Hardtop Headroom

[Mike_Yi]

Originally Posted by johnsimion

I'm 6'-4 and I bought a 1999 Boxster because I fit comfortably in it. At least I thought so. Too bad I didn't check to see if my head cleared the roll bar. After I bought it and drove it a while, one day I tilted my head back and discovered that in the event of a rear-end collision, my head was going to get smashed by the roll bar. Not a darned thing you can do about it short of spending thousands on new seats and seat tracks to lower you down, and maybe it wouldn't even be enought. No thanks, I got rid of my motorcycle for the safety of a car, and I wasn't going to have my car kill me. I ended up trading for a Cayman -- there's no roll bar in the Cayman, just a great big comfortable headrest -- plus scads more headroom and more legroom, too. Tall people should stick to Caymans and 987s.

Now I just have to find somebody who will trade me a Cayman for my '99 Boxster.

[rick3000]

They make a $700 roll bar extension, for taller Boxster owners. It would certainly be cheaper than upgrading to a Cayman, and losing the drop top.

[Mike_Yi]

Originally Posted by rick3000

They make a $700 roll bar extension, for taller Boxster owners. It would certainly be cheaper than upgrading to a Cayman, and losing the drop top.

That doesn't remove the danger of the stock rollbar though.

[Allen]

I have a hard top on my 2004 986 and, as someone else mentioned, the hard top gives you a few more inches of head room than the convertible top. Another plus is that the cockpit is quieter while driving with the hard top than with the convertible top.

[Gougoushu]

My Zeintop must be lower than the OEM hardtop, because it has even less room than the soft top from my '98. I'm getting a bit tired of my head striking the top on bumpy streets...

As for the roll bar issue that John Simion mentions, I addressed that by lashing some foam pipe insulation to the rollbar using long wire ties, then painting the insulation a matching color. Not gorgeous, but could save my cranium in a rear end collision one day.

[gsrhoden]

Sounds like a factory style hardtop would work for me. Now all I have to do is find one within a few hundred miles of Houston. There seem to be plenty out there for sale but they are way across the country and no one seems to want to prep one for shipment and deal with the shipping. I'm usually the first one up for a road trip but not to drive a 3000 mile round trip just for a top. Oh well, I will just keep looking and maybe a silver one will pop up in my area.

If anybody knows of one in Texas or Louisiana, please let me know.

Thanks again for all the input,