factory sunroof wind deflector - good or bad?

[RatLabGuy]

I know that sunroof wind deflectors are supposed to cut down on wind noise etc. However it seems there's still quite a bit of noise, and virtually no wind coming down through it. I know maybe some folks might not like it to be real windy, but to me, that's the wholel reason for having a hole in the roof to begin with ... the next best thing to having no roof at all.
i've had vehicle w/ a sunroof and no deflector, and they ddidn't seem this loud.
So i'm just curious if anybody has had their P5 both wit hand without the deflector, how it was different. if no reports, i might go ahead and take mine off for a test.

 

[Tasty]

I just think those things are god awful ugly and have never understood the point of them.

 

[kurt]

My car came with one of those deflectors. I left it on for about 6 months, and figured I'd take it off to see the difference.

My impressions/opinions are that it looked a little funny from the outside, it made the sunroof look smaller from the inside, didn't seem to make any difference in wind let into the car, and oddly enough, it made a little more noise (more of a low whoosh) than not having it.

I've had it off for nearly four years now with no regrets.

 

[RatLabGuy]

So if I understand you correctly, you have less noise w/o it than with it?

 

[redpr5]

very bad! im so glad i took mine off, it made a racket. and just looked horrible

unfortunately theres permanent marks on my paint from where it was

 

[kurt]

So if I understand you correctly, you have less noise w/o it than with it?

Basically; especially at higher-speeds. Anything over ~45mph and the deflector was more noisy. Go figure.

 

[kurt]

unfortunately theres permanent marks on my paint from where it was

You're not the only one. It sucks.

 

[Phoenix5]

You're not the only one. It sucks.

Yup,that goes double for me!But I'm glad I took it off,as well as the roof racks my car came with.

 

[Katya4me]

Hmm, I had the opposite experience. I had the car for about 6 months before I picked up a 2nd hand deflector and I felt like it was night and day. The moonroof was unbelievably loud compared to other cars I'd been in and I love having the deflector, even though I am not thrilled w/ the look of it. Oh, and the roofrails make a racket. I've only had them once when I had a cargo carrier on the car.

 

[redpr5]

You're not the only one. It sucks.

yea it really does. but oh well. overall the car looks much better.
i wanna get rid of the roof rack, but thats a LOT of work.

 

[RatLabGuy]

Hmm, I had the opposite experience. I had the car for about 6 months before I picked up a 2nd hand deflector and I felt like it was night and day. The moonroof was unbelievably loud compared to other cars I'd been in and I love having the deflector, even though I am not thrilled w/ the look of it. Oh, and the roofrails make a racket. I've only had them once when I had a cargo carrier on the car.

When you say "2nd hand deflector", do you mean an aftermarket/3rd party deal, or the factory unit picked up from somebody else?

If you mean the former, then maybe the styling/aerodynamics of it are just bettert han the factory unit?
Sounds like the consensus is to remove it. I have white paint, so maybe the marks won't be too bad.

I kinda like the roof racks, to me it adds more of the "utility wagon" look into it. However mine also came w/ replacement bars to put back in over them, so I may take 'em off just to see.

 

[Katya4me]

When you say "2nd hand deflector", do you mean an aftermarket/3rd party deal, or the factory unit picked up from somebody else?

If you mean the former, then maybe the styling/aerodynamics of it are just bettert han the factory unit?
Sounds like the consensus is to remove it. I have white paint, so maybe the marks won't be too bad.

I kinda like the roof racks, to me it adds more of the "utility wagon" look into it. However mine also came w/ replacement bars to put back in over them, so I may take 'em off just to see.

Factory unit picked up from somebody else.

I got the crossbars w/ mine too and after hearing how loud they were and I rarely have a use for them (once in 3 years), I stuck them back in the box and keep the rail covers on.

 

[redpr5]

i lost my rail caps and im def not buyin a new set from the stealership

 

[thrasher]

i lost my rail caps and im def not buyin a new set from the stealership

These aren't the same as the Canadian strips are they?

 

[Nomad]

I posted in the other post as well.
My experience, the deflector is LOUDER. Take it off and you'll hear a difference. I don;t use the moonroof much but I think th deflector is there, not to cut down on noise, but to add shade when the top is open and to let you open the top when it's slightly raining etc to let air in and keep water out. Sort of like those stupid side window deflector things people stick on their cars.

I usually keep it closed because 90% of the time the sun is in my eyes and I'd rather just ride top-down in the Miata.
I usually just crack the back of the roof if I do use it.


It's really easy to take off, just loosen two phillips screws and do some back to back comparison.
The roof rack makes a lot of noise too.
I just bought some fill plates from ebay and took the crossbars off.

 

[Canecreekfreak]

I bought one hoping that it would help cut down on the wind noise from the roof and bike racks I keep on all summer since I bike. I didn't notice a difference so I took it off and sold it. It didn't seem to add any noise, but it didn't seem to cut down on it, either.

 

[Kansei]

It adds a ton of noise when the moonroof is in the "vent" position I've found.

With the moonroof just totally open it's really quiet at speed, but then if you pull down the little pop-up deflector built in to the moonroof it's virtually silent

 

[Mmmmmken]

And it's ugly!

You're not the only one. It sucks.

 

[Freeridin' Al]

I bought one hoping that it would help cut down on the wind noise from the roof and bike racks I keep on all summer since I bike. I didn't notice a difference so I took it off and sold it. It didn't seem to add any noise, but it didn't seem to cut down on it, either.

I'd think that for roof-mounted racks, it'd be better to go and get a proper roof rack fairing. I run twin Thule racks on my P5 and will probably pick up a proper fairing shortly. One problem is that with the fairing's position, you'll cut out a good chunk of sunroof.

But when I'm not carrying my bikes, I just take my entire roof rack off. It only takes <1 minute to do (~2 mins to reattach everything), so I won't have to worry about it.