Base Sport 2 door build. Help me decide: Hard Top or Soft Top given my use case.

[Arterius2]

Keep the soft top and sell it to get the mytop when it comes out for the 2dr this summer


I’m in NYC and have been using it year round. Street parking only. It’s quieter and warmer than the hardtop I had

Your soft top must defy physics for a layer of cloth to offer better insulation and noise isolation than 2 inch of fiberglass with sound deadening headliner material.

Sponsored

 

[Black Jeep Convertible]

Your soft top must defy physics for a layer of cloth to offer better insulation and noise isolation than 2 inch of fiberglass with sound deadening headliner material.

You must have never owned any modern cabriolets. They are surprisingly robust with many layers and well insulated. The hardtop is still a hollow shell regardless of how thick it is. There’s no more rattles and echoey feel anymore.

 

[Arterius2]

You must have never owned any modern cabriolets. They are surprisingly robust with many layers and well insulated. The hardtop is still a hollow shell regardless of how thick it is. There’s no more rattles and echoey feel anymore.

No, I have. They are NOT the same.
Again, you seem to defy physics since you described exactly what a good insulation is — basically a hollow shell of non-conductive material with certain thickness and air gap in between, made better with foam insulation material that is the headliner.

Cut open your favorite thermal bottle and you’ll see exactly that.

 

[Black Jeep Convertible]

No, I have. They are NOT the same.
Again, you seem to defy physics since you described exactly what a good insulation is — basically a hollow shell of non-conductive material with certain thickness and air gap in between, made better with foam insulation material that is the headliner.

Cut open your favorite thermal bottle and you’ll see exactly that.

The hardtop definitely isn’t doing its job then if that’s the case. How do you explain sound proofing material which is thinner than the hardtop but quieter? That’s not defying physics, it’s the same concept on a lesser scale and you’re forgetting the hardtop is 3 separate pieces with room to rub, rattle and air to get through since 90% of them are not air tight

 

[Arterius2]

The hardtop definitely isn’t doing its job then if that’s the case. How do you explain sound proofing material which is thinner than the hardtop but quieter? That’s not defying physics, it’s the same concept on a lesser scale and you’re forgetting the hardtop is 3 separate pieces with room to rub, rattle and air to get through since 90% of them are not air tight

I have a sunrider for hardtop, during cold & windy days, if I turn off the heat I can feel the heat just being sucked away from my head as I drive. Not an issue with my freedom panels.
I usually switch out my sunrider and put back the freedom panels in Winter and vice versa when Spring comes around.

I suspect your hardtop didn't have headliners since you drive a sport. They make a huge difference. I recommend trying the hothead liners, even Mopar works fine for what it is.

As for sound proofing, I work professionally as an Architect, LEED certified and work with energy compliances in many of my projects. We have accoustic and thermal efficiency targets we have to meet to pass building code regulations. There is a reason double or triple-glazed windows offer much better r-value than single pane, there is a reason acoustic glass is generally thicker than normal. We also need to design certain conference rooms to meet acoustic requirements and the acoustic boards we use are of specific thickness and density.

So to answer your question, the thin sound proofing material you mentioned can be made better with increasing thickness. A thin layer of acoustic foam is nice, but two is better. There are many third party hardtop headliners to choose from that offers superior performance.

Again, physics is physics. A piece of fabric is still fabric, it can be made to be decent but it's not magic. As someone who worked in the industry for 12 years, I hope I know what I'm talking about.

 

[Black Jeep Convertible]

I have a sunrider for hardtop, during cold & windy days, if I turn off the heat I can feel the heat just being sucked away from my head as I drive. Not an issue with my freedom panels.
I usually switch out my sunrider and put back the freedom panels in Winter and vice versa when Spring comes around.

I suspect your hardtop didn't have headliners since you drive a sport. They make a huge difference. I recommend trying the hothead liners, even Mopar works fine for what it is.

As for sound proofing, I work professionally as an Architect, LEED certified and work with energy compliances in many of my projects. We have accoustic and thermal efficiency targets we have to meet to pass building code regulations. There is a reason double or triple-glazed windows offer much better r-value than single pane, there is a reason acoustic glass is generally thicker than normal. We also need to design certain conference rooms to meet acoustic requirements and the acoustic boards we use are of specific thickness and density.

So to answer your question, the thin sound proofing material you mentioned can be made better with increasing thickness. A thin layer of acoustic foam is nice, but two is better. There are many third party hardtop headliners to choose from that offers superior performance.

Again, physics is physics. A piece of fabric is still fabric, it can be made to be decent but it's not magic. As someone who worked in the industry for 12 years, I hope I know what I'm talking about.

Should have specified any true convertible top and NOT the thin piece of cloth that Jeep calls a soft top. I’m referring to any modern mustang, bmw, Audi soft top convertible. They are surprisingly quiet with the the way they layered the materials. Much quieter than our hardtop.

You should try it out and see how much quieter they are than our hardtops

Hardtop liners still has the issue of 3 separate solid pieces of foam rubbing and rattling against each other. Whereas a good softop is one thick insulated piece. You may be mumbo jumbo certified with published acoustic theories in popular mechanics but I have owned multiple soft top convertibles and experienced the improvements throughout the years

 

[Arterius2]

Should have specified any true convertible top and NOT the thin piece of cloth that Jeep calls a soft top. I’m referring to any modern mustang, bmw, Audi soft top convertible. They are surprisingly quiet with the the way they layered the materials. Much quieter than our hardtop.

You should try it out and see how much quieter they are than our hardtops

Hardtop liners still has the issue of 3 separate solid pieces of foam rubbing and rattling against each other. Whereas a good softop is one thick insulated piece. You may be mumbo jumbo certified with published acoustic theories in popular mechanics but I have own multiple soft top convertibles and experienced the improvements throughout the years

I have driven a 2019 Mustang with convertible top a while back and I do agree their fabric is indeed thicker than the premium fabric used on our soft-tops.
Does Mytop use the same insulated fabric used on modern mustangs etc?

 

[Black Jeep Convertible]

I have driven a 2019 Mustang with convertible top a while back and I do agree their fabric is indeed thicker than the premium fabric used on our soft-tops.
Does Mytop use the same insulated fabric used on modern mustangs etc?

I believe they use Haartz, same manufacture as the euro luxury brands. The interior feel is very similar to the 6th gen mustang top. Maybe a tad bit more insulated

 

[Arterius2]

I believe they use Haartz, same manufacture as the euro luxury brands. The interior feel is very similar to the 6th gen mustang top. Maybe a tad bit more insulated

Thanks for pointing out the difference.

 

[eck]

My 2 cents, I have the hardtop with the factory headliners, as well as the premium soft top. I don't think the soft top is really all that much louder than the hardtop. Are they equal? No. But the soft top is close enough, and now the hardtop lives permanently hoisted to the ceiling of my garage.

Sponsored