CitySnake
Enthusiast
Hi John:
After 6 months of ownership of a '01 RT:
Q.Is it water tight in a rain storm (ie a heavy Southern rain)? I know the early models weren't. How about the late models?
A.With the hardtop mine's virtually watertight. The rag top is very good but not perfect. At 65MPH in an average rainstorm (not a deluge) there's just a trickle down the inside of the windscreen. No real problem. Would imagine it might be a bit more serious with increased speed.
Q.Does it make a difference hard top on vs. rag top?
Not sure of the context of this Q. MUCH quieter. Car effectively becomes a coupe.
Q.How much wind buffeting in the cockpit at freeway speeds?
A.With no top, there's some, but less than another roadster without the rear window (can it really be called a window?). My XKE was noticably worse. With the side windows up my wife does not complain.
Q.Is the soft top retractable, or do you remove it and stow it?
A.Remove and stow, which will take up about 1/2 of the limited trunk space. You'll need to order the 2003 to get a retractable.
Q.If retractable, is it automatic or manual?
A. See above
Q.If stowable, how difficult is it?
A. Breaking it down is easier that building. I'm sure you'll get a lot of opinions here. IMHO, until you get experienced, you're going to need 15 to 20 minutes to remove, build and install the soft top maybe more if there's a crowd around. I hear the best can do it in 5 but I only have two arms and 10 fingers. Best is to practice building it BEFORE you're 50 miles from home and see an approaching storm front.
Q.Are there any other issues on the RT I should consider or know about? Any Viper issues on the '99 or '00?
A.The Porsche Cab is much more utilitarian, however, If I'm not mistaken, the Porsche Cab is not their most agressive model. Since you've owned a GTS before, you should know the difference in their respective performance. In comparing how people might use each car, I would suspect that the Cab would be much more inclined to be driven in the rain. I hear than many RT owners in the south don't even bother to use their rag tops, they simply stay in the garage. I'm sure that there will be many more posts after mine with more experienced opinions...but figured I'd give you my .02.
Good Luck
After 6 months of ownership of a '01 RT:
Q.Is it water tight in a rain storm (ie a heavy Southern rain)? I know the early models weren't. How about the late models?
A.With the hardtop mine's virtually watertight. The rag top is very good but not perfect. At 65MPH in an average rainstorm (not a deluge) there's just a trickle down the inside of the windscreen. No real problem. Would imagine it might be a bit more serious with increased speed.
Q.Does it make a difference hard top on vs. rag top?
Not sure of the context of this Q. MUCH quieter. Car effectively becomes a coupe.
Q.How much wind buffeting in the cockpit at freeway speeds?
A.With no top, there's some, but less than another roadster without the rear window (can it really be called a window?). My XKE was noticably worse. With the side windows up my wife does not complain.
Q.Is the soft top retractable, or do you remove it and stow it?
A.Remove and stow, which will take up about 1/2 of the limited trunk space. You'll need to order the 2003 to get a retractable.
Q.If retractable, is it automatic or manual?
A. See above
Q.If stowable, how difficult is it?
A. Breaking it down is easier that building. I'm sure you'll get a lot of opinions here. IMHO, until you get experienced, you're going to need 15 to 20 minutes to remove, build and install the soft top maybe more if there's a crowd around. I hear the best can do it in 5 but I only have two arms and 10 fingers. Best is to practice building it BEFORE you're 50 miles from home and see an approaching storm front.
Q.Are there any other issues on the RT I should consider or know about? Any Viper issues on the '99 or '00?
A.The Porsche Cab is much more utilitarian, however, If I'm not mistaken, the Porsche Cab is not their most agressive model. Since you've owned a GTS before, you should know the difference in their respective performance. In comparing how people might use each car, I would suspect that the Cab would be much more inclined to be driven in the rain. I hear than many RT owners in the south don't even bother to use their rag tops, they simply stay in the garage. I'm sure that there will be many more posts after mine with more experienced opinions...but figured I'd give you my .02.
Good Luck
