Panoramic sunroof

[gg_got_a_tesla]

gg_wants_a_tesla, Slightly off topic but you mentioned it in this thread: what color body are you getting with your black top? The black top gives a nice faux pano top appearance and I've been thinking about it also.

Hi, first choice is Blue but, Green's running it close (wife's leaning towards Green and there are too many Blue Priuses in my neck of the woods ). The black roof might also contrast with the Green more than with the Blue and I might like that.

 

[bsimoes]

I had read somewhere that there had been issues in the Roadster around water getting in by the doors. I have not waivered in my desire for the pano roof, however, the car will be parked outside, and we do get driving rain. What assurances are there around the idea of no water entering?

 

[bonnie]

I think the Roadster issues were more 'soft top' issues - common to all cars with a soft top.

ftr, I've never had water leak in during some pretty harsh rain storms.

 

[Blurry_Eyed]

One of the quality assurance tests that Tesla does with the Model S is blast every car coming off the line with water from all angels to test the water integrity of the car in a special water booth (think of it like a high pressure shower booth that has shower heads all over). Should catch leaks initially, but as with any car, the seals will degrade over time, so only time will tell for sure that the car stays water tight. Also Elon has said that Tesla does not engage in statistical testing (taking a small random sample of cars and doing quality checks), they engage in practical testing of every Model S off the line (Actually taking every single car and running it thorough the indoor test track and water booth they have at the end of the factory line).

 

[Adm]

I had read somewhere that there had been issues in the Roadster around water getting in by the doors. I have not waivered in my desire for the pano roof, however, the car will be parked outside, and we do get driving rain. What assurances are there around the idea of no water entering?

I guess you are not the only one worried, so Tesla tests the cars before they leave the factory:
http://photos.mercurynews.com/2012/06/15/rollout-of-the-first-tesla-model-s-sedans-nears/#18

 

[strider]

I had read somewhere that there had been issues in the Roadster around water getting in by the doors. I have not waivered in my desire for the pano roof, however, the car will be parked outside, and we do get driving rain. What assurances are there around the idea of no water entering?

The Roadster is based on the Lotus Elise. There has never been a soft-top British roadster ever made that doesn't leak. Model S will use American engineering and will have a proper roof vs the rag top of the Roadster. I have a Roadster and we're still getting the pano roof on Model S. No worries.

 

[NigelM]

There has never been a soft-top British roadster ever made that doesn't leak...

Ouch! True but....Ouch! :redface:

 

[strider]

Ouch! True but....Ouch! :redface:

Yeah, one of my colleagues is British and would ask me every few weeks if my top was leaking "yet". My first winter it didn't leak but this last winter it did start leaking on the passenger side.

I guess I should have continued.... but the excellent driving experience makes up for it I'm still driving my Roadster and have no intention of giving it up - I just leave a small towel in the trunk (boot).

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Speaking of leaking ragtops, had a 2001 BMW Z3 (Spartanburg, SC-built) that did very well in the rain but, you should have seen my wife and I holding thick towels against the top of the windows as the car went through automated car washes :biggrin:

Not worried about leaks with the Model S pano roof but, more about the mechanical reliability after a few years; it's a big, hunking, heavy piece of glass and more often than not, folks would want to play with the slider on the touchscreen - that bit of wear and tear would seriously add up over time.

 

[NigelM]

....folks would want to play with the slider on the touchscreen - that bit of wear and tear would seriously add up over time.

Ummm, don't let them.

 

[VolkerP]

or charge them a quarter and put it into a repair savings account.

 

[smorgasbord]

I hope all you sunshade demanders are happy, because I'm not. The inclusion of the needless sunshade made the bar across the sunroof much bigger, so much so that I would not characterize the sunroof as "panoramic." It doesn't matter for the front passengers, but the back passengers looking up end up staring right at this big black bar. Ugh.

 

[NigelM]

I hope all you sunshade demanders are happy, because I'm not.

Hmmm,...didn't we establish that the shade is a removable option? That's what I was told previously; I was also advised it would likely not be available in the early cars but would be retro-fitted by the Ranger. I have no idea if that still stands. Did anyone ask?

 

[StephRob]

Yes, I did ask today and you are correct. I was told that it was such a "last minute" decision to include them with the sunshade that the first cars have been/will be shipped without them. To my knowledge, none of the cars at the test drive event had the sunshade. The one I drove (Sig Red Perf with Pano roof) definitely didn't. And, yes, it's a fairly big bar across the pano roof.

 

[jerry33]

Given that the main purpose of the bar is protection in case of a roll-over, would it really have been any smaller without the shade? It's possible that the smaller bars in the alpha and some beta cars weren't as strong and so they beefed them up at the same time as the shade was announced? Just speculating.

 

[dsm363]

Yes, I did ask today and you are correct. I was told that it was such a "last minute" decision to include them with the sunshade that the first cars have been/will be shipped without them. To my knowledge, none of the cars at the test drive event had the sunshade. The one I drove (Sig Red Perf with Pano roof) definitely didn't. And, yes, it's a fairly big bar across the pano roof.

Did the sun bother you through the pano roof without the shade?

 

[StephRob]

Actually not at all, and I am very sensitive to sunlight coming in from above. I really didn't even notice the sun coming in until the Tesla rep pointed it out. And it was a beautiful sunny California day!

 

[bbmertz]

Would anyone who attended the Fashion Island event last month and sat in the back seats of both the pano roof cars and the car with the hard top be able to comment on rear seat headroom? I'm wondering in particular whether the rear and side mounting structures for the pano roof are absent in the hard top thus giving the hard top more headroom in back and on the sides even though it might loose a bit straight up vertically.

Here's the response I received from Larry Chanin to my similar question based on his experience at the Fremont event this weekend:

I'm 6'0", I found my head brushing the headliner when sitting in the rear on the end in a car without the pano roof. I had no issues sitting in the rear with the pano roof.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Given that the main purpose of the bar is protection in case of a roll-over, would it really have been any smaller without the shade? It's possible that the smaller bars in the alpha and some beta cars weren't as strong and so they beefed them up at the same time as the shade was announced? Just speculating.

Yes, that'd be my guess too. It surely has more to do with rollover crash safety than with the manual sunshade. And, not sure which roof was used in the test that "broke the crush machine"

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

my friend in the rear middle seat was 6'2" and fit just fine w/ the pano roof
and yes there is no real need for a sunshade, and I am about as pale as they come w/ blue eyes