[BigTex]

would love some feedback about the sunroof. since i live in texas, i wonder what the back seat will be like on those 105 degree days we get. it's too cold to check out now. anybody have one in a warm climate that can comment on the effectiveness of the sunroof screen?

 

[kjf]

I would love to hear from others about this, as well. I am waiting for my Acadia with a bit of trepidation.

Kelly

 

[BigTex]

i test drove one today, with the sunroof. the sun was out, but there was a layer of thin clouds that blocked probably half of the light. the sunshade on the acadia seemed to block almost all the light, but with the thin clouds and temps in the low 50's, there is still doubt in my mind about the sunshade's ability to block the heat on a 100 degree day.

 

[sandman]

Umm, glass is an insulator. Metal is a conductor. So if the glass has a decent shade across it, it could be cooler than metal? The one advantage is, if you are moving, you can pop the drivers sunroof up a bit and vent the heat out till your air conditioner cools everything down. We had one 75 degree day here in Southern Ca, but thats nothing compared to 100. Best bet is to find someone in your town with a sunroof and ask them.

 

[mongrel]

Big Tex,

I have an Acadia on order with the sunroof myself but have no experience with your question in an Acadia but I myself am a Texan but live in Indiana now but growing up in the Austin area my entire life except the last 22 months, what I'm trying to say is we had a van when I was small, 8-11 yrs old and it had a sunroof, just in the front seats though and in the summer when we were somewhere parked for a few hours the back end of the van (where I was always sitting) was incredibly hot and dad would crack the roof open and have the ac on and that did suck out a lot of the hot air and cooled the inside pretty quickly. So knowing what summer is like back home and not like the summers up hear, gravy by the way, I think you'll be ok.

Go Longhorns!
Jonathan

 

[BigTex]

thanks for the reply, but i'm more concerned about the back seat temp while driving. on my infiniti, like most vehicles, the sunshade is solid and along with the glass, blocks out the heat during the day. but the sunshade on the acadia is a tight knit mess. so, will you have to run the rear a/c full blast to keep the back seat passengers comfortable while driving?

 

[kjf]

the sunshade on the acadia is a tight knit mess.

Freudian slip? ;D

Just bustin' your chops. I share the same concern.

Kelly

 

[sandman]

Over the weekend, I try a digital thermometer in the seats with sun beaming through and then with shade pulled. Hopefully, there will be a big difference. It should be in the low 70's on Sat. If it's clear and if I can get the sun directly overhead, perhaps it will give an idea of what summer time might bring.

 

[sandman]

Ok here's some temp info. Note, I used an infared thermometer to scan the leather, glass, and metal. Leather measurements were taken where the sun was directly hitting. Front shade was closed. Temps taken at 12:15 California time. Outside temp 80. Inside temp 82. Leather was 93.

Opened the back shade. Waited for 5 minutes.
Outside temp 80. Inside temp 91. Leather was 104.

Other interesting temps: Inside of shade after 6 min was 118. Inside of glass sunroof was 126. Outside of glass sunroof was 120. The silver rooftop was 108. The last part is interesting. Silver reflects fairly well, tinted glass absorbs. If you have no sunroof and a silver or white car, thats probably the coolest. A dark color and a sunroof will be hottt! By the way, it took me a lot of moving around to get the sun directly coming in through the back sunroof. I'm guessing that most of the year, you won't get direct rays.

The shade does make a difference. But in a way, it doesn't matter. With the inside temp of the car going to 91 in five min., without air conditioning, you're cooked.

What I would like somebody to do. If you have a light meter (maybe on a old camera or a good new one). Take light readings with the shade open or closed. If say 80% of the light is blocked, than that will make a difference (I think)

 

[thejoerocks]

Cross post, but I thought it fit here - as well as the thread it originally posted in...


...We took a vehicle without the sunroof, which I wasn't thrilled about at first, but we needed to take immediate delivery, and with so few Acadia's available immediately, we had to take what was available in our area within the price/feature range we were looking. The model we took had every thing we had to have, except the sunroof/skyscape. The Acadia we test drove had the sunroof/skyscape and this is the first set of wheels I've had without at least a power moon roof. I thought I would rue the day I didn't get the sunroof for the rest of the time I owned it. Even though my preference would have been to get an Acadia with the sunroof, after today I have no real regrets, even though the lack of the option was not by first choice. The reason I've made my peace? First, the Acadia is so large and has so much headroom it feels very spacious and not at all closed in, unlike with some cars where the sunroof helps the cabin feel less claustrophobic.

Secondly, since I have several children who will have the DVD on every second they are in the vehicle, it's actually much easier to see (clarity/glare) the DVD with no skyscape/sunroof, even with the screen closed (and I don't think the screen/shade looked too sturdy, my young kids, as good as they are might have mangled that in an instant - I'd like to hear how you all make out with the sturdiness of that with kids) and the dealer said (maybe he was just trying to make sure I took the car in the showroom and he was overcoming my "objection", but this is what he said...) it can get pretty warm in the back with the skyscape even on a sunny [winter] day even with the shade screen and since we tend to like it very chilly in our cars, having the a/c not work so hard during the spring and summer to compensate for the radiant heat in a vehicle this size will be a plus for us.

I'm sure there will be some gorgeous nights or a few really "perfect" days I wish I had the feature, but at this time, I can honestly say I'm glad we don't have one. I just wanted to mention this since I see some people have been on the fence about this and it might help them in their decision making. If you love them and couldn't live without it, it's sure sweet and I say "Go for it!", but if you are on the fence for any reason, know, you'll probably be happy without one, even if you are a "sunroof person" like me - as how could you not be happy driving the Acadia. The thing just plain ROCKS![/color]

Btw, we have a white Acadia with Titanium leather interior sans sunroof, so it should, as the prior post states, stay one of the coolest interiors. Like I said, we like it frosty inside in the summer and without the sunroof, it will be a lot easier to achieve. Thanks for those temp readings. That was GREAT info and seeing those temps, even in retrospect, only reinforces (for us and our needs) that sacrificing the sunroof/skyscape was in the long run not such a bad thing and I don't have to feel like I have any regrets.

 

[kjf]

These temperature readings make me even more glad that I am getting the remote start. It will be nice to start the vehicle from my office and let the air conditioning cool things down before I get in. Also makes me glad I ordered silver. I have a silver MDX with black interior. I found the silver did well to control the heat load in summer.

Kelly

 

[sandman]

Re: sunroof experience- Bernoulli effect

After taking those temp readings, we went for a drive. For the first time I opened the drivers sunroof at the back. When you do this, the back part rises up. So the sunroof is at a slight slant upwards towards the back. It occured to me that you will get a Bernoulli effect when that happens! (yah, I teach science) Basically, the fast moving outside air creates a low pressure zone on top of the sunroof which will pull air out of the car. And since hot air rises, it should really work to cool off the inside of the car. Of course, at 180 mph it might generate some lift which could screw you up as you take that curve. ;D

 

[mitchl]

the sunshade on the acadia is a tight knit mess.

Freudian slip? ;D

Just bustin' your chops. I share the same concern.

Kelly

We did not understand the lack of a solid shield matching the color of the rest of the headliner. Personally, I was glad for the strange choice GMC made here because it made it easy for my wife to determine that she did not want the sunroof- and it was ultimately up to her. She always has had one, and on her current 04 Jeep which had the $900 option, I think she has probably opened it 20 times (even just the shield), making it a $45 cost per use-- so I was wanting to avoid the sunroof this time anyway.

 

[GaGirl]

These temperature readings make me even more glad that I am getting the remote start. It will be nice to start the vehicle from my office and let the air conditioning cool things down before I get in.
Kelly

Amen! The remote start was a last minute decision based off of only having a sunshade vs. a solid shade to block out sun in the summer, and I'm VERY thankful I was able to catch my order for that addition before it was picked up by GMC!

 

[002]

Re: sunroof experience- Bernoulli effect

After taking those temp readings, we went for a drive. For the first time I opened the drivers sunroof at the back. When you do this, the back part rises up. So the sunroof is at a slight slant upwards towards the back. It occured to me that you will get a Bernoulli effect when that happens! (yah, I teach science) Basically, the fast moving outside air creates a low pressure zone on top of the sunroof which will pull air out of the car. And since hot air rises, it should really work to cool off the inside of the car. Of course, at 180 mph it might generate some lift which could screw you up as you take that curve. ;D

Sandman,

Thanks for sharing that awesome insight.

If you are right, then the extra lift will make the Acadia virtually lighter, which should significantly help gas mileage.

So those who have and use their sunroofs with the back of it opened, should get better gas mileage than those who do not have or use.

However, it was reported elsewhere in this Forum that the speedlimiter is 109 MPH, so we won't be able to check it at 180 MPH.

Maybe you could make this a class project for your students and report findings!!

GM should love to hear your results--if significant gas savings, they'll sell lots of sunroofs and save oil--I'll be your class will get invited to the Whitehouse, be on Oprah, Larry King, etc!!

Good luck!