Targa owners, tell me I'm mistaken
07-27-2009, 01:13 PM
#16
Drifting
Reviving an old thread... So I sat in a targa 4s yesterday, and what I saw from very briefly playing with the roof and the explanantion the sales guy gave me was that if you retract the roof, rear visibility is just about gone.
The shade stayed in place over the glass panel, and the whole thing retracted, leaving me (attempting) to look through the shade and two panes of glass. In bright sun, I couldn't see anything - it was like being in a cargo van.
Is that the way it's supposed to be, or is there a way to roll-up the shade and retract the glass (which I could probably live with)? It looks like that's possible from cello's pic above that this is possible, but not what I was told.
I can't believe that anyone would design something like this, but the sales guy seemed to be familiar with the problem.
The shade stayed in place over the glass panel, and the whole thing retracted, leaving me (attempting) to look through the shade and two panes of glass. In bright sun, I couldn't see anything - it was like being in a cargo van.
Is that the way it's supposed to be, or is there a way to roll-up the shade and retract the glass (which I could probably live with)? It looks like that's possible from cello's pic above that this is possible, but not what I was told.
I can't believe that anyone would design something like this, but the sales guy seemed to be familiar with the problem.
07-27-2009, 01:16 PM
#17
Targa Visibility
on the 996 Targa you could open the sunshade while the roof was retracted - this gives a bit of extra visibility. I liked my Targa, although on mine, the motor for the sunshade went out at around 40K miles - and to replace it was some serious cash. I ended up trading it for my 997 cab instead.
07-27-2009, 01:32 PM
#18
Drifting
on the 996 Targa you could open the sunshade while the roof was retracted - this gives a bit of extra visibility. I liked my Targa, although on mine, the motor for the sunshade went out at around 40K miles - and to replace it was some serious cash. I ended up trading it for my 997 cab instead.
07-27-2009, 01:43 PM
#19
Rennlist Member
The sales guy didn't know to roll up the shade even when the roof panel is retracted???
That would make much more sense. So what does the shade look like with the roof retracted and shade rolled up?
07-27-2009, 03:44 PM
#20
Drifting
I can't imagine putting the roof back without retracting the shade first. The poor visibility would be mitigated somewhat if the roof were able to go back another few inches, but apparently they weren't able to do that. So the shade retraction mechanism stays parked right in the lower part of your view through the rear view mirror. To me, this is worse than any distortion created by looking through 2 panes of glass. Generally I find that I seldom open the top, and simply enjoy the bright open feeling inside the car by having the glass roof. If you want open sky, buy a cab.
07-27-2009, 05:29 PM
#21
I open the targa roof every chance I get. I also roll the sunscreen whenever I am in the car and only leave it in place when I park the car so as not to allow the UV rays to make the car hotter.
07-27-2009, 05:48 PM
#22
Drifting
The shade.. thankfully... retracts in a one-touch mode... so first thing I usually do is retract the shade (if its not already retracted). Then retract the roof. You can, retract the shade after the roof is retracted.
You are locking out of the back through a tinted roof glass sandwich through the less tinted hatch glass... but its not an issue for me.
The only issue I have is that the roof doesn't retract far enough so the section that contains the rolled up roof shade and the 3rd brake light blocks out the bottom part of the rear view and thats only an issue if backing up in a parking lot or unfamiliar area. For those cases, close the roof 1/2 way to get a clear line of sight.
You are locking out of the back through a tinted roof glass sandwich through the less tinted hatch glass... but its not an issue for me.
The only issue I have is that the roof doesn't retract far enough so the section that contains the rolled up roof shade and the 3rd brake light blocks out the bottom part of the rear view and thats only an issue if backing up in a parking lot or unfamiliar area. For those cases, close the roof 1/2 way to get a clear line of sight.
07-27-2009, 09:54 PM
#23
Rennlist Member
I like using the sun shade for privacy on my 996 Targa. When an SUV comes up right behind you at a stoplight, somewhat irritated because you blew past him a block ago, it's fun to hit the sunshade button and make him disappear.
