anyone know anything about Snug Top hardtops?

[nealb]

saw one advertised and was wondering if they are decent as compared to factory hardtops

[Titus]

saw one advertised and was wondering if they are decent as compared to factory hardtops

Everything I have seen on them was negative, but I have never seen one in person.

[juxt3r]

I had a Montego snugtop up until last weekend, actually. I've read plenty of negative reviews on 'em as re: fitment and such. I did have a fair amount of wind noise from the windows, but never got more than four or five drops of water on the insides of the windows in heavy rain. Once I had a good grasp on how to adjust everything properly, I was rather pleased with it.

The car it's now on shows considerably less wind noise and promises better rain protection, as the side glass sits a bit more comfortably against the weather stripping.

As with any top, don't go near an automatic car wash! I tried that as an experiment about a month ago with rather entertaining results (in hindsight).

Personally, I wasn't a big fan of the latching mechanisms, as they struck me as being rather spindly compared to their OE counterparts. However, they do work with stock front & side striker plates, though a bit off-center looking. The connectors for defog & dome light, if the top has 'em, require a harness from snugtop unless you feel like finding OE connectors and doing a little pinning. No biggy..

If you want a hardtop and a snugtop is in your price range (I've seen between $400 & $800 depending on region, etc.), why not? Just be sure to test fit it (making all proper adjustments, of course) before buying.
...maybe run a cup of water or two over potential trouble areas as a just-in-case measure.
Ultimately, though, the choice is very much yours.

[POS Racing]

saw one advertised and was wondering if they are decent as compared to factory hardtops

Any Miata hardtop is a lot more fun if you have a Miata to put under it.

[MadMonkey]

As with any top, don't go near an automatic car wash! I tried that as an experiment about a month ago with rather entertaining results (in hindsight).

Are you talking about soft or hard tops? I use an auto wash and it works fine?

[altiain]

Any Miata hardtop is a lot more fun if you have a Miata to put under it.

What he said.

[MadMerv]

If you have a roll bar, be careful, as the SNUGTOP slopes more to the rear, so some roll bars that would fit with an OEM hardtop will not fit with a SNUGTOP.

[trickyrix]

As the proud new owner of juxt3r's old Snug Top, I can safely say there's nothing wrong with it as it sits on my car (I had it painted white, actually). I'd certainly try one on for size if you can, given what jux said about it on his car. I test drove a car a while back that had what I thought was a factory top, and it sounded kinda junky compared to the Snug (clunky and creaky and rattly). Now, if I can just figure out how to get the dome light and the defroster wired up... that'll give me something to do for Xmas, I guess...

[channelmaniac]

Now, if I can just figure out how to get the dome light and the defroster wired up... that'll give me something to do for Xmas, I guess...

If you need, I have a bunch of Molex connectors I picked up dirt cheap from when a couple of Radio Shack Stores were going out of biz...

[Mark52]

Yea, Neal, just make sure you fit the correct Miata to the hardtop.

[trickyrix]

If you need, I have a bunch of Molex connectors I picked up dirt cheap from when a couple of Radio Shack Stores were going out of biz...

Thanks for the offer... I'm going to poke around and see if I can come up with one of those Snug harnesses (if they indeed exist). In the meantime, I'll get the ol' multimeter out and see if I can find out which pins do what on the capped "mystery plug" on the driver's side of the package tray area. I'm assuming that's power for the defroster and/or dome light if one has a factory top... eh? Yeah, I know I'm quickly delving into Tech Chat here, so if we need to move the party elsewhere, let me know...