QOTD: What's the Cutoff on Drop-Top Weather?
My current test ride is a Lexus LC convertible. Or was, as it went back to its home on press-fleet island about an hour ago.
Anyway, cooler temperatures draped Chicagoland right around the time that I got the car. So I didn't drop the top as much as I would've liked.
Similarly, I tested a Mini convertible last winter, during freezing temps, and as a test of my cold tolerance -- and the car's -- I dropped the top during a freezing January day. Made it about five minutes before I raised it again.
So, I ask you -- what's your line between top down and top up? Sixty degrees? Fifty? Putting it down even if snowmen are in people's yards?
Sound off below.
[Image: Lexus]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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The only way to fit skis in a Miata, 911 and any other 'vert, is with the top down. I'm personally exactly tall enough to not duck under the slipstream in a Boxster. No chance in a Miata. The 911 'vert is perfect for me. Skis in the back "seat." The S2000 was perfection; as in, perfection period; but it was either skis OR someone to ski with.
NA Miata goes topless as long as roads are dry and heater is running, windscreen in place.
I generally have a strong preference for the lower mass and higher rigidity of a conventional roofed vehicle over a convertible. In temperatures over ~1800K, the difference in stiffness narrows significantly. (Would still prefer the lower mass and expense of the non-convertible.)
I used to drive my miata from March-Nov every year, and i think i had the top down for most of those drives. Including the commutes to work at 5am. You do crazy things when you justify owning a convertible.