Hardtop vs Soft Top in the winter
10-12-2010, 01:15 AM
#21
JK Enthusiast
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Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States
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10-12-2010, 01:56 AM
#22
JK Newbie
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
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I have a soft top 4dr here in alaska and it does just fine, autostart does help, the wife has a hardtop 4dr and I really don't notice huge difference In temp in either. the hard top does warm up inside a lil faster. But no real noticeable difference
10-12-2010, 05:28 AM
#23
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Glad I found this post. I had my JK for 2 months now and I only got the soft top. I live in Toronto, Ontario and we do get bad winters. I hope I can survive with the soft top only or I can find someone selling thier hardtop. I rather spend 3 g's on a re gearing and lift kit then a roof 
10-17-2010, 02:53 AM
#25
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New Jeep owner.............have soft top.........will be finding out this winter! Will have the JK in the garage (when home) & have covered parking at work (but I work 3rd shift) ,so the mornings could be chilly.
10-17-2010, 07:28 AM
#26
remote start is the greatest thing in the world in the winter... I've had it on every car I've ever owned except the very first. And people who say it's unnecessary are straight lying to themselves. It warms up the engine and interior defogs the ice off the windows ( i leave the heater on the foot/window setting ) and then you just stroll out get in and go, instead of sitting there freezing your ass off.
10-17-2010, 11:43 AM
#27
JK Freak
The thing I like about the hardtop in the winter more than the softtop is it's easier to clean the windows on the hardtop (snow and ice) and the rear wiper is a perk on the wetter days.
10-20-2010, 10:55 PM
#29
JK Freak
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I would think the best way to look at it is that the ONLY purpose of the soft top is to be able to put it down quickly. Depending on where you are and what your winters are like, that may not happen for many months. Why run a soft top then if there is another option? It may not be worth it to go out and buy it, certainly not if you live in the south - but if you have it put it on. If you are in southern California - I would probably go with the soft top all year round. Up in the Colorado mountains, I had a foot of snow on the top from just parking overnight a lot of times. The soft top certainly wouldn't be coming down for that day, a week, or a month - and I wouldn't trust it to the weight of the wet snow. Definitely not if I was driving with it on and bouncing.