Sunroofs on 911s: Love, hate or ... meh

I don't normally notice sunroofs on cars; they're above my head so most often out of sight and out of mind. I'd not pay extra for one, and would honestly prefer a non-sunroof 911 as you don't see them much, but also wouldn't pay the premium for sunroof-delete. But there are times I've had the sunroof open, and on the right day, it can be pretty nice.

On my 86, which was my track car though it was street-legal, I considered welding a panel in there and removing the mechanism, but decided I wouldn't notice the difference enough to make it worth the effort/expense.

 

I like sunroofs. I didn't vote that I would pay a premium for one, at least in a 911, but I like it quite a bit. My 930 is a sunroof coupe, and I open the sunroof regularly in the summer.

My Mercedes 3.5 Coupe is a different story. I really love the sunroof in that car. It gives you most of the functionality of the convertible and yet you press a switch and it closes. I would pay a premium for a sunroof in that car.

My 928 has a sunroof, but it is more like a mail slot. No premium there, and I'd probably give it up for the extra head room if I had a choice.

 

That’s the only thing I would change on my ‘66. It needs a sunroof. It has such a light and airy feel except for above my head. The roof is a palpable intrusion into the airiness.

The ‘87 is a much more substantial car which subtracts from its airy feel in general. I use it sometimes. But the roofline line doesn’t feel so intrusive with it closed.

It’s also cold here half the year.

 

Just something else to go wrong/rust over time.
I sold one of my 911's that had one more or less because of it, but I put up with one in the 79 930 (but hardly ever open) because 930's usually came with all options.
My 77 930 doesn't, I like that someone kept the option M650 unticked.
964,993,996,997s in Australia came standard, that is why I have never bought one. (except the 996.1 gt3, no sun).

 

I suppose it depends on the 911. I always thought it strange there were sunroofs in GT3s. Mine doesn't have one, and on a car that regularly goes to the track it makes sense there isn't a portal to the heavens. But I did enjoy the sunroof in my 997, which was just an incredible example of why the 911 has reputation and following it does. On a car that was asked to - and did! - everything from track days to sunshine-filled summer day drives, the sunroof was a nice addition.
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I loved mine on my 997.1 GT3 - if you cracked the windows and lifted the sunroof an inch, you could hear that glorious motor just wail …

MDS

 

Sunroofs are a deal breaker for me
Would NOT consider a car without one
LOVED the 997.1 GT3 with sunroof, wished my .2 RS had one

In my old age would love a GT3 or 73 E coupe with sunroof

 

I think it depends on how well your AC works. If your AC blows cold, the sunroof isn't necessary. If it struggles on your generation of 911, then a sunroof to help get the air circulating/changed at some points would be great.

It also depends on where you live. For the most part, sunroofs and convertibles aren't much good in Alabama... it's either too cold for them, too hot/humid for them, or too many tornados for them, with the perfect temperature range for maximum enjoyment only infrequently occuring in the autumn. The idea here is to keep windows closed and roofs sealed to allow the AC to cool you more effectively.

I think, here, I'd rather have a car without a sunroof or convertible top. If I was somewhere a bit more temperate, I might use a sunroof if it was already equipped but wouldn't go out of my way to buy a car with a sunroof. My daily driver (Ford) has a sliding sunroof/moonroof and I think I've opened it perhaps 5 times in 5 years.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

The air conditioning isn't great in any air-cooled Porsche... to the point that I removed it from my 75 911S (which is a Targa, so no sunroof needed!).

 

It worked pretty well on my dad's 993, although that was after we replaced the control unit in the dashboard. There's a common issue with the control board that means the AC is lackluster at best and the double snowflake button didn't do anything. With the new control unit, it coped well. Not as good as his modern Porsche, but it was perfectly fine even in the Alabama heat. If it's working as designed, I think you'll be ok.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Perhaps... but it took an English Structural Engineer (PhD) and American Neuroscientist (PhD) long enough that a German Physicist might have accelerated the process.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

In 12 years with my 86 911, I never fully understood how the heat worked (the A/C was inop when I bought that car and I removed it when I started tracking a lot), but I did learn to always get the defrost to work, and with some futzing could usually get heat to blow where I wanted. In fairness, I didn't drive it much in seasons where heat was often necessary.

On my first ride in it after having just taken possession, my future ex-wife was following me home. It was spring and we hit a torrential spring rainstorm and the windows rapidly started fogging up. I pulled over and my ex called and asked me what I was doing; I told her I was trying to figure out how to get the front window to defrost, as I kept wiping away at it with my sleeve. She starts in like it's the most obvious thing, there must be a defrost button or setting, etc., and I'm like, no, you don't understand, this car isn't like normal cars...

From the roadside, I ended up calling the mechanic who did the PPI for me. He walked me through getting the defrost on, and that was the one HVAC thing I always remembered how to do (turn the dial between the seats all the way clockwise).

 

Interestingly on GT3 spec racecars a hatch above the driver is a safety requirement. It is there so they can extract the driver straight up without having to cut the top off the car.

 

On my daily driver A4 I use the sunroof all the time. I wouldn't buy a car like that without one. On my 996 it has one, and gets used at time, but I would be fine buying something like that without it.

 

I don't like sunroofs on purpose built coupé sports cars. I'd rather have a convertible, but I don't like them either, for the most part. I'd never pay a premium for a sunroof delete car but if I got to spec it and pay a fair price, mine wouldn't have one. Working A/C is a must on the other hand.

 

The air cooled HVAC is not complicated-- maybe it's just that I have been driving them for almost 40 years.

The AC (if you have it) is a completely separate system.

The amount of hot air is controlled by the levers between the seats, the middle (or lower?) slider on the dash directs it to the windshield or your feet-- there is a little arrow. If in doubt, move all the levers over to the up arrow if you want all the air to go the windshield.

The 930, on the other hand, is a bit more complex because they tried, weirdly, to make it "automatic" and failed miserably.