Are you disappointed that the convertibles are still going to be soft tops? I'll be honest, I was hoping to see a retractable hardtop so the car could be driven year round in the north without worrying about inevitably trashing the top and having to shell out $1500 for a new one at some point. For a summer car it doesn't matter, but for a DD a soft top leads a harsh life.

I kind of thought being that the Mustang is really stepping it up in the S550, a retractable hardtop might have made the cut.

 

Too expensive, too heavy, too complex and compromises the looks.

In my opinion

 

I'd rather have a soft top, and cloth over vinyl is a big step up IMO. I have a 2012 'vert and I love it, but if I get a 2015 I'll likely get a coupe.

Unfortunately I live in Oregon, so there are scant few months in the year I can put the top down.

 

For a dd you do not want a hard top. Review some on the market today there is almost 0 trunk space with the top down and it is significantly compromised with the top up. IMO not worth it at all think 0 golf bags even with the top up and maybe 1 suitcase, top down maybe a laptop bag. Audi and mb still use soft tops on their 4 seat verts. Rumor was bmw wanted to go back to the soft top for the 4 series but concerns about Chinese market forced them to keep it.

 

^ that right there.

A Mustang is a compromise in convenience and sportiness. If you stuck the top in the trunk, much like a '66 Thunderbird, you now have no trunk. The convertible already deletes convenience with no folding back seats for storage (last I checked) so now you add less convenience still if you wanna go topless.

It also, as mentioned above, adds weight, complexity, and cost that as it stands, IMO, the Mustang simply cannot bear.

Oh, sure, you could do the ASC thing and have multiple sections drop down into a chasm like the Chevy SSR does, but then... you don't have as much trunk space as before, and given where that'd have to happen... you won't have as much of a trunk *lid* as before. The segments aren't going to go where the top would currently. I would think. Unless you have 6-8 segments maybe... That'd be a nightmare, frankly.

The other option is to say "oh well, no back seats" but then it's not a Mustang, it's a 2 seat Thunderbird again.

It just isn't a thing for Mustang. And in that, I'm fine it's not an option.

I also agree the cloth is a good move, good to see it being the thing for 2015.

 

I'll be good with my Glass Roof, although it would be nice if it were a panoramic sliding roof...I'm telling ya Ford has that in store for 2016 or 2017....

 

Hardtop looks like crap. The trunk has to be huge and the body lines are compromised. Not to mention the added weight and complexity. I sure am glad they didn't mess the car up with that garbage.

 

My '06 GT convertible had the roof slashed by someone looking for something to steal inside. In my area there all of two repair shops that handle soft top repairs. The backlog had my car out of commission for 6 weeks of summer. Given that auto theft and vandalism calls to the police just go to voicemail in Minneapolis and all you get is a report number to provide your insurance company with I pretty much gave up on driving it.

Either people will have to learn to keep their hands off my stuff, law enforcement would have to improve, seasonal convertible repair capacity would increase, I'd get a car with a retractable hard top or I give up on having nice things.

I like the retractable ht thought.

 

I'm personally disappointed Ford didn't go to a retractable hardtop with this generation but to each his own. My wife has a '13 G37 convertible and there's no way in heck I'd have that car or any other daily driver if it were a soft top.

Even VW was able to figure out how to make a retractable hardtop work about 8 years ago with the $32K little EOS so one would think Ford could if they wanted to.

Enjoy your new stangs.

 

Miata... Mercedes... they don't look like crap.

 

Ford knows how to. They did the Focus and Volvo C70 hard top verts...

 

Not sure about those but I was checking out a BMW hardtop vert the other day. Ungainly rear proportions, weird trunk lid...not my cup of tea.
Mazda Miata also has a much smaller roof to contend with then a Mustang. There was a concept Mustang hardtop vert made a few years ago. It looked terrible. I am sure Ford would have done a better job then an aftermarket company, but the sacrifice remains that the roof is big and the trunk is small. Changes to the cars proportions would have to be made.

 

Past attempts.

 

They look so frail. Like if you somehow rolled it, you'd be crushed.

 

Not very attractive but neither is the soft top in my opinion. Given the choice I'll take the hardtop even with the added weight.

 

I'm torn. While I would like the hard top when it was up, I don't want to put up with the lack of trunk space when its down. Plus the added weight would make an already overweight car a real porker.

 

I would buy hard top in a heart beat. Every soft top I've ever seen looks awful after just a year, even with care. It's ugly by default

 

It doesn't matter (to me personally) what it looks like with the top up. That's because the top is down every chance I get.

Retractable hard tops, like soft tops, have both advantages and disadvantages.

Ultimately, where does the Mustang sit in the product line? What kind of car is it? What's the price point Ford is trying to hit? Those were the deciding factors.

Even if we consider the soft top a compromise, the Mustang is HUGE bang for the buck when compared to high-performing European models with hard retractable tops.

Sure, my S197 does not handle like a Porsche 911, BMW, Aston Martin, or Ferrari. But when I look at what percentage of performance (by comparison) I do get and factor in the cost to get in the drivers seat (and stay there), the Mustang is a good answer for the American market. For Europe? We'll see.

60-70% of a supercar for 15-20% of the cost? Works for me.

 

I like what Chevrolet did with the new Corvette. That removable roof panel is so light. I would just pop it off and put it in the back seat. Bam, trunk space.

 

The biggest disappointment I have with the car is that the top is not fully automatic. I rented a Chrysler Sebring back in 2009 that had a fully automatic top and you could put the top down from the remote while you were walking up to the car. I was really hoping for that feature on the Mustang.
Going with the prices for the hardtop and adding $5000 (the current price difference for a 2014 vert over the 2014 hardtop), a pretty much loaded ecobost vert will be $43,000. At that price point I really think the market demands an automated top. Even more so with the GT.
Also, some sort of roll over protection should be included.