[Stephen]

BTW, as someone asked already, why not just put the soft top on without the rods? As the other poster correctly stated, the roof sags a bit, but it allows you to get home in a rain storm or simply secure the car.

I did this with my S because I did not want to do any permanent mods to the car. I usually had the top off all together, but as it got colder, I used the sagging roof more and more (I always had it in the trunk). What I found was that after the car got up to 30 + mph, the roof would start to get sucked up by the aerodynamics of the car. So the sag was no more! Since I am a tall driver, I liked this because as soon as I got going, espcially on a freeway trip, I had the orginal headroom as if the two rods were in place.

I highly recommend not adding the two grommets and drilling into your Exige S bodywork. You can get by just fine without the rods. The only two drawbacks are when the car is parked and the roof is on, it does sag and therefore does not look as clean as with the rods. This should only be a concern if you are worried about what others may think. The other drawback is if you are tall, and you are going less than 30 mph, such as at stoplights in city driving. Then it can get a bit annoying as the top keeps drooping onto your head, it can mess up your hair!!!