Hot Cabin in Passion.

[a2jack]

We are finding solar cabin heat is a big problem with the Passion. The glass roof backed by the dark shade makes an almost perfect solar collector. Even with the windows down the cabin is too warm in the summer.

The car's vent system (even with the noisy blower on) brings little cool air into the cabin and the air-con must be run more than in most cars.

Flywithsean, in another thread, suggested cutting down a windshield cover to slip up there to block the sun. We are considering having the glass dark tinted.

Anyone else come up with a fix ? A2Jack.

[Flashman]

When someone releases one of those vent window shades for the smart, you could add those and leave the window cracked 1/2 an inch.

[rawlus®]

there was a thread about adding a solar-reflective tint to the glass roof.
the other option might be to re-color the sunshade to a lighter color on the top side - rolling on a vinyl paint or something like that.
it would be a good aftermarket part too to provide either static cling reflective vinyl insert that could be applied to the inside of the roof or a replacement screen that was white or solar reflective on the top side to replace the gunmetal gray OEM one.

[JPaul]

Just be careful if you start to take the shade apart, it's a jack-in-the-box! Someone, a dealership I think, tried and ended up replacing the whole device.

[rawlus®]

also the thread title is a bit provocative i think! lol.

[SmartCard]

Originally Posted by rawlus®

also the thread title is a bit provocative i think! lol.

yeah, especially if you change the wording order to above! ;)

Originally Posted by a2jack

Anyone else come up with a fix ? A2Jack.

buy a cabrio! Seriously, I was worried that our cabrio with leather seats would be hot, but I think the softop actually is cooler then the panoromic roof as it breaths a bit more - especially when comparing with the windows up.

[Amethyste]

... I knew it was a good idea to get a cabrio ;)

[Smart Enuf]

You could try inserting something like the Chillow in between the polycarbonate roof and the retractable sunshade. I think the Chillow is about a 1/2 inch thick or so, so it should fit.

Canine Cooler LARGE Cool Dog Pet Bed Chillow Pillow NEW - eBay (item 360061112166 end time Jul-12-08 10:15:23 PDT)

or

2 CHILLOW Cooling Pillows- Beat the Heat - SHIPS FREE! - eBay (item 350071543415 end time Jun-20-08 19:38:31 PDT)

[feschwagen]

Maybe we have a higher heat tolerance - last week when temps in Boston were registering +100F in our Passion's instrument panel we were reasonably comfortable wtih the AC control set at the lowest, the recirculation on, the shade closed, the fan at #2 and the air deflector set midway - between 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock so some air was coming in at our feet and some could be coming at our faces. Still managed >40 mpg for the drive from Montpelier VT to Boston last Monday.

Tolearance is probably the key word here. If my expectations had been that I would be surrounded by chilled air I would have been disappointed - but I wasn't - but for a$15,000 car that's lots of fun to drive and economical to operate, I can live with less-than-on-demand chilling from our smart's AC.

[4-2NV]

Originally Posted by a2jack

We are finding solar cabin heat is a big problem with the Passion. The glass roof backed by the dark shade makes an almost perfect solar collector. Even with the windows down the cabin is too warm in the summer.

The car's vent system (even with the noisy blower on) brings little cool air into the cabin and the air-con must be run more than in most cars.

Flywithsean, in another thread, suggested cutting down a windshield cover to slip up there to block the sun. We are considering having the glass dark tinted.

Anyone else come up with a fix ? A2Jack.

I asked my tinter about tinting the panorama but they would not do it because they did not want to be responsible for scratching the plastic material with their cutting/fitting tools. I may go back to them to see if they will do it if I take the hit for the cuts. It is pretty hot with direct sun overhead with the factory tint.