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Roof Choice: Advice and Opinions Requested

Bifff67

Member
Nov 2, 2011
290
26
Northern Virginia
Another vote here for the pano. I always like the ability to open it in nice temps, even thought its rare. You have to decide on the cost tradeoff of course. Had mine since Sept and no issue with sun shining in, though of course we have to wait for June for the the highest angle. Minor issue of a brief loud sqeeawk if you open it at speed. Not a biggie and probably curable in the future. For the other roofs, I would think the black would be quite distinctive with the lighter colors, since most car roofs are the base color.
 

rcsting

Member
Dec 3, 2012
287
314
Sacramento , Ca
My fiancée and I were also trying to decide on the roof choice so we drove to e Menlo Park store to help us make a decision. We were fortunate enough to test drive the Blue Performance with Pano and it sealed the deal. Pano for us. We were concerned about it being too bright inside the car but its not an issue. Good luck with whatever option you choose.
 
Dec 3, 2012
460
35
Elizabeth, CO
Thanks for all of the replies and varied opinions. I finalized earlier today, and I decided to go with the black, non-pano roof. I just thought it looked better in contrast with the multi-coat red.
 

FalconNinetyD

Active Member
Dec 20, 2010
1,101
11
USA
If I had to do it again, it would be a tough call. I love the cool factor of being able to swipe the roof to 62%, but part of the appeal of this car is the silence factor, and when you open the roof at anything above 30 mph or so, there is a significant amount of wind noise. As a result, I've only had the pano roof open for about 5% of my first 2000 miles.
 

neroden

Model S Owner and Frustrated Tesla Fan
Apr 25, 2011
14,676
62,627
Ithaca, NY, USA
I decided I definitely did NOT want the pano roof based on the same reasons you did (never using it, costs a lot, more things to break) -- plus my fiancee is photosensitive and said "less glass is better, less sun is better".

I got body color; a black roof DOES head the car up in the sun. But you have a black interior, which will heat up much more. So it will not make much difference. (I went with white and grey, so it would have made a difference for me.)

You may actually appreciate the back seat headroom of the pano roof. It depends on your torso length. I'm 5'6" and I think the back seat is fine (tested it in the store), but if I were two inches taller in the torso, it wouldn't be. I agree with everyone else: if you have people 6 foot tall in the back seat, you'll probably be happier with the pano, otherwise you'll be find without it.
 

htsai14752

Member
Nov 28, 2012
94
0
CA
I was in the same boat as most of you. I wanted the solid roof cause I never use the sunroof in my previous cars. My wife on the other hand has had a sunroof/pano roof in all of her cars. Since the wife took out a loan to finance the car I let her pick the options. The pano roof isn't bad at all. It's so darkly tinted that it doesn't bother me one bit. If the summer heat starts to burn i'll probably add a layer of limo tint to it. Headroom is much appreciated.

For those that are debating between body color or black solid roof, then I would suggest body colored. Since it would cost more to paint the roof to match in the future, this would be the recommended choice. A lot of people in Southern CA are now using vinyl to wrap their roofs if they want that blacked out sports look. It's fairly cheap and always removeable. Just a thought!
 

johnnyS

Member
Sep 8, 2011
583
188
We have the silver with black roof. We like it, but the black roof is not that noticeable. I saw a red with the black roof and it looked really sharp.
 

fluxemag

Member
Jan 10, 2013
477
183
Portland, OR
I didn't originally even want the pano roof. I was going to do white with solid black roof. Then I sat in the driver's seat of a solid roof car and my head hit the top. I'm sure the back seat would have been even worse (6'4). So i got the pano roof. It's odd because most cars give you more headroom without a sunroof. I'm encouraged by the 98% of light blocked claim, and the fact that the app will let me pre-cool the car while I'm in the office. Plus black/glass roofs look awesome, and 6 months out of the year in AZ you can open it up. The other 6 you spend curled up in the fetal position.
 

SMCModelSFan

Member
Feb 18, 2013
16
0
SF Bay Area
The staff at the Menlo Park store told me that Tesla will be making a retractable cover for the panoramic roof so that all the light can be blocked. It would still preserve the increased headroom that comes with panoramic. They said that once it's available it will be provided to all panoramic roof owners.
 

dj905

Member
Jan 16, 2010
213
40
GTA, Canada
I went with Blue and a body colour roof. I've had a pano roof in the past, and while it looked cool, I kept it covered most of the year since it was either too cold in winter or too hot and bright in summer (stop whining already). I rarely opened it.

The Blue roof looks great on the Model S. Inside, I just brush the ceiling in the back seat (I am 6ft), but it isn't a problem since I sit in the front :)

Good luck with your choice... hard to go wrong either way.
 

brianman

Burrito Founder
Nov 10, 2011
17,515
2,980
The staff at the Menlo Park store told me that Tesla will be making a retractable cover for the panoramic roof so that all the light can be blocked. It would still preserve the increased headroom that comes with panoramic. They said that once it's available it will be provided to all panoramic roof owners.
Welcome to the forum!

How recent was this statement by the Menlo staff? Thanks.
 

DavidM

P2624, Delivered
Aug 18, 2011
451
21
Florida
Originally, I wasn't sure about the pano, because I thought it was just like any other sunroof, only bigger. I was wrong. I'm really glad I got the pano. You can see up, but it doesn't let all the heat and light through like sunroofs do. I rarely open it, because of the wind noise, but it makes the whole car seem open and airy. I don't notice any glare on the infotainment screen either. All in all, it was a worthy upgrade.
 

HFh

Member
Jan 15, 2012
214
4
Atlanta, GA
I got the pano. I love it, but then again I got a black car, so it works really well color wise.

I'm 6'3", BTW, and I'm not at all sure I wouldn't feel claustrophobic without that feeling of openness above me given how close my head is to the roof.
 

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