Convertible drivers - why keep the roof up?

[otolith]

Conscript said:

Not necessarily, no, but most of the people I see driving MX5s don't look like the kind of people who've bought it for it's dynamic credentials :P (yes, I realise I'm being a bit judgemental here).

Perhaps the ones with the roof up are the ones who did? It's not as if you can buy exactly the same car with a tintop - I think there's a stronger point to be made about something like a convertible Audi A4 or BMW 3-series.

Conscript said:

The Elise doesn't have a folding soft top does it? I thought it was a proper remove and stow job, not something you can do on the fly (correct me if I'm wrong), so I can see why you might see more of those with the roof up.

It takes about 20 seconds in an S2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIN6JxkXaXQ

[Flip Martian]

jamieduff1981 said:

I think it's you, mate.

Most people who purposefully buy convertibles do so because the roof goes up and down fairly easily, as opposed to topless cars with s sort of tent in the boot that you have to stand and build when it's raining.

Sometimes having the roof down was nice. Othertimes, it was a fking chore due to uncomfortable temperatures and noise.

So maybe the idea of owning it wasn't borne out by the reality - I understand the hassle factor. I didn't want a hard top that takes away the boot space, or anything that required a Krypton Factor degree to put up/put down. The MX-5 is a doddle really (as said elsewhere above).

[Jasandjules]

No idea. I use the Estate car for roof on driving when needed and the TVR roof only goes on when parked up overnight somewhere not in our garage i.e. a hotel car park. If parked up for a few hours in a public car park the roof stays in the boot, mainly because it is a PITA to put up and take off again.......

[RobM77]

Flip Martian said:

lol. Some valid points there about security/hassle, to be fair (although maybe hassle reserves itself for owners of more expensive cars than my MX-5!). Not worried about it at all, its just something that struck me as odd. I assumed convertible drivers would be driving them for 1 reason - the wind in the hair thing. Clearly not.

It's an option isn't it though? That's why they buy a convertible - it does both things. Not everyone is in the mood for everything all of the time.

[PositronicRay]

Favorite time is a warm evening.

Road winding along the Loire. River on one side, glistening as the sun slides below the horizon, a couple of canoeists still out, picking their way around the sand-banks. The other side parched fields of wheat, waving in the gentle evening breeze, heavy and waiting for the harvest.

5 or 6 hot air balloons overhead, wife with a couple of glasses of rose inside her, no longer worried about hair. Dogbeast on the back seat sniffing the perfumed air.

(route from Blois to Amboise)

[Alex_225]

My other half has a Merc SL which obviously has the folding metal roof.

We'll put the roof down on a nice day with sun but when it's not baking hot. Not great sitting stationary with the roof down and getting cooked. The car is actually great to drive anyway so with the roof down it's a nice option but not essential for enjoying the car.

[Flip Martian]

RobM77 said:

It's an option isn't it though? That's why they buy a convertible - it does both things. Not everyone is in the mood for everything all of the time.

The option of having a folding hard top I do understand - but soft tops aren't really designed for every day roof up driving - more noisy, less secure. Its the "soft top up" thing I was really aiming at.

[jamieduff1981]

Flip Martian said:

jamieduff1981 said:

I think it's you, mate.

Most people who purposefully buy convertibles do so because the roof goes up and down fairly easily, as opposed to topless cars with s sort of tent in the boot that you have to stand and build when it's raining.

Sometimes having the roof down was nice. Othertimes, it was a fking chore due to uncomfortable temperatures and noise.

So maybe the idea of owning it wasn't borne out by the reality - I understand the hassle factor. I didn't want a hard top that takes away the boot space, or anything that required a Krypton Factor degree to put up/put down. The MX-5 is a doddle really (as said elsewhere above).

It was MX-5s we had too. Occassionally we had the roof down when it was snowy, but we had to be in the mood. Sometimes I liked going to work on a cold morning with the roof down. Usually though, after work the roof stayed up. I usually didn't want to be in the car, and I invariably didn't want to be driving through traffic. MX-5s are always noisy but they're far worse at speed with the roof down than up. I realise many city dwellers probably haven't been above 40mph this decade, but my commuting has always involved 60~70mph [s]plus[/s] tops and the MX-5 is punishing at that speed with the top down - the Mk.1 especially if it didn't have a wind deflector. Driving with restrictive warm on is sometimes horrible, and when it's cold not having it on is just as bad.

It was a summer (in Aberdeenshire!) that provoked the end of our Mk2.5 though. Ours didn't have air conditioning. Convertibles in the sunshine are awful. They're bad enough in low sun where it's always in your eyes, but sitting still in a queue with everyones' radiator fans blowing warm air around with the sun shining down is road-rage inducing. If we had one with a/c it may have lasted longer as we could have just closed it up and cooled the air down, but it didn't. You just sit there sweating, and it was fking horrible.

We bought MX-5s for a FE/RWD layout with excellent steering and suspension and a limited slip differential. The convertible part was coincidental.

[CS Garth]

Noise/hair/practicalities: meh

I have w124 e320 - I go everywhere with roof and all windows down unless it's hailing.

Naturally I arrive everywhere deaf with my Chesney hawkes bouffant a touch out of place but I have done so in style. And that my friends is all that counts.

If anyone responds, please speak up dear

[PenelopaPitstop]

Flip Martian said:

It was a genuine question. I've driven in the middle of winter (hat works wonders!) - I just assumed convertibles would be bought by people who love open top motoring. Otherwise why not buy a hard top?

Or... was the IDEA of a convertible attractive but actually you prefer the roof up as its just more comfortable that way?

I bought my convertible because:
-I like the way it looks
-I like the way it sounds
-Driving topless is additional bonus.

[Conscript]

otolith said:

Perhaps the ones with the roof up are the ones who did? It's not as if you can buy exactly the same car with a tintop - I think there's a stronger point to be made about something like a convertible Audi A4 or BMW 3-series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIN6JxkXaXQ

Well yes, those are the sort of cars I was referring to when I quoted Ozzie's post. Obviously it wouldn't be much good to counter his point using an MX5 seeing as they only come in convertible form anyway. You're the one who brought up the MX5

otolith said:

It takes about 20 seconds in an S2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIN6JxkXaXQ

Much quicker than I thought, thanks.

[Ikemi]

Conscript said:

Much quicker than I thought, thanks.

It's the S1 Elise soft top that takes time remove and fit - A mix of cant bars, pop fixings and Allen key bolts means a good 90 or so seconds! The S2 roof can be removed/fitted whilst sat in the driver's seat. It can be done pretty quick with practice too!

[matthias73]

I like having the roof down, but sometimes I like to infuriate random strangers by leaving it up.

Their rage boiled faces as I drive past with the roof up is priceless.
"You've got a soft top, use it!!" They wail in despair as I peacefully relax into my seat, air conditioned breeze whispering past my ears, the only hint from the inside that it's a soft top at all being the ever tempting button on the dash and the slight increase in road noise.

[RobM77]

Flip Martian said:

RobM77 said:

It's an option isn't it though? That's why they buy a convertible - it does both things. Not everyone is in the mood for everything all of the time.

The option of having a folding hard top I do understand - but soft tops aren't really designed for every day roof up driving - more noisy, less secure. Its the "soft top up" thing I was really aiming at.

First I've heard of it, fair enough! I always thought soft tops were an alternative to a hard too that's simply lighter and cheaper.

[JamesRF]

If I'm just popping down the road I'll leave it up and have all the windows down instead. Or if I'm commuting and expecting a call then it will stay up so I can hear better. I have it down most of the time though.

Still won't forget the time when I pulled up at a set of lights in a busy highstreet on a Friday after work, suns out and feeling good, when out of no where a seagull decided to st down the side of my face. Went all over my shades as well so when the lights turned green a few seconds later I was partially blind as I pulled away. I vowed to never have roof down again after that but I'd calmed down after a few days.

So yeah some people may have their roof up due to fear of st to the face, and they have my full sympathy.

[AH33]

There's an old man near me who has a 8-10 year old astra convertible. Every time I drive home from work on a warm day, he's sat in a parking space with the roof down reading a book or something. I've never seen it move once. I don't know what he is.

[matthias73]

RobM77 said:

Flip Martian said:

RobM77 said:

It's an option isn't it though? That's why they buy a convertible - it does both things. Not everyone is in the mood for everything all of the time.

The option of having a folding hard top I do understand - but soft tops aren't really designed

for every day roof up driving - more noisy, less secure. Its the "soft top up" thing I was really aiming at.

First I've heard of it, fair enough! I always thought soft tops were an alternative to a hard too that's simply lighter and cheaper.

You can barely tell in my e46.
My main concern is why people care.

[battered]

otolith said:

Obviously it wouldn't be much good to counter his point using an MX5 seeing as they only come in convertible form anyway.

You can get a removable hard top. That makes them a year-round proposition, for those who can live with a very small car and only 2 seats year-round.

The MX 5 scores over things like the Elise because it is SO easy to put the roof up. On an old design like a Caterham the frame tent shenanigans are forgiveable, on a car designed in the 21st century less so. If I want a convertible that I'm going to use in all weathers then I don't want to have to spend ages in a petrol station or under a bridge erecting steelwork. Triumph got this right in the 1960's for the Spitfire, for people to fail to do so in a mainstream car 50 years on is frankly poor.

[Dusty964]

PositronicRay said:

Favorite time is a warm evening.

Road winding along the Loire. River on one side, glistening as the sun slides below the horizon, a couple of canoeists still out, picking their way around the sand-banks. The other side parched fields of wheat, waving in the gentle evening breeze, heavy and waiting for the harvest.

5 or 6 hot air balloons overhead, wife with a couple of glasses of rose inside her, no longer worried about hair. Dogbeast on the back seat sniffing the perfumed air.

(route from Blois to Amboise)

Can you give me some contacts for the canoeists and the hot air baloonists? It would be great to have similar things to see when the roof comes off but I simply dont have the contacts to ensure co ordination when i need them.

[techguyone]

Never mind the roof, why does almost every convertible vehicle I see now - that does have the roof down, has all the windows up?