[maxxfish]

I plan on having the hard top on my car about 99% of the time (Flame away, but I'm just not a huge fan of open air. I had the top down less than a dozen times on my MR-2 this year).

I've read that the noise from the "tin can" effect is pretty bad. Does the interior of the hard top have any insulation, or is it just the exposed underside of the fiberglass? If so, would it be easy to add some sound deadening material and a headliner?

 

[etypeiii]

I don't think there is any insulation. There is a fabric headliner that doesn't seem like it would have much sound deadening effect. I have not seen the top minus liner but rapping on the headliner sounds like I'm hitting fiberglass above.

That being said, I do not notice much tin can effect. Mind you, I have not removed the top (this is rainy Seattle) and I may be deafened by years of loud exhausts and ear wax buildup. But I have been able to hold conversations with passengers at a normal voice tone at speeds of 60-70 mph (with revs around 3000.) I have base suspension and touring pack.

I'll have to compare with the top off and soft top on, and since I'm still breaking it in, I have not gone into high cam timing yet. I may have a quite different opinion at high revs (since I imagine those sounds are more likely to reverberate.)



DLY

 

[Stan]

>>>I've read that the noise from the "tin can" effect is pretty bad. Does the interior of the hard top have any insulation, or is it just the exposed underside of the fiberglass? If so, would it be easy to add some sound deadening material and a headliner..<<



It's not sound related to the hard top flexing like a tin can. It's the reinforcement of low frequency sounds due to acoustics. The effect is related to pressure. So useable amounts of insulation won't change it.

 

[Derek]

About a month ago I switched to the hard-top after running my Liz for the previous few months with the touring soft-top.. After seeing all the post that claimed the hard-top would be noisier I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was in fact quieter. I know this because I can hear my radio much better at lower volumes than would be possible with the soft-top. The hard-top has also helped to enhance the audio quality of the stock speakers.

I have noticed that there are some squeaks from the hardtop when the car is warming up, other than that it is a marked improvement noise wise.

 

[LotusLust]

my elise with hard top is much quieter than my mr2 spyder with rag top. i assume the elise will be louder in soft top. in the lotus people can hear me on cell while in the spyder it is very difficult.

 

[MikeAR303]

My hard top creaks over bumps, but I've gotten used to it and only notice it when I'm listening for it now.

As far as the difference in outside noise between the hard and soft tops, I can't comment yet since I haven't removed the hard top... but I can say that it's pretty quiet at highway speeds with the hard top on.

 

[DrkFrcs]

I have yet to take my hard top off, so I can't compare between soft top and hard top. But with my hard top on, it is pretty quiet. No odd noises, creeks or moans.