What you need to know!! Honda S2000 Hard Top Comparison to Vaikhari USA OEM Style HT!!!

[@ScooterBlia2]

People will talk sh*t, but the reality is that OEM hardtops are becoming very scarce and unattainable. So long someone is willing to put in the time, effort, money to recreate something that is so hard to get for the community, it's a thumbs up! Perfection, probably not. But with some adjustments like that, I'd say it's worth the money. As the community continues to support, maybe the small company can increase in sourcing quality as well. Just gotta give them a big thanks for trying to keep the community alive!

[@automotiveadhdpodcast]

Thanks Alex! Great seeing an apples to apples comparison! Folks always underestimate the resources that OEMs have when it comes to development and manufacturing. Glad to finally see a good quality aftermarket option for the OE style top. I’ll be waiting for Black Friday.

[@ihopethiscommentisntabusiv4670]

I hope they dont get discouraged by the bad reviews. Its tough mass producing parts and honestly having more options is always better than not. Best luck with your endeavors, I will probably endup ordering one.

[@BalladeSports]

We are not discouraged. Thank you though. We sell a Vaikhari Hard top 1 per week! All thanks to the greedy, price gouging community hiking up the prices on the Honda hard top. The hard top was never that bad, it just took time for the public to understand how to install them properly. It’s not a simple plug and play. You have to work for the results.

[@notflav8657]

S2K bros, proceed with caution. There’s plenty of free discourse online about the vaikhari hard tops. Go read some before you spend your hard earned money anywhere.

[@BalladeSports]

My video is very transparent. You can see the car showing good results. It’s no secret people had issues but plenty other have had good results like I did. It’s all in how you install the hard top. There is a misconception that everything just plops right on and no work is needed to fit everything. I spent a lot of hours to fit the hard top and seal up any air gaps. It is a pain but if you want perfect you have to work for it and do it correctly. You can’t complain about the results you didn’t get, for the work you didn’t do.😂

[@sniperkaboom4799]

@@BalladeSports there are hard tops that fit better, without the hassle of spending hours fitting it correctly but are much more expensive. You get what you pay for. Cheap, ill fitting hardtop or expensive excellent fitting hardtop. 🤷‍♂️

[@BalladeSports]

@@sniperkaboom4799are any of those hard tops your referring to made out of 6061 Aluminum? To my knowledge only Honda and Vaikhari USA make aluminum. I make carbon fiber hard tops also. Each hard top has its own problems. Example in 2007 I bought my Spoon Sports authentic Fiberglass 2pc hard top for $4800. The hard top leaks water, air, makes noises and creaks galore. Also is not symmetrical. Left side is of the tail gate has more material than the right side. I can see it by the top rear brake light. It is not centered. I own Amuse Carbon hard top and front fenders, bumper. Lots of gaps. 10k for Amuse Hard top with all the glass and seals. Sold separately btw. Mugen Carbon fiber the door glass hits the driver window. So you have to adjust the window down lower. No biggie. I own a lot of S2000 hard tops. Mod Perfume is the only one I never had. Of the ones I’ve own or installed for customers. All of them need a bit of work. S2000s are 20+ years old. Remember not all cars are the same. So just like any body panel you need to fit them.

[@anfernydownsouth1291]

If you are competent and handy it’s easy to fit the hardtop and almost identical to oem. Is it perfect? No. Is it a better option than any fiberglass/composite top out there? Likely. I had my top sorted in a few hours as far as fitment goes. Biggest complaint is the headliner clips.

[@nazilmohammed]

Hey just a quick question about the headliner clips.. i have the top also.. have they fell off on you..from what i can tell they are glued on.. thanks

[@anfernydownsouth1291]

I have no bad things to say other than the headliner clips suck. The fitment of the top was perfect aside from the “bow” in the middle front leading edge. Did the reverse bear hug on it and it straightened it out. I am just happy people are doing things like this to keep parts available for these cars. Parts being discontinued every day makes it difficult. Companies like this are filling the gap.

[@mikelmorgan6409]

We got one of the ones with the bowing middle sections. So air would flood in. I had to fight the side trim pieces off that were glued in to fix the wavy metal as well before painting it. It was a good idea but poorly executed. Hopefully these issues are fixed with the newer batches. We sold that top for way less tgan we paid for it because of the defects. Lots of guys have reported the same issues we experienced.

[@BalladeSports]

No doubt in the beginning release Vaikhari had some issues. This was new territory for them. Like my Ballade OEM Carbon hard top, I recommended to Eric theee hard tops be pre-assembled. Which in hindsight was a mistake. Carbon and aluminum are not the same. But yeah, there were a lot of things done wrong in the beginning due to the fact of the low experience Vaikhari had with this. The first batch were only sold for $2500!!!! There was a reason for that soft opening. If you skip to 14:10 mins you will see how the front gap “bowing” is easily fixed. These hard tops with interior complete hard top is now $3750. Still a competitive price, and all the issues shown in this video.

[@mikelmorgan6409]

Soft relase should have been his people tested them properly. We tried a lot of different things to fix it. It was really bad.

[@BalladeSports]

@@mikelmorgan6409Not sure if you listened to my video. Eric and Vaikhari is a one man operation. He's literally an S2000 owner who decided to attempt to re-make an OEM hard top for the community and hopefully turn a profit. I think he spent over 200k and still hasn't recovered all of it. No doubt you had an issue, but there were also others who didn't. People like to assume how to run a business is how they would do it, but Money is a big factor. Lets face it, in the past 20 years of the S2000s release no one else has attempted something this large for the S2k aftermarket in aluminum. Only cheaper carbon fiber or fiberglass has been the only options. Of course lots of learning had to come with it. This video is showing how far it has come and what was done differently.

[@mikelmorgan6409]

@BalladeSports yea i read and saw the video. You mention the soft release. The guy we got the top from bought it at the lower price. We thought it was weird that he was selling it brand new. But we found out why when we put it on lol. The top we had wasn't fixed by a simple flex on the chest.

[@BalladeSports]

@@mikelmorgan6409 You can always try a little weather seal. I found this one to be effective to fill small gaps: www.mcmaster.com/8512K83/

[@austin2Kool]

I have this hardtop on my s2000 it’s pretty nice compared to forbidden USA hardtop. Not to say forbidden was a bad top or anything but the fiberglass cracked after a while and it had to get painted. It’s not an oem hardtop a lot of people don’t understand that. My only issue with vaikhari hardtop is wind coming through from the front. I fixed mine by adjusting it but hit a pretty good size bump in the road and the wind noise came back. I’ll try bending it like in your video one day hopefully it will permanently fix my problem. Also I wished vaikhari and ballade had cheaper shipping so I could order the headliner it’s $229 for the headliner and shipping is $171 which is a lot lol

[@endless_touge]

None of these cars came with original hardtop. My Gt version has the window frame in the same color as the rest of the car. Black window frame is looking like a spot on a white cloth

[@KevoF06]

I’m also going to start saving up to purchase one of these. Where in California are you located?

[@h.j.victory6103]

Im just curious if there are any fluid leak issues or wind noise issues with the vaikhari hardtop? It would have been nice if there was an interior video 📹 of the vehicle being driven with the vaikhari hardtop.

[@BalladeSports]

No wind noise. A seal is provided. Outter trim has seals as well.

[@crimson9069]

I've seen some videos of other youtubers who have purchased this hardtop, and fitment was not up to pare. Has this been fixed?

[@HatchGill]

Great option! I’m curious if he would be able to do the same for the del sol sun top 🤔

[@BalladeSports]

Not likely Vaikhari USA won’t do one for a del sol not unless 100 people pre ordered

[@rotarynade]

Thanks for sharing! What model is the wing on the sebring silver one? It looks fantastic!

[@BalladeSports]

Thank you very much! The spoiler you’re seeing is our own Ballade Sports Rear Spoiler for the S2000. balladesports.com/products/ballade-sports-00-09-s2000-rear-trunk-spoiler?_pos=6&_sid=b9156cb06&_ss=r

[@hater559]

🤔just order one hopefully I dont have too much fitment issue haha.... too lazy to drive 4-5 hours for a 6k oem hardtop

[@sepupr21]

How is the wind noise comparison? Thinking about it. Thanks.

[@BalladeSports]

No front wind noise. The Door seals need some massaging to get the windows to fully touch. The seals are not as plump as the Honda seals that are $400 each seal.

[@litochris]

What exhaust is on the s2000 with blue wheels

[@t-money10]

I'm saving up for one of these

[@BalladeSports]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@DavidJimenez-bt3vx]

When will the fk8 big throttle be back in stock been waiting for my for a while ? 😅👀

[@mr.thomaschung8718]

get a spoon kit. its the only way to go.

[@BalladeSports]

I do have Spoon Hard Top and Widebody kit on my other S2000. Paid $4800 for it back in 2007. Rear hatch tail gate is not symmetrical and the hard top has crazy air leaks, water leaks, you name it. Racecar only use.

[@Kuma_Kagu]

can confirm on all of this, I have a spoon HT myself but I ended up putting back the convertible top. I'm trying to get my hands on one of these HT but I need to sell my Spoon HT first. :/ @@BalladeSports

[@GUENILLA]

Vaikhari USA $?????? that helps to settle. otherwise id still go OEM.

[@BalladeSports]

Black Friday coming up!!! Wait for it!

[@harambeboy]

SHPULD

[@BalladeSports]

Typeo. Thanks. Fixed damn fat finger on the phone