Moonroof fully open causes wind noise

I noticed that on my drive home from the dealer the first day; had a bit of a panic until I figured out what was going on. If you keep your moonroof at the default "mostly open" instead of trying to open it all the way then it's fine. But all the way open at around 40mph with the windows up and it's like the whole car is vibrating.

 

Have you tried cracking the rear windows down just about an inch or so to equalize the pressure and eliminate the wind buffeting?

 

I realized this too a few days after i bought the car. holy hell the noise it makes just let it go to its default position lol

 

akh is correct. When you hit the open button, it will automatically open to the correct position for non-turbulant use. They do offer the option to open it the rest of the way, but at higher speeds you will need some windows open to prevent or minimize the vibration effect. The manual explains this in case anyone hasn't seen that page yet. There's a relatively small spring loaded wind deflector that pops up when the roof opens. I'd rather have the small one that's there than to have a big gaudy one and be able to open the roof all the way. I don't consider it a design flaw, its a design choice within the fields of fluid dynamics and aesthetics.

 

Seriously though - crack the rear windows. This is just science, the buffeting effect is caused by a pressure imbalance due to the aerodynamics of this vehicle. Cracking the rear windows solves the problem in most vehicles.

 

haha yeah i noticed this too on the drive home from the dealer. I thought it was hilarious! The discovery of a major design flaw within my first few minutes of driving my new car!! But i guess that is why the sunroof automatically stops opening at about 3/4 to keep from making the wind noise.

 

I noticed this too soon after I got my car and my ears and I freaked out! The noise was truly unbearable. Now if I open the moonroof, I just keep it at the position it "stops" at and don't open it any further.

 

You guys that are referring to this as a major design flaw... yeah, it's actually just physics. Maybe it's a design flaw that the air in the environment slows down the car, too.

 

^^^ See this guy gets it!

 

Yep it's just physics. Try rolling exactly one window down in any car and driving it at a high speed. Same effect.