sun visor

[zee]

Those of you who have the sun visor, is it mostly cosmetic or is it actually useful? Thanks.

Z

[edwardb]

Not sure how much they help with the sun on an open top Roadster. But they definitely help with deflecting wind higher than only the windshield. Makes a difference in our experience.

[GWL]

I think they would be much better if they were more opaque. I've thought of adding a tight cover of some type that could slip over the transparent Plexiglas. Right now I use my hand when needed.

George

[mburger]

There are varying levels of opaqueness available through other sources like eBay for example, including other colors if that’s your thing with matching windwings. The sun visors work well for the brief moments the visor is between you and the sun.

[john42]

The ones I got are pretty dark. I find them useful when the sun is setting (or rising) and is just above the windshield. 100% need a hat and sunglasses tho.

[Tooth]

I ordered them with my kit, and from what I've heard they help more with wind than anything. I'm considering bringing them to a glass place and having black or dark tinted plexi replacements made.

[zee]

Thanks guys.

I asked because I actually don't like the look, so will only order them if they had a practical purpose. I didn't think of wind buffeting, that's a good point.

[Railroad]

Your cap will stay on your head longer.

[nuhale]

I have flipped them down a time or two driving west at sunset.... Has helped IMO.

[GTBradley]

Thanks guys.

I asked because I actually don't like the look, so will only order them if they had a practical purpose. I didn't think of wind buffeting, that's a good point.
Depends also on how tall you sit in the seat. Personally, I feel like they create turbulence that causes my hat to become unruly. I tend to lower them a bit at Interstate speeds.

To deal with hat rebellion I have simple solution: a wide brim hat for cold, a wide brim hat for hot, a high speed english driving cap for cold, and a high speed english driving cap for hot.

[Derald Rice]

To deal with hat rebellion I have simple solution: a wide brim hat for cold, a wide brim hat for hot, a high speed english driving cap for cold, and a high speed english driving cap for hot.

I use two fingers of silicone, and run a layer of silicone over the inside brim of the hat.

After it dries, the silicone will grip my forehead to prevent a fly away.

[rich grsc]

Depends also on how tall you sit in the seat. Personally, I feel like they create turbulence that causes my hat to become unruly. I tend to lower them a bit at Interstate speeds.

To deal with hat rebellion I have simple solution: a wide brim hat for cold, a wide brim hat for hot, a high speed english driving cap for cold, and a high speed english driving cap for hot.
My experience too, in fact I didn't install them on this car. If you are shorter or sit low in the car they don't help at all with wind buffeting.

[Jeff Kleiner]

RE: Wind buffeting. I’ve found that the best thing for reducing wind buffeting is high back seats. Yes, you read that correctly; the windshield breaks the air sending it up and over then it cuts back in from behind.

Jeff

[zee]

I have a lot of experience dealing with wind buffeting on my motorcycle. I actually cut a vent on my windshield to finally solve the buffeting problem.

I do plan to use the Kirkeys bucket seats that sit a little lower. Based on my motorcycle experience, I think the buffeting is coming from behind and the sides because the windshield creates the vaccum just behind it that's not tall enough. You can either get a bigger windshield or use a wind deflector behind the driver / passenger that a lot of roadster use.

I'll leave the visor out and will order them if I need them for buffeting.

If you have lots of time, then my research on eliminating my buffeting #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2krxs9naWU
#2 (without the windshield) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8vxjnQf6K8

Finally, the vent I added on the windshield :-
166011

[john42]

RE: Wind buffeting. I’ve found that the best thing for reducing wind buffeting is high back seats. Yes, you read that correctly; the windshield breaks the air sending it up and over then it cuts back in from behind.

Jeff

Ahh.. that explains why I can comfortably wear a hat and don't have any wind buffeting. The air in my car is very still when at speed. In fact when I run the heater I end up with a nice pocket of heat that doesn't go away until I stop. It's very much so warmer while moving on a cold day.

[JohnK]

I ordered them with my kit, and from what I've heard they help more with wind than anything. I'm considering bringing them to a glass place and having black or dark tinted plexi replacements made.

Take them to a place that does automotive window tinting and have them put some tint film on there. Probably much easier and cheaper than entirely replacing them with new plastic.

[GTBradley]

RE: Wind buffeting. I’ve found that the best thing for reducing wind buffeting is high back seats. Yes, you read that correctly; the windshield breaks the air sending it up and over then it cuts back in from behind.

Jeff
Never spit out the center back of a roadster. Learned that one in 1981:o

And when your friend goes to do it, never turn your face to him and shout “DON’T SPIT, IT’LL JUST COME BACK AND HIT YOU IN THE FA”…:mad:

[Cobradavid]

I have visors and wind wings on my roadster. They do a great job of deflecting a lot of the air around the cockpit. After 14k miles, I broke the driver's side wind wing last weekend so now I get to see how much more winds hits my left shoulder and upper arm without the wind wings. They do make a difference!

95% of the time, my visors are up and functioning as wind deflectors. As john42 stated, the visors are very helpful when the sun is low on the horizon such that it's just above the windshield or shining through the windshield. The visors are like having an extra pair of sunglasses.

I prefer to keep 2 hands on the wheel (unless shifting or signaling), so I avoid the "use a hand to shade the sun" approach.

I don't think an opaque visor would be as useful as they are in other cars since our windshields are just so short - the visor covers ~40% of the top of the windshield when it's down.

David

[Andrew Davis]

Being from the Pathetic North-West, we call them rain deflectors, but not sure of their efficacy.

[Avalanche325]

Your cap will stay on your head longer.

That is what they are best at! I haven't lost one yet.

[Cobradavid]

Being from the Pathetic North-West, we call them rain deflectors, but not sure of their efficacy.

I can attest to the efficacy of the visors as rain deflectors - at least anecdotally. I've been caught in the rain a couple of times. At speeds above ~40 mph, the rain is mostly deflected over my head. However, the rain hitting the windshield will climb up the windshield and sneak through the gap between the top of the windshield and the bottom of the visor - and the drops nail me right in the eyeglasses and nose. I suspect that would happen with or without visors.

As far as hat retention goes, I haven't done a with/without comparison, but I wear a hat 99% of the time and I've never had one come off with visors.

David

David

[AC Bill]

I installed the mounts to give maximum height to the visors. The top of my head sits above the windscreen, even with the seat mounted directly to the floor. The visors deflect the wind beautifully, along with the odd bug. The ball cap stays on just fine. Good sunglasses, and the cap visor works best when driving towards a setting sun, but the tinted visors do help at times.


166045

[Lickity-Split]

I use them regularly when driving into a sunrise or sunset. However, mine weren't dark enough to block the direct sunlight, so I painted the underside with a satin black paint for plastic. Works perfectly now.

[SJDave]

Minimal improvement in buffeting from my experience. Your Bimini Top will eliminate all Buffeting!


Thanks guys.

I asked because I actually don't like the look, so will only order them if they had a practical purpose. I didn't think of wind buffeting, that's a good point.

[zee]

Minimal improvement in buffeting from my experience. Your Bimini Top will eliminate all Buffeting!

That's the plan :-)

[Alex_V]

Got a question: how do e-bay visors / wing kits compare to what FFR sells? I believe at the moment FFR is showing wind kits as out of stock.

[mburger]

The “Smoked” tinted ones on EBay are tinted MUCH lighter than FFR.

[jts359]

Keep in mind if you have a earlier style soft top like I have on my MKII you have to Notch the channel for the top, So the top will fit over the Visor mounts , Ed