocks from poorly covered construction trucks have pelted it
- The top has been removed/installed probably 300 times, 60% done by myself
- The car has had mixed garage and non-garage storage
The car and top have gone through quite a bit... And it still fits as it did from day 1, and still looks just as clear.
There have been cheaper replicas made, some as cheap as $500, but for being the second lightest hardtop available (lightest being the Challenge CF OEM replica) and fitting almost as well as the OEM and matching the fitment of the Mugen... I'm been quite happy with my purchase. Especially since the $1500 I saved from the Mugen was used to take a Lotus Exige S240 around the Nurburgring for 6 laps.
Trending Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Will_ChinLee
California - Southern California S2000 Owners
4
Jul 28, 2006 04:44 PM