# Pano Roof Demo



## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

I found this on my daily search of YouTube. There's not much meat to it, though you can get an idea of the opening size around 36 seconds into the video. To me, it doesn't look nearly as impressive as "panoramic" would imply.

This is surely a two-door or a sportback, but I see no reason to believe the saloon opening would be any different.


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## cooperrf (Mar 27, 2013)

I wonder how much it will impact head room? I'm just tall enough that the sunroof in most cars is a problem. I had to order the last two without.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

cooperrf said:


> I wonder how much it will impact head room? I'm just tall enough that the sunroof in most cars is a problem. I had to order the last two without.


Were either of them Volkswagen? I've always found Volkswagen cars to have almost excessive headroom, even with a sunroof. If either car was a VW or Audi, well... I imagine you'd have to go without this time as well. Problem is, we won't get that option. Unless they have changed the base packaging plans in the last few months, all A3s for the US will come with the pano roof standard.


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Way too many angles to look at simultaneously! What the hell's going on there?!  

This pano isn't as pano as some other cars, but it does look different. Here's what I consider true pano:

E-class:










6-series Bimmer:


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## tagsvags (Nov 25, 2005)

Not a fan of sun/moon roofs, heres hoping A of A lets us do a delete sun roof option. But not a deal breaker for me.


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## unclubbedvdub (Jul 19, 2002)

I for one love the chance to enjoy an oversized sunroof. What I am not too happy about is Audis decision to paint the front of the roof black to match the glass, but leave the back of the roof body color. This ends up looking very unfinished and cheap in my opinion. Unless the car is black of course 

I wish either the entire roof was black. Or that the roof looked more like the a5


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

I intend to have the back portion of the roof covered in black vinyl when I send the car in for window film and front protective film. That will be a requirement since there's no way in hell I'm buying a black car.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

tagsvags said:


> Not a fan of sun/moon roofs, heres hoping A of A lets us do a delete sun roof option. But not a deal breaker for me.


No such luck. Audi of America has confirmed that for North America they are only building bodies that include the sunroof.


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## LWNY (Jul 30, 2008)

this looks nothing like the 8p's panoramic sunroof, which has a glass panel in the front and rear.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

LWNY said:


> this looks nothing like the 8p's panoramic sunroof, which has a glass panel in the front and rear.


Yeah, noticed that last year with the Sportback introduction. It appears that Audi has done away with the dual-roof "OpenSky" system. IMHO, I really like it in my A3 - it really makes the interior feel more open, airy and bright. 

I've not yet seen the new roof, but my guess is that there were a few things working against the dual-roof option:

1. It appears that *all* MQB product are using this same roof. The Golf/GTI, Leon and Skodas all look the same, at least in press photos. My guess here is standardization won the battle;

2. Safety. No doubt the structure is a bit more sound when you have a single opening versus two.

3. Weight. The dual roof system was probably heavier than just the single roof

4. Sound dampening. I suspect that the dual roof ended up being a few decibels louder than the single will be. 

All speculation, but I can see why the single roof won out over the dual glass system.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

I hear what you're saying, but... booooo.


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## Waterfan (Aug 9, 2012)

Travis Grundke said:


> No such luck. Audi of America has confirmed that for North America they are only building bodies that include the sunroof.


i remember now they did indeed say thay. bummer. i do not need or want sun/pano-roof. neither the extra cost, weight nor complexity. i keep my cars 7-15 yrs resale value is irrelevant.

nothing against anyone else that wants it, actually looks pretty slick.


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## LWNY (Jul 30, 2008)

Travis Grundke said:


> Yeah, noticed that last year with the Sportback introduction. It appears that Audi has done away with the dual-roof "OpenSky" system. IMHO, I really like it in my A3 - it really makes the interior feel more open, airy and bright.
> 
> I've not yet seen the new roof, but my guess is that there were a few things working against the dual-roof option:
> 
> ...



there goes the supposed flexibility of the MQB platform


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

LWNY said:


> there goes the supposed flexibility of the MQB platform


The flexibility is still there but my guess is that the tradeoffs made the single, large pano roof a much better option than the dual pane system from before. IIRC, I recall a thread in one of the UK forums where a comparison was made and the new roof is something like 85% of the size of the dual-pane system so it's not that big of a deal.

It's also possible that they're going to save the pano roof for the MQB MPV Golf and A3 that are in the pipeline.


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## lotuselan (Apr 9, 2008)

Travis Grundke said:


> No such luck. Audi of America has confirmed that for North America they are only building bodies that include the sunroof.


 Maybe it can be ordered without? I don't use mine except to get the heat out faster. Although it does make the interior brighter.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

lotuselan said:


> Maybe it can be ordered without? I don't use mine except to get the heat out faster. Although it does make the interior brighter.


Nope. Audi already confirmed that they're only manufacturing one body-in-white and that is the one with the sunroof. It will be the only frame certified for the North American market.

Keep in mind that sunroofs on the Q5 and Q7 are 'deletable options' because the margins on those products are significantly greater. Lower margin products like the A3 and A4 require a lot more standardization to keep the bean counters happy. 

If you want some really good insights into how these tradeoff battles occur I strongly recommend reading Mary Walton's _Car_, about the development of the 2nd generation, oval design Ford Taurus. Fascinating stuff even if it is almost 20 years ago - similar rules still apply today.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

You know, I think I am okay with what they're calling a panoramic roof in this car. At least it's small enough that it will have a true cover rather than that screen material in the 8P A3 and Jetta Sportwagen. That's a fair trade-off for me.


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## tagsvags (Nov 25, 2005)

Dan good to know that the A3 sun roof has a true cover, that will remain in the closed position.
My Mk6 Golf has a interior caver and has remained closed 99.99999999% of the time.


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## Cyncris (Aug 12, 2012)

One of the plusses here is that the sunroof opens out instead of sliding straight back into the roof of the car. That should allow a little more headroom in there.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Cyncris said:


> One of the plusses here is that the sunroof opens out instead of sliding straight back into the roof of the car. That should allow a little more headroom in there.


Excellent point.


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## Travis Grundke (May 26, 1999)

Cyncris said:


> One of the plusses here is that the sunroof opens out instead of sliding straight back into the roof of the car. That should allow a little more headroom in there.


Great point. One of the reasons a lot of manufacturers are moving toward up-and-over versus down-and-in is to help preserve headroom. For sub-6-footers like me it's not a big deal, but I absolutely can understand the problem.


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## mike3141 (Feb 16, 1999)

Looks like the same mechanism as the Open Sky.


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## LWNY (Jul 30, 2008)

Travis Grundke said:


> The flexibility is still there but my guess is that the tradeoffs made the single, large pano roof a much better option than the dual pane system from before. IIRC, I recall a thread in one of the UK forums where a comparison was made and the new roof is something like 85% of the size of the dual-pane system so it's not that big of a deal.
> 
> It's also possible that they're going to save the pano roof for the MQB MPV Golf and A3 that are in the pipeline.


I am not sure if it opens more than the current 8p's opensky sunroof, given a bigger glass panel would mean it can move back less before hitting the sharkfin, not that the current sunroof opens much at all (I think it is due to the open outward mechanism requiring some part to hold onto the glass panel so t doesn't fly away.)

Also, the current dual panel sunroof provides a glass panel for the rear passenger, so a bigger single panel would not provide much advantage for the rear.


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## Boosted 01 R (Feb 10, 2013)

Any black roof option, yet ? Ever since I saw how big the Pano Roof I was hoping for that option....


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## mookieblaylock (Sep 25, 2005)

mike3141 said:


> Looks like the same mechanism as the Open Sky.


hope not, that added like 200 lbs of weight up high


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## steve111b (Jun 2, 2011)

I don't fit in the 2013 A3 with 960mm of headroom. Fortunately my 2010MY has a little bit more headroom even though it has the open sky. The difference is the seats. The new sedan has 1007mm of headroom without the sunroof and I suspect basic seats. I think my best bet to fit in a MQB A3 is the convertible.

Recently spoke to someone who rented an A3 for a European trip. He said the car had a screen that popped out of the dash, 7 speed, and the automatic braking feature. He loved the seats and raved about the car. At a border crossing he got sent aside for further questioning because the car looked expensive and the guards thought he might be carrying a large amount of cash. The guards let him go when he convinced them it was a rental.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

steve111b said:


> I don't fit in the 2013 A3 with 960mm of headroom. Fortunately my 2010MY has a little bit more headroom even though it has the open sky. The difference is the seats. The new sedan has 1007mm of headroom without the sunroof and I suspect basic seats. I think my best bet to fit in a MQB A3 is the convertible.
> 
> Recently spoke to someone who rented an A3 for a European trip. He said the car had a screen that popped out of the dash, 7 speed, and the automatic braking feature. He loved the seats and raved about the car. *At a border crossing he got sent aside for further questioning because the car looked expensive and the guards thought he might be carrying a large amount of cash. The guards let him go when he convinced them it was a rental.*


Epic. :laugh:

Just... how tall are you, if I may?


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## steve111b (Jun 2, 2011)

I am under 6 ft. tall. However, my legs are short which means the rest of me is taller than most. I fit easily in the Mercedes B class even with the sunroof. Mercedes even allows one to buy the car without the sunroof, so civilized.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

Here's a more telling photo of the "pano" roof:










The thing is probably 25% larger than the moon roof in my Jetta, but I still don't get the "pano" feeling from the photos and videos I'm seeing.


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## Dan Halen (May 16, 2002)

... and yet another:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7309/10411309385_8b1a81df1a_b.jpg

From what I see there, it's not half bad.


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## davewg (Jul 30, 2001)

Dan Halen said:


> ... and yet another:
> 
> http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7309/10411309385_8b1a81df1a_b.jpg
> 
> From what I see there, it's not half bad.



I could live with that, especially given its standard. Nice find on the picture.


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## davewg (Jul 30, 2001)

Dan Halen said:


> ... and yet another:
> 
> http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7309/10411309385_8b1a81df1a_b.jpg
> 
> From what I see there, it's not half bad.



I could live with that, especially given its standard. Nice find on the picture.


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