Just about to order a module but just wanted to check for those who have it, is it worth it, and I seem to remember a couple of people saying they had had issues with it.

 

Love mine. I did have an issue, but they were great to work with and replaced the unit very quickly.

 

I had an issue with disabling it, because I had reversed the sense of the up/down switch and hadn't updated the firmware. I did have an issue on my latest cross-country drive - I discovered if you leave the car in Eco, and it shuts off the car when you park, then the Smart Top won't operate. Solution: don't leave it in Eco. [Had the same issue with Smart Top - Eco would shut off the car while I was raising the roof or window, and had to start the car to finish. ]I used it for better highway mileage, but generally, I leave it in Dynamic, so no issue. Love the Smart Top.

 

No issues here. Love it. Only wish Jaguar had programmed in all the stuff they did originally. Still the best $360 I've spent on the car.

 

I don't have a smart top but I'm considering picking one up, so I'm glad this came up.

So what is the specific issue here? I thought the smart top was designed to operate while the vehicle is off? Otherwise how would you operate the top and/or windows remotely using the fob? It sounds like what you're saying is that the ECO mode auto start-stop system engine shutoff is somehow cutting power to the top and/or windows. However when you park, I'd assume you're shutting off the engine normally, right? Or are you saying you let ECO mode do it for you? I swap back and forth between normal and dynamic mode depending on what I'm doing, but I don't think I've ever let ECO mode shut off the engine when parking... I always hit the power button manually.

If the stop-start system is disabling the windows and top, I wonder if this also applies for use of those systems manually under normal use when the start-stop system shuts the engine off. As far as I know, everything but the engine is supposed to work as expected when the stop-start system shuts the motor off.

 

If you don't buy one you won't have to worry about it. I'm OK with operating everything with the buttons in the car and never really understood the appeal.

 

I got one for my birthday from my lovely wife and could not be happier.

One appeal is that you don't ever have to get in a hot car on a sunny day. Just drop the top while you walk up to the car, the heat escapes, hop in and go. This matters if you are, for example, wearing a business suit on a 90 degree day, or if the car is a dark color.

In addition, it is nice that you don't have to wait to put the top up when parking. Just get out and walk away. Push the lock button three times and the top goes up, windows go up, and the car locks. It not only looks cool, it saves a couple of minutes. I realize one can put the top up while looking for a parking spot but with the lack of visibility out of this car it is easier to park with the top down, even with the camera and sensors.

Plus, you can configure it so the windows are up or down when the top is lowered. I have mine set so the windows go up after the top drops with the console button, but the windows stay down when I drop the top with the fob. This matches my preference when driving which is usually top down windows up, and when getting in the car when leaving, which would be top down/windows down.

There's more, like reversing the console button so it operates like a Benz or Porsche for those who are used to that, but even without that feature there's more than enough functionality to justify the price. It's well worth $360.00, particularly if $360.00 doesn't mean a lot in your overall spending picture.

 

None of those are terribly appealing to me. I can put the top up when parking with no waiting because it operates in motion up to 30 mph. I always close the top as I'm entering a parking lot while driving to the space. I get in the car and immediately start driving and put the top down while driving away. On hot days, I can put the windows down with OEM feature by holding the unlock button on the fob while walking to the car. I like the top up/down button working the way it does OEM--press "down" for top down, and pull "up" for top up . . . perfectly sensible, and everyone else has it backwards.

"Looking cool" to me has nothing to do with my top going up and down while standing outside of the car. And oh yes, I wear business suits almost every day, and it's 90º F often. Smart top has no appeal to me, and it wouldn't matter to me if it were free, I wouldn't use the features.

 

The appeal for me is that I am a big guy, tall and also ..... Ahem! Big boned ....! So while I can quite easily get in and out when I can fully open the door, if I am in a tight carpark which is pretty common here, it can sometimes be almost impossible to get in and out particularly without making contact with the door of the car next to you. However with the roof down it is a piece of cake but then you can't really operate the roof from outside the car. I had the same issue with my BMW in the past, but it came with the Smart Top functionality as standard as should this car have. Pain that you have to pay $500 for it but it will be worth it I think.

A side benefit is the letting out the hot air before you get in the car on a hot day.

 

That's the first sensible reason I've heard, but I don't think I'd ever be parking in a place like you describe above. I'd rather take a very long hike and find a better parking spot.

 

I avoid it whenever possible, but this is not America, our car parks are often rare and full and very often tight spaces. I do my best to find one next to a post or a wall or Kerb and park as close to is as possible on the offside to give me more space on the drivers side and halve the risk of a door impact but it is just not always possible to do it.

 

Right. Before I got the Smart Top, if I left it in Eco, occasionally, I'd be raising the top and the car would kill the power with the roof half up. When that happens, just turning on the ignition with engine off won't let you finish raising the roof, you have to start the engine. PITA. Could have been removing my seat belt was what triggered that. Typically, I come to a stop, put the transmission in P, may or may not engage the parking brake, put up the roof, and maybe the mistake is taking off the seat belt while raising the roof.


I believe they did a firmware update, but I'm not sure it changed this behavior. One of the reasons I normally leave it in dynamic.


If you never run into this without the Smart Top, then it shouldn't be an issue with it. Perhaps they fixed this stupidity.

 

I first heard about the Smart Top from this board. It's awesome. As long as you update the firmware, I think you will be very happy!

 

I wonder if this is another "safety" issue. Just seems like it should be a standard thing...

 

As delivered, the car requires the driver to hold his finger on the button through the entire up or down process. The Smart Top module does not and this raises a potential liability issue since the operator is not in continuous control of the operation. This is why Jag does not include similar functionality as delivered, IMHO.

 

The soft top on my 911 worked exactly as it does in the F Type (to the point that it would not surprise me at all if they came from the same supplier) and I had a smart top installed on the Porsche too. The car is *so* much better with it than without it. Remote open close is awesome on hot days, as is the ability to control what the windows do. I also like the ability to reverse the operation of the switch as that has felt unnatural from day one.

It's a great product and well worth it. I have never met anyone **who actually has one ** who has a bad word to say about it.

 

If that remark is directed at me, it is misguided. I haven't said a single bad thing about it. I just don't want it, as I said before, even if someone gave me one free. Everything operates very intuitively for me, and I have no desire to operate the top when I'm not in the car.

The fob-openable top and windows were a standard feature on my E93 M3 (hard-top convertible), and I used it once just to see what the top was doing with all those metal parts flying around each other and folding into the trunk. I found it otherwise completely unnecessary, and that top wasn't operational with the car in motion like the F-Type is. I didn't even know the windows came down with the fob on the F-Type until a couple of weeks ago when I learned it on this forum, and I haven't used that feature since I tried it.

It seems to float a lot of boats, so I'm so happy for all those whose boats needed floating.

 

Sounds like Foosh does not see the need for it and feels it's unnecessary.

Everyone else finds it useful and likes it.

I like it. It's a want and not a need. I also have many other things that I do not need. However, I have them - including my F-Type. I already have a Range Rover Sport Supercharged. The V8 S was unnecessary.

I just installed mine with considerable difficulty. I could not fit the plugs and module behind the little plastic cover!! I am totally butterfingers. Took me 15 minutes!

 

Everyone?

It's just a forum conversation, Enfield. I have no problem with being the lone contrarian on this forum, but I'm quite sure I'm not alone in the rest of the real world. Otherwise, the company would have competitors falling all over themselves to get a piece of the pie.

However, I do acknowledge "unnecessary" was not the right word. A better way to put it would have been "not desirable" as far as I'm concerned. I also own a 45' foot 42K lbs. diesel-pusher motorcoach that the vast majority of the world finds neither necessary, nor desirable. However, I derive a tremendous amount of pleasure taking a luxury condo with me whenever I choose too. It costs a considerable sum in fuel and upkeep, but it is worth it to me. To each his own . . . including those who choose to wrap F-Types in purple. :-)

 

Just ordered