The sunroof: this year's must-have new car option?
Discussion
Remember the 90s? If you were a company car driver and your company car didn't have an "i" badge on the back and a sunroof, it probably meant that redundancy was looming!
I remember the despair when my friend's dad bought a Rover 820e and it had a sunroof and my dad's Renault 21 Savanna didn't. Fortunately, he bought a Peugeot 405 GRD Estate a year later, which had an electic sunroof and we were back on top again! I also insisted when my mum bought her new Fiat Cinquecento Sporting that she specify a sunroof (a 200 pound option I think) but it was the most pointless sunroof ever. It only tilted and opened about an inch (if that). In addition, there was a bit of trim screwed to it, so if you actually wanted to let any light in, you had to unscrew the piece of trim!
Then, they just seemed to disappear overnight. My first car (a 1995 Vauxhall Astra LS) had a sunroof and I used to use it all the time because that was pretty much all the standard equipment that it had! I've owned a lot of old cars with a sunroof but in my experience they either leaked (205), didn't open at all (Corrado and it was metal, so I forgot that I even had one) and by the time I owned my W203 C-Class and 2001 Jeep, I didn't even bother trying to use them because they would probably break expensively and jam open (I'm not even sure whether the Mercedes had one or not)!
I'm not really sure what the point is any more but here in Canada, they now seem to be standard fit or a popular option on most vehicles. We recently purchased a new Toyota Corolla and I wanted the 17" alloy wheel upgrade because they look pretty cool (but ruined the ride unfortunately and still look small because they're only on 45 profile tyres - my car is on 16" wheels and 60 profile tyres and they fill the wheelarch just fine!)
However, in order to get the wheels, I had to specify a $1700 "upgrade" package, which also gives me rear disc brakes (fine but should probably be standard on the "Sport" model anyway) and a power moonroof (which is what they now call a sunroof by the way)!
I think I've used it once but the top of my head got too hot, it was noisy and a swarm of mosquitoes flew in! Some days in the winter, it's -50C here, so what do I need a sun/moonroof for? Heated seats, cruise control and remote start would be far more useful (although to be fair, heated seats and cruise control are already standard spec on the "Sport"). If we have a crash and rollover, me and my family will also get showered with glass (which is nice)!
I meant to use it again yesterday to see if I could rediscover the appeal in research for this thread but I forgot to! Now, I get and enjoy convertibles (and have owned several) but still struggling to see the point of sun/moonroofs. Can anyone enlighten me?
Is the sun/moonroof this year's must have option or is it still M-Sport/AMG/S-line suspension, wheels and bodykits?
I remember the despair when my friend's dad bought a Rover 820e and it had a sunroof and my dad's Renault 21 Savanna didn't. Fortunately, he bought a Peugeot 405 GRD Estate a year later, which had an electic sunroof and we were back on top again! I also insisted when my mum bought her new Fiat Cinquecento Sporting that she specify a sunroof (a 200 pound option I think) but it was the most pointless sunroof ever. It only tilted and opened about an inch (if that). In addition, there was a bit of trim screwed to it, so if you actually wanted to let any light in, you had to unscrew the piece of trim!
Then, they just seemed to disappear overnight. My first car (a 1995 Vauxhall Astra LS) had a sunroof and I used to use it all the time because that was pretty much all the standard equipment that it had! I've owned a lot of old cars with a sunroof but in my experience they either leaked (205), didn't open at all (Corrado and it was metal, so I forgot that I even had one) and by the time I owned my W203 C-Class and 2001 Jeep, I didn't even bother trying to use them because they would probably break expensively and jam open (I'm not even sure whether the Mercedes had one or not)!
I'm not really sure what the point is any more but here in Canada, they now seem to be standard fit or a popular option on most vehicles. We recently purchased a new Toyota Corolla and I wanted the 17" alloy wheel upgrade because they look pretty cool (but ruined the ride unfortunately and still look small because they're only on 45 profile tyres - my car is on 16" wheels and 60 profile tyres and they fill the wheelarch just fine!)
However, in order to get the wheels, I had to specify a $1700 "upgrade" package, which also gives me rear disc brakes (fine but should probably be standard on the "Sport" model anyway) and a power moonroof (which is what they now call a sunroof by the way)!
I think I've used it once but the top of my head got too hot, it was noisy and a swarm of mosquitoes flew in! Some days in the winter, it's -50C here, so what do I need a sun/moonroof for? Heated seats, cruise control and remote start would be far more useful (although to be fair, heated seats and cruise control are already standard spec on the "Sport"). If we have a crash and rollover, me and my family will also get showered with glass (which is nice)!
I meant to use it again yesterday to see if I could rediscover the appeal in research for this thread but I forgot to! Now, I get and enjoy convertibles (and have owned several) but still struggling to see the point of sun/moonroofs. Can anyone enlighten me?
Is the sun/moonroof this year's must have option or is it still M-Sport/AMG/S-line suspension, wheels and bodykits?
g3org3y said:
I'm a big fan of the sun roof. I think it's a great feature. 
All my E36s (2x saloons and 1x touring) had/have a sunroof.
On the motorway, the tilt function allows fresh air into the cabin at speed. Around town the full open function gives you a semi-convertible (I actually don't mind full open at speeds <80mph).
My favourite set up is sunroof fully open with aircon on (best of both worlds!).
One of the issues with the sunroof/BMW 3 series (late E36 and all E46) was that iirc a/c ended up being a no cost option with the deletion of a sunroof. Most people went for the aircon. As such, it's actually quite rare to find late E36s/any E46s with both.
On the E30, the 'connoisseurs' will tell you the sunroof is an undesirable option - rust potential and compromising the chassis rigidity are the oft quoted reasons.
Sunroof FTW!
Thanks. I'll try that (got to get my money's worth)! Is the air con as effective with the sunroof open though? It used to be good for popping out of and talking to the laydeez (but I'm 34, I don't really do that anymore)! All my E36s (2x saloons and 1x touring) had/have a sunroof.
On the motorway, the tilt function allows fresh air into the cabin at speed. Around town the full open function gives you a semi-convertible (I actually don't mind full open at speeds <80mph).
My favourite set up is sunroof fully open with aircon on (best of both worlds!).
One of the issues with the sunroof/BMW 3 series (late E36 and all E46) was that iirc a/c ended up being a no cost option with the deletion of a sunroof. Most people went for the aircon. As such, it's actually quite rare to find late E36s/any E46s with both.
On the E30, the 'connoisseurs' will tell you the sunroof is an undesirable option - rust potential and compromising the chassis rigidity are the oft quoted reasons.
Sunroof FTW!
JakeT said:
Love having a sunroof. My fiesta has one along with AC (how fancy) and it helps since you can leave it tilted when parked and keep the cabin cooler when you're gone.
I can achieve the same effect on my Corolla by remote starting it and letting the AC cool it by the time I get in and drive off! Obviously, your solution is a bit more environmentally friendly (makes you wonder why manufacturers bother fitting stop-start systems to their vehicles in Europe when Americans/Canadians are fitting remote start to run their vehicles, even when they're not in them)!TooMany2cvs said:
LeftPondians have always called glass sunroofs "moonroofs". Why? Gawd knows.
I had to pick up some trousers from my tailor yesterday (sounds posh but it's a chain) that I had the legs shortened on and they didn't understand when I asked if my trousers were ready for collection. They say "pants". Grrrr!Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff