Sunroof retaining clips and lugs

[Paul C]

Wondering...

I, err... assume...

If you prop the sunroof open (eg tilt). how good is this at speed?

Once you get into and beyond the 140mph region, i have 'heard

it said' that with the wind gusts through any doorseals etc that are

not 100% tight. I had to get a new sunroof seal as i was 'told' that

at the 120mph mark there was an airgap at the front of the roof

that was threatening to tear the thing off, now it's airtight once shut.

I have no faith driving at any real speed with it propped open as

i think those little plastic clips are good for town speed only.

I'm sure the thing would rip out of it's clips and go skywards

at any speed over the magic ton (a passerby was heard to say).

What think you?

[s4simon]

You need the help of one of those aerodynamithithists-ithists guys

[SteveSmith]

Paul

My sunroof 'apparently' is fine tilted at around the 130mph mark although, 'apparently' that was only for a fairly short burst of about a mile.

Wasn't it nice and warm and sunny over the weekend B)

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

I have been in someone else's GT3 (and no double entendres there at all actually!!) at rather high speeds on a test track, in another country, on another planet (ok so maybe the no double entendres didn't last long!) and that didn't seem overly worried about being open at speed.

Paul - you should try e-mailing him to ask as he is regularly on his interplanetary track

[Paul C]

Wasn't it nice and warm and sunny over the weekend    B)

Dunno

I replaced my glass sunroof with a carbon fibre one cause

i loathe the sun and have no heat tolerance whatsoever.

Hence i'd like to prop it more, but have never trusted it.

When i was five, i swear that i had a lunchbox with more

robust hinges than the ones fitted to my cars roof...

[rocket63]

When i was five, i swear that i had a lunchbox with more

robust hinges than the ones fitted to my cars roof... 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe it was recycled into a Sunr............. Nah.

Edited March 31, 2005 by Bibs

[Sheldon]

Hi,

I owned a 1988 Esprit Turbo for two and a half years before my present 1998 GT3.

I was on a trackday at Goodwood last May 2004 in the Esprit Turbo with the sunroof closed. At 125mph, the sunroof ripped off with a BANG! Pretty scary, and if I had been on the road, someone might have been hurt travelling behind me.

The reasons it ripped off whilst closed was that the front clips are actually quite weak and prone to rust. The clips have a screw which goes through the glass roof and this loosens over the year if you drive with the roof up on bumpy roads etc.

Once loose, even with the sunroof down, the front of the sunroof will slowly rise up by about 2-5 mm and not be be level with the rest of the car. The air flowing over the car will eventually increase this gap until eventually the roof will rip off even when closed. When you drive, if you feel any air coming through the front of the sunroof with it closed, check to see if these clips are loose otherwise, the roof may rip off!

Hope that helps. I don't drive with the roof up anymore, since it weakens those clips.

[chris]

I've just refurbed my sunroof because of those front lugs and found a lotus service bulletin describing how to fill in the slots with a sealant. This is and has stopped all of the bumps, bangs, rattles and wind noise. Ive had the roof on tilt for a long journey of about 2 hours constantly being between 80 and 120 without a problem. But thinking about your dilema from an aircraft engineers point of view i'd worry more about the roof when its down. When its on the tilt the air pressure will force the roof down rather than up and away. whereas when closed the air can get underneath the panel making the roof of your motor act as an airbrake. so as long as the roof is secure and well sealed when down i wouldn't worry to much. considering the speeds you would need to get up to and sustain i'd fear for your licence and engine. good luck with the care free motoring cheers chris

[WayneB]

Is this what happens to your hair when the sunroof blows out at 140 mph?

[Jussi]

Better sunroof flying than...

[Paul C]

Better sunroof flying than...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Man, i remember that!

Whats the betting if that happened to an esprit... the chassis

would be left on the road and the body & driver went skywards?

I agree with all posts here. Have recently smashed the drivers door

glass into my face (another story) and have a temporary perspex glass

(fixed) as a replacement. Meant in the heat i was kinda forced to use the

roof, yes the front tongues are deffo the thing to be fussed about and i

think i'll replace/ rebuild mine as a precaution.

While stretching to alliviate cramp, i pressed the loud pedal in too far

(on a private test road) and strayed deeply into three figures...

The roof ain't gonna come out like that i agree, the wind if anything does

oppose it and probably would hold it down if the clips were not even in.

Think i was fussing about nothing really, and the hook-a-duck stall quality

of the rear catches are not really so much an issue as the front tongues.