Pano Roof Daylight

I love the pano roof. It is darker than other cars I've had but I love it. Open or closed. I would think that the lack of a pano roof might make the car a less attractive buy later on if you sell it.

JCC said:

I am in the process of ordering a Model S!

In all of my other vehicles I have had sunroofs. I don't really use them. However, I do enjoy the extra light and openness that they provide while shut. Here are my questions:

1. Does the Model S pano sunroof add much daylight into the cabin?

2. Has anyone experience a model s without the pano? What are your impressions?

3. Do you think that not having a pano will hinder it's resale value?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

It adds a huge amount of light, and unlike other sunroofs it actually increases interior headroom rather than detracting from it. I test drove one car without it and for me it was a must-have option.

It's worth noting that the pano roof brings roof rack attachment points that aren't otherwise available. If you open all the windows and the pano roof fully, you pretty much have a convertible with a rollbar and a rear windscreen built in. If you don't open it, you still have significantly more headroom and a more open feeling, especially considering that the rear half of the roof is also transparent.

Yes, excellent point about the headroom. I would have not bought a Tesla Model S without the pano roof because of the headroom issue.

It seems there is no headroom issue with recent Model S cars without the pano roof. From Alysashley79 in /archive/index.php/t-12094.html:
"I have non pano. Just took delivery 6 weeks ago. It DOESNT have mounts for roof mounts. We had to get something for the back. For bikes etc. we've had adults in the back of ours in fact my father is 6'4" and he sat in the back seat of mine perfectly fine. So maybe tesla has made some tweaks."

I'll be contrary and say that I don't have the pano roof and don't feel a huge sense of loss. My wife was opposed to the pano because of concerns about the Texas heat and I didn't feel strongly enough in favor of a pano to argue the point. Plus, at the time we were purchasing, there was some online chatter about wind noise and other issues with the pano and I was a bit worried about leaks and creaks appearing as the car aged. I figured if we were going to err in our pano decision, I'd rather occasionally yearn for something absent than dislike something I had to deal with every day.

Not to mention that during the few times I've driven a loaner with a pano, I never found myself thinking, "Gee, this is awesome. I wish I had sprung for the pano."

I have, however, wished a couple of times for slightly more headroom in the backseat, which one could argue is the same as wishing for the pano. These wishes may no longer be conjoined, however, according to Electric700's comment, above.

Obviously, this is all just my opinion.

Electric700 said:

It seems there is no headroom issue with recent Model S cars without the pano roof. From Alysashley79 in /archive/index.php/t-12094.html:
"I have non pano. Just took delivery 6 weeks ago. It DOESNT have mounts for roof mounts. We had to get something for the back. For bikes etc. we've had adults in the back of ours in fact my father is 6'4" and he sat in the back seat of mine perfectly fine. So maybe tesla has made some tweaks."

Click to expand...

Certainly the back head room is bad with the pano roof. It's hard to imagine it would be much better without the pano roof.

markb1 said:

Certainly the back head room is bad with the pano roof. It's hard to imagine it would be much better without the pano roof.

Click to expand...

Correct. I essentially cannot sit in the back seat of my car for this reason. Fortunately I'm always in the front-left seat.

My wife wanted the pano, I rarely use the sunroof on our other cars and for best aerodynamics, I just keep it closed all the time anyway. I will say it has great sun shielding on it--on a long trip I got sunburn on my hands/arms from side/front windows, but never from light coming through the pano. That was nice.

My guess is it would probably help resale a little. I'd judge more by your own preference.

-m

markb1 said:

Certainly the back head room is bad with the pano roof. It's hard to imagine it would be much better without the pano roof.

Click to expand...

I dunno, my 6'4" son sits in the backseat with on problems - I actually think he would not fit w/o the pano roof. I guess it depends on how you are proportioned.

O

omarsultan said:

I dunno, my 6'4" son sits in the backseat with on problems - I actually think he would not fit w/o the pano roof. I guess it depends on how you are proportioned.

O

Click to expand...

It's less of a personal height issue, IMHO. I'm maybe 5'9". If I sit normally in the back seat, the top/back of my head touches the white horizontal crossbar (See image where the red arrow sticker is). I have plenty of clearance ABOVE my head. I cannot tilt my head or neck further backwards then straight up. There is no whiplash protection--my head would just be smashed against the crossbar if it was thrown backwards in an accident. I almost didn't buy the car because of this--we take the S500 if there's going to be adults in the back for an extended period.

There's a reason why Mercedes has those huge headrests in the back seat and it's not for blocking your rear view....

-m

omarsultan said:

I dunno, my 6'4" son sits in the backseat with on problems - I actually think he would not fit w/o the pano roof. I guess it depends on how you are proportioned.

O

Click to expand...

I'm only 6'1", and my head hits the roof when I lean back against the headrest. If I sit up, there's clearance under the pano roof, so maybe it just depends on the way you sit. But if I'm in a car for any length of time, I want to lean back.

I am 6'0" and my son is 6'1" - with non pano 2014 demo MS in showroom both of our heads tough the headliner in the rear seats however with the pano roof, it barely is noticeable for me and not noticeable to him.

Even though he is an inch taller, it is all in the legs and leg room is more important to him. Fortunately the MS has more legroom than most of the cars we have been in.

I sat in the rear seat of pano and non-pano demos several times prior to ordering. I never use sunroofs, but ordered this one due to rear seat headroom. There is a big difference.

I have to say that we never use sunroofs either, but love driving on the country roads with windows down & pano back in silence.

Also agree on extra headroom in the back. Even for 5'-something people, it makes the back feel roomier.

After test driving an MS with the pano roof, I asked the Tesla rep if I could drive one without to compare. It made the decision easy--I strongly preferred the more open feeling and additional light provided by the pano roof. (Note: I say this as a person who will probably never actually open the pano roof.)

Also, I sat in the backseat of the MS without the pano roof, and even as a relatively average height person (5'11"), I felt a little cramped. My head definitely wasn't touching the ceiling, but I felt it close above. The extra headroom with the pano roof is definitely a nice plus if you ever plan to have adult passengers.

I was in the same position as you, trying to decide if the Pano roof was worth it.

My concerns were, excess heat/light, more moving parts to possibly break, and cost.

I'm really glad I ended up getting it. It really opens up the car and makes it feel much roomier. The color contrast is also nice if you have a light car.

It doesn't let in that much heat/light even when it's 100 outside. I just bought the shade so we'll see how that works. I'm also thinking about possibly applying more tint to it.

As for the reliabilty of it, it seems the quality has improved from the early vin's. And presumably if it does break outside of warranty it shouldn't be too expensive in terms of parts/labor to fix. Even if you leave it closed all the time it is worth it I would say.

I don't have a pano roof, and specifically wanted my car without the pano roof. I was a bit worried about the headroom, but it turned out there are no headroom issues on the front seats. I don't much care about the rear seat headroom, as it is not often that I would need to have adults sitting there.

My reasoning for not getting a pano roof:
1) I have never had one in my previous cars, so I would not be missing anything.
2) I suspect the pano roof might feel colder in cold temperatures (half a year here in Finland). Bjorn has insulated his pano roof according to his videos, I did not want to do that.
3) Possibility of parts breaking, more wind noise, etc. I would probably never open the pano roof, though, as I prefer to use A/C and always keep windows closed in the summer.
4) I don't have a need for a roof rack, so the lack of mounting points was a non-issue.

I've never thought about resale value when purchasing a car, so this did not even occur to me.

Pate

Thou Shalt Pano.

Seriously... I was gonna order without and my wife convinced me to order it. She was right.

Pano Roof also adds the "long strip of glass" look which improves the look of the car/makes it stand out especially if its white and you get the windows tinted.


It is definitely a must for me, or if not the black roof on a light colored car to give that look.


Also blocks 100% UV rays and 81% Heat