Who thinks the top will be power???
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I think a power soft top is certainly a possibility. It would make sense considering the Sky's upscale placement.Pammysoltice said:
On the other hand, how would the buttresses clip in to their holes in a power top scheme? It wouldn't make sense to raise the top with the power but then have to get out of the car & clip in the buttresses yourself. Might as well just be an entirely manual process.
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:brentil
ahhh man, it's broken
hehehe just kidding.
The brochure says cloth convertible top with defroster glass rear window. True it doesn't mention it being a manual or power roof, but I'm betting it's only going to be manual. Until GM develops a top for this car that doesn't have AFBTS's (roof buttresses) it's going to be impossible to have a power roof that goes up and puts itself in place. You would still have to walk around the car to anchor down both of them, along with latching it inside the car as well. If we're right about the key-fob automatically detatching the AFBTS's, and they retract inwards on their own, it possibly could retract itself automatically, but the trunk mechanism would have to be complex enough to open the entire trunk high enough for it to go down, then close the entire trunk and re-latch it when done. It's a lot of mechanical design and work for a system that can't even put the roof up for you.
ahhh man, it's broken
hehehe just kidding.
The brochure says cloth convertible top with defroster glass rear window. True it doesn't mention it being a manual or power roof, but I'm betting it's only going to be manual. Until GM develops a top for this car that doesn't have AFBTS's (roof buttresses) it's going to be impossible to have a power roof that goes up and puts itself in place. You would still have to walk around the car to anchor down both of them, along with latching it inside the car as well. If we're right about the key-fob automatically detatching the AFBTS's, and they retract inwards on their own, it possibly could retract itself automatically, but the trunk mechanism would have to be complex enough to open the entire trunk high enough for it to go down, then close the entire trunk and re-latch it when done. It's a lot of mechanical design and work for a system that can't even put the roof up for you.
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If the top is going to work how it looks like in the cutaway sketches, I think it would be difficult to do a power top.
Based on those sketches, it looks to me like the bows that hold it up will simply pivot back into the trunk, and not collapse up accordion style like on a traditional convertible top. That’s just a guess on how the top works based on what I have seen, and maybe someone has noticed something that would make them disagree with me. However, if that is the case, the trunk will have to open fairly wide, and the weight at the end of those bows would exert a lot of leverage to try and force them up with a motor at the pivot point. Doable, yes, but it would be mechanism intensive. This of course, doesn’t even consider the AFBTS’s either.
Plus, if it were a power top, I think Saturn would be advertising it as such already. Look for manual, at least in the beginning.
PS, Corvette has an optional power top now (starting on the C6). It adds a bit of weight and a good chunk of change to the price (over $1000).
Based on those sketches, it looks to me like the bows that hold it up will simply pivot back into the trunk, and not collapse up accordion style like on a traditional convertible top. That’s just a guess on how the top works based on what I have seen, and maybe someone has noticed something that would make them disagree with me. However, if that is the case, the trunk will have to open fairly wide, and the weight at the end of those bows would exert a lot of leverage to try and force them up with a motor at the pivot point. Doable, yes, but it would be mechanism intensive. This of course, doesn’t even consider the AFBTS’s either.
Plus, if it were a power top, I think Saturn would be advertising it as such already. Look for manual, at least in the beginning.
PS, Corvette has an optional power top now (starting on the C6). It adds a bit of weight and a good chunk of change to the price (over $1000).
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Yeah, you can get away with adding a $1,000 option on the Corvette because it's fairly small compared to the overall price of the car. But on a vehicle in the Solstice/Sky range tacking on a $1,000 option is kinda pricey compared to the total price of the car.
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I just checked Corvette pricing, and that power top option is actually $1995.00!
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That's 4% of the base Convertible Corvette C6 price.Fformula88 said:I just checked Corvette pricing, and that power top option is actually $1995.00!
However it's 8.3% of the Sky if it costs $24,000 base.
And a whopping 10% of the Solstice base cost.
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Maybe a removable hard top in the future, that should be less expensive that a power top, but it would add a lot more wieght than a power top.
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<Inappropriate and off topic comments deleted>
(Just thinking this is kinda borderline, Slip. No big deal, but lets just try to stay on topic - and keep in mind there are females that look at the site, if not members, then browsing...)
(Just thinking this is kinda borderline, Slip. No big deal, but lets just try to stay on topic - and keep in mind there are females that look at the site, if not members, then browsing...)
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i know a few manufacturers do offer them. bmw, porsche... i cant think of any more off the top of my head. i wonder how difficult it would be to just remove the cloth top for use in the winter. if it would only be a half hour long project, id go for it! then the hard top wouldnt add much weight at all.LatinVenom said:
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you know, so many times i find that manufacturers are unwilling to make certain parts and its so hard to find some aftermarket parts, ill probably end up doing my own CF hardtop.
*somewhat related topic*
if the top was taken out of the car, aside from some decorative pieces, would there be anything between the seats and the trunk? ive seen some cutaways of the solstice, but its hard to tell.
*somewhat related topic*
if the top was taken out of the car, aside from some decorative pieces, would there be anything between the seats and the trunk? ive seen some cutaways of the solstice, but its hard to tell.
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We've been debating this for a long time at the Solstice forum. Some think the fuel tank will end up between the seats and the trunk, some think it's not. We're not exactly sure anymore what's ending up between the seats and the trunk. It's defintely not the roof because the roof stows completely in the trunk itself. Personally I've speculated it might be more storage space, like a MR2 compartment. We have seen images of a small compartment behind the passenger seats (some one had said for the can of fix-a-flat).swatthefly said:
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well, ive seen some of the pics of the skeleton of the solstice and it looks to me like the tank is behind the rear axle closer to the ground, so that leads me to believe it will be the same with the sky. if that is the case, it wouldnt surprise me to have a plastic lined case behind the seats. saturn would probably try to sell us on all the storage space that it has. :banghead: well, maybe you could put a bag behind each seat. heck, id be able to do two. im 5'6". my seat would really be scooted up. still, i wonder... maybe it will just be open space?brentil said:
We've all seen detailed skeleton pics of the Sol'.swatthefly said:
Look at the underside photos of the Saturn Sky - you'll see the bottom of the fuel tank (trapeziodal metallic protective bottom cover) on top of the differential, essentially in the "Mayan Pyramid" seen in the Solstice trunk photos.
You can also make out what takes up the area directly behind the seats: the forward bushing in the lower control arm, and some structural triangular members that presumably tie in the tunnel to the rails where they widen.
Whatever's behind the seats ain't much - maybe just a crossmember, and some storage pockets - but not anything that counts as "cargo".
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Closer to home, Ford T-bird. Fully removable hardtop in body color.I recall a recent Mercedes that does the same. You install a sling in your garage rafters and its one-person lift off. This type of roof dates back to '55 tbird, '56 vette, '56 MGA.swatthefly said:
Average weight of new production fiberglass hardtops for MG's, Triumphs, Fiats, etc, is ONLY 40 lbs. 40 lbs is not too much top end weight to diastrously affect handling. The hope would be, for Sky and Sol that one or more of these craftworkers would be willing to do a roof. Some other checking found average prices of $1100-$1200.
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see, i know the removable hard top isnt heavy. but imagine that 40lbs without the weight of the cloth top. i bet the cloth top weighs as much or more. (does it?)
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More then likely the cloth top weighs less I'm betting. Say the removable hard top is fiber glass so it's fairly light weight, it'll still have support structures in in too, and the glass area will more then likely be larger then the glass in the cloth top. More then likely even though it's still fairly light weight I'm betting the cloth is lighter then fiberglass.swatthefly said:
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