I am hoping for a manual top (to keep cost down), glass window (longer life), and a lid (for a smooth, purpose built look).

Any one else have an opinion?

 

Sounds good to me.

A glass window is a must though... plastic looks ridiculous, IMO.

 

The press didn't think the manual top on the C5 was a big deal. It ultimately might not be, although as a product designer I'd have a concern over how a manual top is initially perceived.

I lean toward power becuase I think it fit's into the luxury marque of a convertable better.

 

Glass is the way to go .... Plastic = no see

 

Power cloth top with tonneau integral to the car.

A bag full of tonneau cover is a guaranteed deal breaker for me.

 

I don't see convertibles as a luxury, more like an appearance option. I dont ever want the words Camaro and luxury to appear together!

 

When people buy a convertable over a coupe it's a luxury driven choice, whether it's a Bmw 645i or Chevy Cavalier. No harm or foul.

Camaro and luxury
Camaro and luxury
Camaro and luxury
Camaro and luxury
Camaro and luxury
Camaro and luxury
Camaro and luxury
Camaro and luxury
Camaro and luxury
Camaro and luxury

 

Pay attention here:

Manual tops only work for certain types of designs. For a car the size of a Camaro, it's a no-go.

For certain types of mechanism, say.... tension bow tops, a manual latch is a terrible choice. 5% females would literally have to hang on the thing to close it. Corvette gets away with it because the top is so small, but watch the warranty numbers on the top carefully, they're going to be high for the manual version.

If anyone named after a certain celestial body happens to see this:
POWER LATCHES. ONLY POWER LATCHES. ACCEPT NOTHING LESS. THEY AREN'T AS EXPENSIVE AS SOME FOLKS THINK.

EVERYTHING is going cloth anyway, vinyl looks terrible after a year.

SERVICEABLE glass with integrated defroster is a really good idea.

No bags.

 

Pacer X:

So what your saying is in general a car with two rows of seats will need a power top because of the size of the top? I'd buy that from an engineering perspective.

What's a 'bag'?

 

I own a Camaro with a manual top and I'm not sure what your talking about. The latches pull the top down when you turn them. It takes very little effort. Also it doesnt seem right adding wieght and cost to a car that isn't intended to appeal to 5% of females.

Dream Z, I see what your saying, but you nearly killed me when you said Cavalier & luxury! See what I'm saying?

 

There are many types of top, but two in particular are "simple pivot" tops and another is called a "tension bow" top.

For a simple pivot top, size is an important factor, just due to the mass that has to be moved from point A to point B and the fact that the thing will not want to come up square (the side you're yanking on will tend to move more, obviously, than the side you're not - unless you happen to be able to pull the thing from the middle - which you can't unless you straddle the console... why you would be straddling the console is beyond me...). The thing, regardless of how stiff you make it, will "birdcage" or "box" on you - the pivots won't be aligned and the mechanism will work against you somewhat. There are all kinds of linkages in there that can get out of whack.

For a tension bow top, the mechanism actually works AGAINST you as you try to pull it closed. Mechanically speaking, you have far less mechanical advantage at the ends of travel than you do with a simple pivot. This is intentional in the design. Since most (almost all) of these tops are hydraulically powered, that's no big deal - the cylinders have a tremendous amount of force available to them and can drive the thing home, a simple elecro-mechanical drive system (with a tremendous gear reduction working in it's favor) then cinches the latch.

Ergonomically speaking, you cannot pull down with a single arm much more than your body weight - if you hang on it, you can pull no more than your body weight. If you weigh 95 lbs. and the top takes 96 lbs. to close, you've got a problem... If you weigh 150 lbs. and the top takes 96 lbs. to close, you aren't going to be happy about it. If you clock in at 260 lbs. like me, it's no big deal - but I'll pay for it anyway.

The simple way to tell the difference between tension bow tops and simple pivot tops is to watch the back end of the top as it is cycled down. If the back end lifts up and let's the hard tonneau out of the way - it's usually a tension bow. If the back doesn't lift up and the whole thing just drops into a well with no upward motion at the rear end first - it's a simple pivot top. The Mustang and F4 are both simple pivot tops which could easily manage without power latching... a tension bow, on the other hand, is a completely different animal.

A bag is what you stuff a soft tonneau cover into. Hard tonneau's look better, but they're heavier and more expensive. Tension bow tops make a hard tonneau a virtual necessity without some added monkey business in the mechanism.

 

First, you have a simple pivot top. Completely different animal than a tension bow top.

Second, the cost for power and the mass penalty are pretty insignificant for power latching.

Third, I'll bet you're not a 5% female.

 

You are correct. If I was I would be on a Cavalier z-24 board begging for a luxurious fur lined power top.

Seriously, is the 3rd gen type an unreasonable request? I like it way better than my buddies m*stang top.

 

Just make it optional and then you can please everyone.

Heck if they could be ordered with a power top in 1967, then dammit... they should be optional in 2008.

 

Pacer X...heard you loud and clear.

Actually, we put the white top on Camaro/Firebird on 'stop' for a while in 1999.....due to high closing effort.....the vinyl (white tops are vinyl....black and neutral are canvas) at colder temps would shrink just enough that you had to do chin-ups to get the top to latch........