Soft top performance questions

I've been working toward getting the soft top installed on my car, but I'm wondering just how well they actually work.  I'm especially interested in how they hold up to highway speeds.  I'm sure it will probably leak, but that doesn't bother me too much, shoot the original cars leaked.  British roadsters were never known to be really good all weather cars.  With summer coming on, I would like to travel with the top up mainly to keep the sun and wind to a minimum.  I have a trip planned in July that will require about 10 - 11 hours on the road.  Driving that far while being constantly assaulted by wind and sun wouldn't be very fun.  I did stuff like that when I had my T-bucket and traveled on my motorcycle, but I'm getting older now and am not really looking forward to it.  We drove the car 8 hours when we went to Panama City in November, but it was cooler then.  In July, the sun will probably be brutal.  Throw in the possibility of rain and it's easy to see why I want a top.

Does anyone have any comments about how the top behaves at Interstate highway speeds?  

My only experience with this type of top was a Jeep CJ5 I had way back in the 80's. The Jeep top was very, very similar to the Sebring top in the way it attached to the windshield and body.  It almost could have been designed by the same guy.  That top actually parted company with the windshield of the Jeep at about 60 - 65 MPH on a 4-lane highway once with me driving.  An 18-wheeler passed me doing what had to be 80+ and the wind just sucked the top off the windshield.  Not a fun experience and I'm hoping the Sebring top works better.

After sitting in the Sebring with the top up, I can already see what other folks have said about the visibility issues.  There are huge blind spots in what would be the C-pilar area of a hard top.  The distorted view through the rear window doesn't help much, either. I think I have a solution to that issue and hope to be reporting on that as soon as I have a chance to try it out.

ANY issues that anyone would care to comment on would be appreciated.  Attachment issues, driving impressions, windows up, windows down.  Looking for any info on what to expect or maybe try to correct ahead of time.

My Sebring came with a soft top as well as a hard top and I've driven with both and hated the experience. I drove on the freeway and the way the tops attach did not fill me with confidence that they would stay on for a lengthy road trip but for me the worst part was the claustrophobic feeling I got with the top up; it took all of the fun away of driving the car. Being in California, I don't have to worry too much about unexpected rain so neither top has been on the car in years now.

Thanks for the reply.

I agree about the closed in feeling.  I noticed that right away.  Any specifics on what concerned you about the attachments? Did yours loosen in the front or did the snaps come loose?

Actually, for the little that I used the Sebring with the top up at speed, the top performed very well. My top is pretty tight and there was very little flapping. The part I don't like (besides the claustrophobia) about the design is the two small screws, screwed into aluminum, is all that hold down the top in the front. Couple that with the fact that the top overhangs the window frame and catches a lot of air I don't think it is a design that will hold up with a lot of high speed use. Since I don't plan on taking my Sebring on long road trips and only drive on nice days, leaving the top off works best for me.

Hopefully Jerry Mills will respond.
I ran into him at Good Guys in Scottsdale a few months back. He showed me photos of the top he had made, with windows in the C pillar area.

I completely agree regarding the long drives at highway speeds. I occasionally were earplugs on longer drives. I’ve also tried noise canceling earbuds, but am even more hyper cautious of my surroundings than usual.

I’m curious if a bimini,( partial top) for sun protection could be attached and how it would hold up to the wind forces.

AHSebring64 wrote:.........The part I don't like (besides the claustrophobia) about the design is the two small screws, screwed into aluminum, is all that hold down the top in the front.......

That bothered me also. My windshield frame is different that a normal Sebring and I am taking the opportunity to make that better (hopefully).

Thanks for all the replies, so far.

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A fellow member of the forum got a car with no top. He had the frame, so i loaned him mine to get one made. While it was there, i had the corner windows added. Thought i wanted the added window to be in the corner, but the shop owner suggested otherwise. Works really well.
Having had a half dozen 2-seater convertibles and living in Oregon for 66 years, driving with the top up was most common. Never have felt any claustrophobia but it sure is nicer here in Arizona. Many thousands of miles in the rain and the only leak we had was a small drip on my left leg. Came in around the pillar and nowhere else. The way the top tucks into the windshield frame seals quite well.
On the freeway we found having both windows all the way down or partially down worked best. With just one window down we had the snaps pop off at speeds above 70. With top up and widows closed had it over 100 a few times. No problem.

Thanks Jerry. That makes me feel better. I hope to have it on for a test drive tomorrow.

During my Healey ownership the wife and I usually took at least one, often two 5-7 day road trips annually. Weather was usually an issue at some point during those trips. Statically, we only found water working it's way into the doors which then passed through weep holes we had drilled in the low spots. This compared to our Midyear which took years of remedial care so as not to have a wet floor after every rain. Driving on the I-90 in NY (65 MPH speed limit so....let's say faster than that) there were no issues with the top up both with the windows up or down. The top on ours was pretty tight to the bows and the spline front "bow" interfaced with the windshield top well enough to both positively secure it and to minimize rain infiltration. Visibility wise more clear plastic would have been helpful but like many of us, I rely on side mirrors, which I relocated to both doors and a general sense of traffic proprioception. For me, the rear window alerts me to approaching vehicular movement, blurry and hardly ideal. The modern engineering that made glass feasible was a quantum leap forward

This may come as a surprise to some, but aside from stowing it (which takes a considerable amount of time), the soft-top does pretty well I would say. I use it a lot given Canadian weather.

I can raise it solo in about a minute. It doesn't leak except for a bit of water seepage around the back edge of the side-windows. And it does just fine at highway speeds. 245kph (~150mph) is where the pull on the soft-top starts to separate the windshield frame from the glass (although I guess that depends on how well your windshield was installed).

I agree that visibility in the C-pillar area is absolutely atrocious (same with the hardtop). I find I tend to drive it the same way I ride motorcycles and change lanes by accelerating into an opening so I don't have to worry about my blind spot as much.

The big modification I've made is having the rear window zip out completely. Life-changing for wind noise as there's no positive pressure when driving with the side-windows down. 95% of the time I drive it in this configuration. It also makes folding the top easier and I take the rear window out (and stow it under my trunk floormat) then stow the top and therefore don't have to make folds in my rear window. 15 years later it's still crystal clear with minimal distortion.

Ok, the test drive was a resounding success!  Whew!  That was a big worry for me.  The new windshield forced me to come up with a way to attach the top.  Took a little fabrication and thought, but it looks like I got it done. I am working on an update to the build thread and will cover the mods there. For now it works, at least up to 70 mph.

David, I like the idea of the zip out rear window.  I will be looking for somebody that can modify mine that way.  I have a small spot that needs repair and want some wear reinforcement  panels sewed in over the roll bars, but I may have to make a trip to the coast to get all that done.  Probably a several places down there that are familiar with boat tops, so they should be able to tackle a Sebring top.

Thanks again to everyone that responded.