The Zohan

I am pretty sure i never have, even in the sunniest of weathers.

AllanB

Yeah loads saw about 5 today all with the roofs down


AllanB

LG John

Never!! Most of my mates comment that they haven't seen me with the roof up Drove through town the other night in the rain with it down

The Zohan

I'll get my coat then.....

LG John

I'm agreeing with you paul Saabs and MGFs are the worst IMHO.

Patt@firstime

Funniest thing Ive ever seen was where I used to live in the street was a bloke with a MX-5 and one morning he scraped the ice off it..........................




























put the roof down and drove off with a wooley hat on

Matt (BMW 3 series cab driver )

BlackadderII

You didnt own a yellow megane at one point did you

LG John

God no

Gutmann pug

Inlaws own one and I think it only gets driven with the top down.

Gary

Gutmann pug

Oh and when I owned a TVR the very best driving days where those in November and March, nice crisp days, wrap up warm and off you go. I really really miss that car.

Gary

The Zohan

i have had two Austin Healey Sprites, always driven with the roof down - in winter with the heating on full

BrettC

Here ya go Paul, my old tank.

NotoriousREV

My ex-boss used to have one and the roof went down in March and stayed down till November with occasional down-ness on non-rainy days during the "up" months

Smiler

To be honest if I paid a premium for a convertible then the hood would always be down as long as it wasn't raining.

SiDHEaD

Roof down with a wooley hat on a icey/snowy morning is ace. Heater in my car melts your skin so no problems with being cold.

BrettC

Its great to have the roof down at night too.

LG John

Roof down on a slightly crisp night adds so much to the driving experience. Its a strange feeling thats hard to describe but its fun

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

Had a lotus elise a while back and once that roof came off it hardly ever went back on, mainly cos it was such a bastid to get back on

But it is a special drive if you take your lady out both wrapped up warm for a spirited drive through the country. Wish i had it back now for the last couple of days.

SiDHEaD

I was driving round with the roof down last nite at 3am

mattvortex

really cant see the appeal of convertibles especially now most cars have air-con. poseurs drive converibles-drivers drive hard-tops!

dpb

just seen a new one with the roof down.


posers....

BrettC

What about the cars without air-con??
Also, why has the enjoyment of driving just got be with the best handling car and going as fast as possible all the time.

So what would you choose a fiesta or 996 convertible then?

Roof down, sunny day, country lanes, pub to pub (for lemonades only obviously ).
Also, this experience is best if you never see another car on the road, so where does the posing come into it.? (Just IMHO though)

Give it a try. You might like it.

LG John

Dropping the top isn't because its too hot! You do it for the wind in the hair and the feeling of being outside rather than couped up in a car. FWIW my S2000 is a much much much much better drivers car than my my99 scooby was and thats despite not having a nice ridgid roof. I'd never been in a convertable until last september and I can honestly say it adds a whole new dimension to driving. Driving places with the roof down is never a chore, its a privillage

BrettC

I'll second that!
My saab turbo conv. isnt quite the driving experience of what i imagine the s2000 to be but I still agree!

Also, something else with the convertibles: It 'feels' like you are going faster than you actually are due to wind and noise etc. which can never be a bad thing with levels of traffic and speed cameras everywhere.

SiDHEaD

Had to make a journey with the roof up earlier (thunderstorm, chucking it down), and it felt most odd...

mattvortex

dont know how the hell you can think the s2000 is a "much much much much" better drivers car as you put it than a classic scoob-think the worlds motoring press wouuld disagree with u as well. having driven an s2000 and a classic scoob , the scoob had better feedback and to me felt the better drivers car overall- and that was in the dry! anyway, back to the convertible thing-i suppose its one of those things you either love or hate and personally, i hate it! being a passenger in one is even worse as you can see everyone mouthing" look at that flash ****/ ******" but hey, if you dont mind that then happy motoring! im referring more to the saloon car derived convertibles such as bmw 3/ audi a4, 307cc etc, not so much s2000,elise etc as there 2 seater sportsters and so the hood down goes with the image

SiDHEaD

My S2000 feels much much better when pushing it than my (standardish) classic scoob ever did. Of course the exhaust doesn't sound as good tho!! Goes round corners a hell of a lot quicker (dry) and turns in etc a lot better.

mattvortex

think were have to agree to disagree! certainly wasnt my experience and i think the s2000 gives the illusion that youre going faster than you actually are-as i said, ive driven both as well and seen them in action at castle coombe etc and the cornering speeds are definately not "a lot quicker" in the s2000-thats just silly!

LG John

The scooby's chassis is in the dark ages in terms of adjustability compaired to the S2000. The scooby has excellent grip but an annoying bias towards understeer and when you finally overcame the grip in the Impreza it was a real pig to keep the crash you are having from being anything other than a total loss of life. The S2000 however, holds the road just as well in the dry, deals well with bumps and camber changes provided the driver is doing his job and reading a) the road b) what the car tell him but more critically once you are on the limit you can adjust neatly between neutral steady state handling, power oversteer, lift-off overstreer and slightly pushing wide (understeer) all of which is achievable by about 3cm movement either way in the streering and throttle pedel. The scooby is like a neanderthal on the limit by comparison and even the saxo offers the driver more options when it steps out of line.

I'm not saying the scooby is bad or can't handle because clearly it can I'm just saying that an S2000 can outhandle it and this is generally demonstraited time and time again on track days The 'much much much' better bit comes from the fact that its more fun near the limit than the impreza.

Imagine your car could talk to you as you press harder and harder round a bend:

Scooby

Everything is fine old chap, no problems, yup its all good, don't like that...TREE!!!

S2000

More in the tank yet cheif, that's it, ok back is sliding a little now back off, too much a little more throttle, feather it, feather it, exit approaching, go on nail it, atta boy

BrettC

Mattvortex

With my saloon derived convert, classic saab 900 turbo, i have never once been approached to call me a flash **** and never noticed anyone mouthing it either. maybe they dont even notice it at all, even with the roof down...just another old saab.
I have however, been approached on numerous occasions to enquire if the car was for sale!

I have noticed though whilst walking down the road that people have commented when a ferrari convertible has driven past. I have never understood this though how people are such small minded when it comes to opinions about other peoples cars. Surely there are other things more important to worry about.