Tin top owners - any regret over lack of T-Bar?

[James Junior]

Hi chaps,

I am looking at a pair of turbos this weekend.

One is a T-Bar, the other a tin top.

I have had four MR2s in the past and all were T-Bars. It was a long time ago that I sold my last one, but I remember really enjoying roof-off motoring.

Ideally I would want another T-Bar, but I have noticed very few coming up for sale, whilst the tin top I have been offered is a really nice car so not one to discount lightly.

I was just curious - as many of us have owned more than one MR2 over the years, have any of you gone from a T-Bar to a tin top? Did you miss having a T-Bar, or have you never looked back, happy not to have to worry about leaks and wet trousers?!

[Race Idiot]

The only thing I regret is my aircon not working! Plus I feel like the t-bar spoils the lines of the car a bit.

Also the chance to have a car that doesnt constantly leak and creaks under hard driving is also a plus.

Tintop ftw.

[craig]

I went from a rev2 GTS T bar to a rev3 GTS tintop.

I always missed the T bar. Roof out in the summer is awesome.

I then bought a T bar shell, used my tin top GTS as a donor car, and reshelled my tintop into a T bar, thread here:

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=188212

And they don't constantly leak. The reason for leaks, is that most of them are probably on the original 20+ year old roof seals, which have long lost the capability of sealing qualities.

When I had the T bar built, I had new Toyota 4 piece roof/door seals fitted. Not one drop from the roof surprisingly enough.

[ryanaj79]

i'm on 2nd tintop, tho its got aircon, and I dont like faffing with taking parts off haha

[Charged]

I'm a Mk1 owner but no regret here what so ever. Both T Bars I owned leaked and flexed around corners. Tin Top all the way.

[gavsdavs]

If you haven't had a t-bar you won't miss it. If you have, you will.
I think the comments about weight and stiffness are much of a muchness.

[japaneseskoda]

Both mk2s have been tin tops. the mk1 had a sunroof but didn't use it much. To be honest never really thhoight about it until now.

Positive side. It does feel fairly safe in the tin top tubby. Like has good construction.

Negative side. You do feel claustrophobic in the tin top, can be a little creepy in such a confined place with no way out the roof if needs be.

[androo007]

Had a tin top, not a t bar.

Have to say. ....not that bothered about the tbar. Actually I'd choose tin top over t bar if I had the choice again.

[kurkjones]

Had a rev5 sonic shadow t-bar N/A and suffered leaks, (curable obviously) but a still a pain.

Got a rev1 tintop turbo now, wouldn't go back to a t-bar. Depending where you live and if you are fortunate to get good weather majority of the year, t-bar has some plus points.

Although living in Scotland, where wind and rain are a daily occurrence for 23.2 hours of the day, getting the T-bar off wasn't superb. And even when it was off it gave that helicopter noise effect with the wind buffeting. Hope this helps.

Also i believe the old rev1/2 models had a poor seal around the tweeter cover on the inside of wing mirror, making wind noise, anyone know how to cure that as my car gets that wind noise at minute. Thanks.

[pbmr2]

Had a tintop and loved it. didn`t have working aircon so was quite hot in the summer. otherwise I think it looked better.

My current t-bar has only had the roof out once and that was today. had the car for 4 months and I`m not in the UK today. Just left the t-bars and the internal blinds installed all winter and liked it like this. If the weather is good then the t-bars will come out more often however the UK is not known for it`s long dry summers.
Having the t-bars is fine on slower roads but faster roads or motorways it`s not very nice due to the wind.

If I had the choice I`d stick with tintop. Couldn`t pass up this current car though as it`s in great condition. Today was one of the rare days when having the roof off made sense.

[Al-sw20]

Had both. Prefer tintop.

T top leaked and I really didn't want to fix it as it was garaged so only leaked when I got caught in the rain, which isn't very often where I live in New Zealand.

Looking at buying another tintop, 1995 turbo in SMG.

[C35Rob]

Leaking issues aside (which can obviously be fixed, until toyota decide to discontinue the seals...) and chassis flex etc which I can't comment on cause I've not driven a T bar, the main thing for me is that the coupe looks so much nicer than having a big glass strip through the middle of the roof, and I think they look pretty awkward with the panels out too. If they had a full body colour panel without the bar in the middle like the supra aerotop then I'd probably have one.

[James Junior]

Hi all,

Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.

Gives me some more food for thought.

[SonicSW20]

T-top all the way. Mine are off at every opportunity.

Don't be a wimp about it.

There's something quite therapeutic about having the tops off on a clear night in winter. Just have the windows up and the heater on, it doesn't get cold.

[uglee]

If you haven't had a t-bar you won't miss it. If you have, you will.
I think the comments about weight and stiffness are much of a muchness.

I think above sums it up for me.

I thought I wouldn't miss the T-bar, but it's a really great compromise especially if you sort out the seals and it doesn't leak.

I found the tintop was okay but without aircon it would get pretty sticky in the car, (not really a massive problem in Scotland so lived with it)

If they are both similar condition and money, T-bar all the way.

[craig]

I've done the Le Mans trip in a tin top and a T bar.

My tin top had no aircon and believe me when I say I was sweating like a pig in the heat. Pistol Pete took his focus ST and I was glad to sample some of his 16 degree aircon when we stopped off for a drink.

The year after I did the trip again in a T bar. Now, the roads in France and Spain are amazing compared to here. And believe me, driving those smooth tarmac roads through the mountain valleys with the awesome views and 25 degree heat, I'd never want a tin top again.

Its also nice having the option here. We have some awesome summer hazy days, and going out for a sunny summer drive in the country roads with the roof out is brilliant.

[robbie_742003]

Tops off in the spring thru autumn, nothing like it

[jimGTS]

Nothing gives a spacecious cabin feeling like a tbar with the blinds removed.

The cabin feels massive and bright this way.

I went from a tbar, to a hardtop, with my 3rd current 2, I was only interested in finding a tbar again.

Day I bought it I had the roof off on the 2 hour journey home, in the dark! Granted it was summer.

I can understand the smoother lines with a hardtop, but that is almost void if you go for a black tbar, as you wouldn't notice the contrast really.

I know our weather isn't great, but i too remove the tbar whenever reasonable. I am in the SE, so we generally have better weather than the north.

Tbar all the way for me.


Done me perfectly well on a recent silverstone session, not a single creak or obvious 'chassis flex'. only the mr2 championship guys could really give you any real world feedback in this regard as there's no way us mere mortals could tell the difference IMO.

[sonic1999]

Having owned 2 corvettes when it came to get my first MR2 it had to be a T top like the idea of the open roof again but not a rag top so that mr2 was sold many moons ago and last year looked to buy another one but only found tin top that I like the look of so a year on very happy with it as no leak squeaks and this one has factory sun roof and as our weather not give many chances to have tee tops off found this a good compromise just miss the leather seats !

[Martin F]

Sometimes when the right car comes along the decision gets taken away from you, The whole thing that brought me to mr2s was the T-tops and 'yes' , I miss them a lot