panoramic roof window sorted for the summer!

[Morgana]

I finally sorted out the too hot/too cold business with the panoramic roof window. I mean seriously?  Surely you are looking where you are going when you're driving?  Why do you need one? It's too hot in the car the summer, with the sun beating down onto it, and colder in the winter... If it opened like a sunroof does, that would be something!  And the sliding shades don't seem to make any difference, summer or winter.

 

I bought six of those sunshades which are usually stuck onto side windows with little suckers. I have stuck them to the sunroof, and then closed the sliding blinds. It's now a lot cooler in the car when the sun is beating down. Better for my dog on the back seat too.   The shades have been fastened together with a large elastic band, as they slide open some way on their own, so you are forever closing them again. 

 

I suppose they expect you to keep the air con on all the time.  My son could not believe that the roof didn't open and it was just an extra window! Especially when the window motor wasn't working. 

Edited 5 May, 2018 by Morgana

[eccleshill]

Not sure what your problem is really. The sunroof is heavily tinted heat reflective glass that ensures the interior gets no hotter than any other car on a hot sunny day.

I have zero problems with hot or cold and the blinds stay open 99.9% of the time only pulling over when the sun is occasionally in an awkward spot.

It makes the interior exceptionally bright and airy. It doesn't need to open because you have windows or air con.  Very happy with mine. One of the reasons I just love this car

[Morgana]

I'm sure this car gets hotter than any of my previous cars.... perhaps I'm wrong!  Much better that the dog isn't in the blinding sun on the back seat though. It seems much better to me, but it's horses for courses. It seems some people like these roof windows and some don't!

[Robjon]

My experience was similar to Eccleshill's but as you say, it's horses for courses.

 

The fixed glass roof (no leakage or drainage problems) was just one of the many things I loved (and still miss) about my Roomsters.

[petrev]

On 07/05/2018 at 11:35, Morgana said:

I'm sure this car gets hotter than any of my previous cars.... perhaps I'm wrong!  Much better that the dog isn't in the blinding sun on the back seat though. It seems much better to me, but it's horses for courses. It seems some people like these roof windows and some don't!

I'm with you - too hot even with the blinds closed. I had my sunroof tinted with limo-black film and it is much cooler now.

[Morgana]

Thank you for your reply, Petrev. I might do the same at some point.

[KenONeill]

@Morgana - I can't help with your "extra window" beyond confirming your observation that the car is warmer in Summer and colder in Winter based on having an Octy with a factory sunroof and pretty much always having the shutter on that open.

[Morgana]

If it actually opened like a sunroof, it would be splendid!  But no, It's just a window in the roof, which the sun beats straight down onto. My car is a lot cooler since I did the thing with the sunshades.  No appreciable loss of light, I still have five other windows!

 

.....Although it might be the very place for a solar panel!

Edited 3 June, 2018 by Morgana
afterthought!

[NZ100]

Yes i'm not a lover of glass roof's. I did have an opening sun roof in my Metro, top spec that was, it was an MG.

[RichardatWakefield]

I'm with Clive (NZ100) on this one, living in an often damp climate, can't see the point of buying a car with a nice weatherproof cabin, comfy seats, heating, fresh air, air-con to keep it cool in summer AND THEN DELIBERATELY CUTTING A BIG HOLE IN SAID ROOF RIGHT OVER WHERE YOU SIT! 

 

My first diesel, a Mk1 AStra, had a simple tilt-up hinged glass sunroof, and yes it dripped on the front seats, and I had to glue a piece of radiator-foil foam over the inside to stop the cabin turning into a sauna in summer.   Then a Rover Maestro diesel, tilt up or retract down and back into the headlining sunroof, worked manually via a handle, again these have drain hoses that are prone to block and cause leaks, and annoyingly reduce the cabin headroom significantly. Think it did have a retractable blind, but I had to leave this open to give me just-about-enough headroom.

 

With my steel-roof Roomster, the already big side windows mean the interior heats up very quickly in bright sun, I bought a big roll of stiff but rollable foam-backed radiator reflector foil, cut a piece to fit across the dash-top, wedge it up behind rear-view mirror when parked up.   Similar to those concertina ones seen in Europe, usually advertising something. Mine bends in half and stows in a rear footwell when not in use.

[Immelmann]

So basically the glass panoramic roof is marmite, you either love it or hate it and it’s each to his own.

 

my thoughts are.

 

i hate sunroofs as to me it’s one more place the car can leak, in fairness probably as they grow older which of course many are now.

Im glad it doesn’t open as this gives a better chance of being water proof.

I personally am not a lover of the sun beating down on me especially when driving, keep the blinds closed is a solution.

Ive had people in the car and they love the glass roof.

 I agree it tends to make the car into a greenhouse in my opinion but I’ll not argue that point.

 I have only got the glass roof because at the time there were no other choices but the glass.

I got some foil bubble wrap and slotted it behind the sun blinds and this seems to of sorted the heat and made it a little darker which makes me comfortable but we are all individuals and this wouldn’t be for everyone.

 

One thing that worries me is roof racks, I paid to have the rails fitted when we bought it. Shortly afterwards I saw a photo of a cracked roof which was blamed on the roof rack. It has put me off buying a set of roof bars so that I could fit my roof box. Has anyone else heard of this happening?