The advantages of a clip on the roof for the Mazda MX5

The Mazda MX5 has long been one of the most profitable sports cars around and has proven time and time again that it is reliable, economical, and most importantly, exceptionally fun to drive. To be honest, there is little that beats the feeling of driving my Mazda on those sunny summer days and warm August evenings with the top down.

All models of the MX5, the MK1 MK2 and the latest MK3 have an optional ‘clip on’ roof available for them and I can attest that it is one of the best accessories you can buy for your Mazda for the following reasons:

Heat

Putting on the hardtop in the winter months makes driving a much more pleasant experience. The insulated, lined metal roof makes the cabin area of ​​the car heat up much faster and stay warm if you need to leave the car.

Noise

Driving with the hardtop on significantly reduces road noise. If you have the top down the wind prevents you from hearing road noise so it’s not a big problem, but when the soft top is up and you’re on a long drive road noise can become a problem elderly.

Watch out

Trimming your hardtop during the winter months protects your softtop from harsh winter weather, which in turn will increase the life of your softtop. You may find that the cost of your hardtop is actually recouped by not having to replace the softtop at all.

Space

I’m six foot tall and if you’re a taller driver you may notice the top of your head touching the soft top. This isn’t much of a problem in the summer as I drive with the top down most of the time, but in the winter the tops go up permanently. I find the hardtop to have a slightly higher profile than the softtop, and as such I find my head not to be neat on the hardtop.

visibility

The hardtop has a much wider rear windshield than the softtop equivalent, and as such, visibility from the rear is greatly improved. Leaving the frontage lanes of busy highways is a much safer experience than driving on multi-lane highways.

You can see from the above that aside from looking great, having a hardtop for your MX5 actually has some practical benefits that shouldn’t be overlooked.