Solar powered moonroof Impressions

i grew up pretty close to the old B&M Baked Beans factory on Back Cove in Portland. Sometimes i had wicked awful faaaahts.

 

At lower temperatures, like the 81°F here today, results are amazing. You get into a comfortable car and totally forget that any other parked nearby will greet you in a very different way.

When the warmth is just a normal summer day, it does a pretty darn good job.
.

 

I have to admit that when I first got my IV SR in June I had high expectations that the inside temp would be close to the outsdie temp using the SR. I was reminded by some very smart PriusChat folks that ambient means just that, close.

I am getting around a 10° difference when I DON'T use the remote a/c. Using the remote a/c, in conjunction with the SR, which is the way it was designed, the system is beyond incredible. The interior feels down right cool when I open the door.

Getting the heatshield from the PriusChat store has made a BIG difference.

Of course, the real reason that I love this option is the open SR as you are driving. It gets a lot of looks and unlike the V with AT, it is immediately recognizable as the "new" G3. The only thing on the V is the fog lights, which really can't be seen unless you are facing or in front of the car.

I too crack the windows about an inch at the urging of my salesman. I don't leave the SR cracked bc that means that the interior roof panel has to be open, which IMO just puts more direct sun on the interior, which isn't great for leather.

Good luck with the upcoming purchase. You will LOVE this car.

 

You have a PM.

 

Greetings, got the package iV with the solar panel via the CARS program on Monday 08/03. You are going to love yours! The panel works as advertised. When it's sunny out, the fan comes on and pulls ambient air into the car to match the outside temperature. It's been hot here in So Cal, so when it's 90 degrees outside, it's feels like 90 inside the car..not much cooler, but it's better than 110 or 120 inside, I guess.

 

What I'm wondering about is that if the $1800 Solar Roof were split into its two components and available separately at $900 for the sunroof and $900 for the solar panel ventilation system, would you pay $900 for the solar panel ventilation system?

 

yes

 

Ha - I've wondered the same thing. I might not buy the solar panel. I really like it - but only use it a couple of months in the year. The sunroof - you betcha - I love a sunroof.

 

900 out of your pocket immediately? maybe not as many as people who would when offered 900 over 36 car payments or 900/60 smaller additions to their existing car payments.

 

Yes

 

like you, i live in a relatively mild climate (despite going thru hottest July in history!!) and the reason i got the sunroof is that i dont use AC much due to the mileage hit and sometimes having windows open are inconvenient. so what i do is crack back windows about an inch. open the sunroof and i get great air circulation and reduced traffic noise. (at least somewhat)

case in point, estimated high today will be around 73º. but rest of the week highs will be in the 60's. well, with sun, it still gets the car hot inside. granted the solar ventilation will work well, but after moving, it doesnt take long for a car to heat up especially with the sun shining.

for a lot of people, this seems counter-intuitive, but i think the sunroof best use is in the northern tier states. not the sunny south.

 

record breaking is a MAJOR understatement....

in Lacey, just outside Olympia Wa.

previous consecutive days 90º+ was 5... now 9

previous all time high 101...now...104.6

but, its 68º out right now... average highs for rest of the week, low 70's..... ahhh!!! back to normal.

and i stand by my statement....this is the perfect weather for the solar sunroof~!!

 

Driving with the windows open and/or sunroof open is WORSE for mileage than putting on the AC. By doing so you disrupt the carefully designed aerodynamics.

I used to design high performance cars with particular attention to aerodynamics. When hermetically sealed, the Prius has a great coefficient of drag (only 0.25) for a commercially produced car. If you open the windows even a crack you will make that number go up considerably.

If you drive faster than 35 mph, close the windows and put on the AC.

 

We are looking at getting a Prius, as a everyday ride, down to sunroof or not
My wifes car is a BMW 323CIC ( ragtop, with a hardtop for winter) and I have a 2003 GMC Extended cab for work, with an aftermarket sun roof which is great ( nice and large and quiet when driving)

My wife does not to the idea of car without a sunroof, she says it feels like a coffin with the hardtop on during the winter

We have not seen one with a sunroof yet
Is a large like a Jetta wagon or Forestor ?
Is it draft when it is openned, was in a Mazda 3 once and it was really bad
SO it would probably be a base model or a Premium with a sunroof but we do have colour down to blue, did want red, but really do not like light interoirs

 

I am not familiar with which toyota models carried by Canadian dealers. The Venza is available with a panorama sunroof which is the same design except the back panel is regular glass, not a solar panel. Maybe a dealer there has one to look at. It does let in a lot of light. It has a large wind deflector, so it is pretty good at moderate speeds, does get turbulent when open at highway speeds. Just having the glass overhead will help with the coffin effect.

You can put an aftermarket sunroof in a Prius for less than Toyota's solar roof.

 

Ran into a person with one and it had a sunroof
It looks like it will be one with a sunroof
The sunroof cost about $1500 , I got an aftermarket on for my truck 5 1/2 years ago and the cost was $1395 so I believe the cost would have gone up in that time
So now chosing colours, blizzard white or blue and which colour of grey for the inside

 

no argument here. too much wind noise at highway speeds for the windows or sunroof. in most cases, i turn on vent only (at least during normal summer temps) that is usually enough to be comfortable with.

 

Same here. I haven't caught the solar powered fan at work yet. In the week since I bought my car, it has rained about 4 days and has been cloudy and/or overcast most of the rest of the time. Then, at home I'm parked under a tree. When I go to work I park in an indoor garage at the Metro station. I don't think I've parked it when the sun's been out at all!

However, I just like having a sunroof anyway and I really missed having one on my 2006 Prius. And the open roof looks awesome!

On another note, much as people complain about the navi, I think it's cool. The voice recognition is great and it's something I don't have with my Garmin. The bluetooth phone sound quality is also much better than the Garmin.

 

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I haven't heard the fans working either. I wonder if there is something wrong w/ my car. The dash button is pushed in (I "turned it on" while the car was on as noted in the owner's man.) & still haven't heard anything, though I occasionally use the remote a/c. I'm in the Valley, where it's hot. What part of LA are you in?