babbo_umbro
Established member
I've been looking into the subject of putting an after-market sun roof in my 4x4 TwinAir. Information to date goes as follows:
Webasto do list the new model Panda as suitable for their Hollandia 400 - which is a folding fabric roof, giving a much bigger open area than the alternative glass roofs.
The actual hole cut into the roof panel is still a lot bigger than the opening that you get in practice; there's quite a large overlap down each side and at the front, and the folded-up fabric occupies a fair bit of the opening at the back of the roof.
Webasto recommend fitting an additional stiffening bar to make up for the stiffness lost by removing most of the roof panel. This adds something approaching 200 pounds to the total cost.
There is a black plastic fairing that goes across the roof in front of the sun roof to reduce buffeting at higher speeds with the roof open. I was concerned about this either fouling the roof bars or coming so close to them that it might generate a lot of wind noise from the outer ends at all times. In fact this fairing is 88.5 cms long and the space between the roof bars is 102 cms at the front so I don't see this as a problem. (As a matter of interest, the bars are only 92 cms apart at the rear, so they converge where I would have guessed that they're parallel; I think this might well have generated a roar or whistle if the bars were only this far apart at the front.)
I've looked at a Hollandia 400 kit that Aurotrim in Ivybridge are waiting to put in a customer's car. Webasto have been around for over a hundred years, and their products have TUV approval - German type approval - and I must say that it looks like a thoroughly-engineered piece of kit, though slightly dauntingly complex. It comes with a 3-year warranty if fitted by an authorised dealer.
There's a massive grommet (not to mention a substantial Wallace) that fits into the roof opening and has two slots running round it - one to take the edge of the original roof panel and the other to take the edge of what remains of the original headlining. This is cream/beige, the inner lining is the same, and the outside fabric is black; as my Panda's Tuscan Green I think it would look fine from outside (and in).
There's a switch console, that fits above the windscreen at the front of the roof, it also contains the motor for folding and closing the roof, and I'm not quite sure how this would marry up to the stepped headlining round the interior lights and switches. Autotrim are confident that they can integrate it into the Panda's bus-based electrical system with no problems.
Total cost, including the additional stiffening kit, which I consider essential - is 1070 pounds plus VAT - 1284 pounds. Fitting takes a day - drop the car off first thing and collect it late in the afternoon.
I'm still very tempted and will make decision in the next couple of days.
Webasto do list the new model Panda as suitable for their Hollandia 400 - which is a folding fabric roof, giving a much bigger open area than the alternative glass roofs.
The actual hole cut into the roof panel is still a lot bigger than the opening that you get in practice; there's quite a large overlap down each side and at the front, and the folded-up fabric occupies a fair bit of the opening at the back of the roof.
Webasto recommend fitting an additional stiffening bar to make up for the stiffness lost by removing most of the roof panel. This adds something approaching 200 pounds to the total cost.
There is a black plastic fairing that goes across the roof in front of the sun roof to reduce buffeting at higher speeds with the roof open. I was concerned about this either fouling the roof bars or coming so close to them that it might generate a lot of wind noise from the outer ends at all times. In fact this fairing is 88.5 cms long and the space between the roof bars is 102 cms at the front so I don't see this as a problem. (As a matter of interest, the bars are only 92 cms apart at the rear, so they converge where I would have guessed that they're parallel; I think this might well have generated a roar or whistle if the bars were only this far apart at the front.)
I've looked at a Hollandia 400 kit that Aurotrim in Ivybridge are waiting to put in a customer's car. Webasto have been around for over a hundred years, and their products have TUV approval - German type approval - and I must say that it looks like a thoroughly-engineered piece of kit, though slightly dauntingly complex. It comes with a 3-year warranty if fitted by an authorised dealer.
There's a massive grommet (not to mention a substantial Wallace) that fits into the roof opening and has two slots running round it - one to take the edge of the original roof panel and the other to take the edge of what remains of the original headlining. This is cream/beige, the inner lining is the same, and the outside fabric is black; as my Panda's Tuscan Green I think it would look fine from outside (and in).
There's a switch console, that fits above the windscreen at the front of the roof, it also contains the motor for folding and closing the roof, and I'm not quite sure how this would marry up to the stepped headlining round the interior lights and switches. Autotrim are confident that they can integrate it into the Panda's bus-based electrical system with no problems.
Total cost, including the additional stiffening kit, which I consider essential - is 1070 pounds plus VAT - 1284 pounds. Fitting takes a day - drop the car off first thing and collect it late in the afternoon.
I'm still very tempted and will make decision in the next couple of days.
