**The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Convertibles**
Be able to handle as well as a hardtop brother. Not to mention all that weight can make them sluggish as well. Another factor that makes convertibles slow is aerodynamics. Fast moving air rushing over the hood and windshield hits the slower air inside the cabin and creates low vortices. These air vortices make driving uncomfortable because it's literally a tiny tornado inside your car. These vortices also create aerodynamic drag that slows the car down, making it less efficient.
One good example of how much airflow can affect a convertible is the Shelby Cobra. This historic roadster tore up the short courses. It was a beast, but when faced with longer stretches of track, it didn't fare as well. The open top Cobra was aerodynamically limited to 170 miles an hour. Imagine going 170 in a Cobra in the sixties. That would be terrifying.
I'd write my will before I even get in it. Joe, you get my ferns, Zach gets my glasses. Alex, you get all my money. I have a lot of ferns, for some reason. Beeping.
So when the Cobra would enter straights, hardtop Ferraris and Porsches would easily pass by them. It wasn't until Pete Brock and the team over at Shelby started designing the Daytona Coupe that they started beating the Ferraris. Sometimes it's not the performance or inconvenience of a convertible that makes it dumb. Sometimes they just look dumb.
Have you ever seen the Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet? I mean, what is that word? Ugh, how about the PT Cruiser convertible? That crossbar is horrendous. How about the Range Rover Evoque convertible? What the (bleeped) were they thinking?
I mean, some cars are meant to be convertibles, like the BMW Z3. The body lines flow, even with the lack of a roof. But you put a roof on the Z4, that makes it an M Coupe, and it looks freaking sick.
And how could you forget the Miata? It's a classic. Oh, and the Mark 1 Cabrio. It might look weird, but it's surprisingly sick. I would totally rock this thing. A little slow. But sometimes it looks like the car companies design the cars and then make them convertibles as an afterthought.
Lexus SC430, anyone? Remember the 350Z Roadster? Ugh, what about the Solara, with the chunky butt? That's what they called me in football.
As far as safety is concerned, though, modern convertibles are just about as safe as non-convertibles, which is very impressive. The biggest danger being a rollover, of course. Whoo.
But convertibles now have automatic roll bars that pop up in the event of a rollover. They're extremely effective, and when paired with a reinforced A pillar, they prevent serious injury. It's actually really impressive. Like if they didn't invent these safety features, convertibles might be illegal today.
Think about that. You may be safe in a convertible, but your stuff might not be. Unless you keep your car completely empty of any valuables, a convertible is basically a free box for anyone daring to commit minor larceny.
Even if you have your ragtop up, someone can easily cut it with a small knife and there goes your book of CDs that you've had since middle school. I had Green Day, American Idiot. Didn't have any Slipknot at that time.
Here at Donut, we love all cars. That's kind of our thing, and every convertible that we featured today has been an employee car. I think every car is cool, so I don't want to come off as a giant dick, because I don't really hate convertibles. I actually like them.
If you're looking for a second or third car, I think they're a great choice. They're a lot of fun to drive and be in. But if you're looking to own a convertible for daily driving, I would definitely give it some thought. It's not gonna perform as well as a normal version of that car, and you're probably going to have to deal with a bunch of things like mold, rain, and maybe someone stealing your stuff, and of course, birds in your mouth.
Real quick, if you guys like this video, please give us a like and subscribe. That really helps us out through a long chain of matrix type (bleeped) and we get to do more videos, so help us out.
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- They're cool, you say,they're fun and sexy.You try to talk yourself into it,but deep down inside you know the truth.You know, in your heart of hearts,they're a pain in the ass.It's all right, though.Breathe in through yournose and repeat after me.Convertibles suck.A big thanks to this week's sponsor,the Kove Commuter PortableWireless Bluetooth Speaker.This thing is cool for a lot of reasons.It connects to Smartphones,tablets, computers,basically any device witha Bluetooth connection.It operates for up to eighthours on a single charge,and the powerful X bass subwoofermakes my beats slap.Even if my device is up to 30 feet away,my beats slap.The Commuter is superconvenient for road tripsbecause it fits in your cupholder,and once you get out of the caryou can just grab it and go.I might actually take thisdown to Venice Beach laterand try to sell some of my beats.You know, they're more of likea lo-fi chill vibe, you know?Like...(slow-tempo music)Oh yeah, you can totally likestudy or chill, or whatever to this song.Kove is cool, the Commuter is cool.Check this thing out,support the companiesthat support Donut by hitting the linkin the description below.Why do people get convertibles?Is it to look cool and rich?Is it the status?Is it because you're Jamesand you're always sweatingand need something morepowerful than air conditioning?I'll admit there are a lot of carsthat look sick in convertible form,the Miata, the S2000, and even myfavorite car of all time, the Dodge Viper,although that kinda fallsinto the Targa top category.But there are a lot ofreasons that convertiblesare worse than hardtops.We're gonna go through afew of them in this video,and before you bemoan and complainthat it's just our opinion, which is true,some of these have a lotto do with personal taste,but some of the reasons are basedon actual science, and youcan't argue with science.Let's start with something benign, noise.Hardtops have a lot of sounddeadening material in the roofthat you probably don't even notice.I mean, why would you,that's the whole point.When the top is down inthe convertible, though,wind, engine, and roadnoise is a lot louder,which can make thingslike a simple conversationwith your bro impossible.Want to listen to music?You're going to have tocrank it up much louder,and you'll lose thatsweet, sweet audio quality.Plus you'll be that guyblasting Hollywood Undeadwhile driving down the PCH.If you're cool withthat, more power to you,just don't ask me to ride with you.Even if you have the topup on your convertible,ragtops create much morenoise than a traditional roof.At high speed, the flutter of the canvasbasically asks like a speaker.Plus, they're prone to rips and tears,which can create even more noise.You could get a folding hardtop,like the AMG SL65, but saygoodbye to trunk space.I guess you don't really buy a convertiblefor trunk space, though,but that's beyond the point.Having the top down can have its upsides,like being out in the sunwith the wind in your hair,footloose and fancy free.Convertibles definitelyhave their own hashtag mood,but admitting to that hashtagmood can be exhausting.It's not always gonnabe sunny and 72 degrees.Sunburn sucks, windburn sucks,and if you're thinkingabout buying a convertible,be prepared to dry outlike a teriyaki Slim Jim.(yelling)Being exposed to the elementsdoesn't just mean sun and wind.Fabric and leather seatswill degrade much faster,moisture can mean mold in your carpet,and undiscerning birds will(bleeped) in your mouth as you drive.They (bleeped) right in your mouth.These things can beinconvenient to say the leastin the long run.Reupholstering interiorsis really expensiveand moisture can cause rustand degrade your chassis.But the ins and outs of everyday drivingin the convertible can betedious as hell as well.Putting the top up and downevery time you get in your cargets old after awhile.Some people just leavethe top up all the timein their convertibles, which is kind ofdefeating the purpose.All of that can be annoying,but how do convertiblescompare to hardtops, whenit comes to performance?Well, pretty bad, actually.Here's why.(upbeat music)One of the reasons is rigidity.Stiffer cars handle better.Hardtops derive a lot of their rigidityfrom the roof, floor panand the rocker panels.Without a roof to stiffen up the body,convertibles are proneto twisting and flexing,and that can seriouslycut down on performance.Modern convertibles make upfor their lack of stiffnesswith extra support withthe help of box beamsand other structuralpieces that add weight,sometimes more than 350pounds to the frame.Even with that extra support,a convertible will never be as stiffor be able to handle aswell as a hardtop brother.Not to mention all that weightcan make them sluggish as well.Another factor thatmakes convertibles slowis aerodynamics.Fast moving air rushingover the hood and windshieldhits the slower air inside the cabinand creates low vortices.These air vortices makedriving uncomfortablebecause it's literally atiny tornado inside your car.These vortices alsocreate aerodynamic dragthat slows the car down,making it less efficient.One good example of how much airflowcan affect a convertibleis the Shelby Cobra.This historic roadstertore up the short courses.It was a beast, but when faced with longerstretches of track, itdidn't fare as well.The open top Cobra wasaerodynamically limitedto 170 miles an hour.(upbeat music)Imagine going 170 in aCobra in the sixties.That would be terrifying.I'd write my will before I even get in it.Joe, you get my ferns,Zach gets my glasses.Alex, you get all my money.I have a lot of fernsnow, for some reason.(beeping)So when the Cobra would enter straights,hardtop Ferraris and Porscheswould easily pass by them.It wasn't until Pete Brockand the team over at Shelbystarted designing the Daytona Coupe,that's when they startedbeating the Ferraris.The Daytona could blaze pastthe Cobra's top speed of 170,despite them beingidentical under the hood.Sometimes it's not the performanceor inconvenience of aconvertible that makes it dumb.Sometimes they just looks dumb.Have you ever seen the NissanMurano Cross Cabriolet?I mean, what is that word?Ugh, how about the PT Cruiser convertible?That crossbar is horrendous.How about the RangeRover Evoque convertible?What the (bleeped) were they thinking?I mean, some cars aremeant to be convertibles,like the BMW Z3.The body lines flow, evenwith the lack of a roof.But you put a roof on the Z4,that makes it an M Coupe,and it looks freaking sick.And how could you forget the Miata?It's a classic.Oh, and the Mark 1 Cabrio.It might look weird, butit's surprisingly sick.I would totally rock this thing.A little slow.But sometimes it lookslike the car companiesdesign the cars and thenmake them convertiblesas an afterthought.Lexus SC430, anyone?Remember the 350Z Roadster?Ugh, what about the Solara,with the chunky butt?That's what they called me in football.As far as safety is concerned, though,modern convertibles are just about as safeas non-convertibles,which is very impressive.The biggest danger beinga rollover, of course.- Whoo.(upbeat music)- But convertibles nowhave automatic roll barsthat pop up in the event of a rollover.They're extremely effective,and when paired witha reinforced A pillar,they prevent serious injury.It's actually really impressive.Like if they didn't inventthese safety features,convertibles might be illegal today,like think about that.You may be safe in a convertible, butyour stuff might not be.Unless you keep your carcompletely empty of any valuables,a convertible is basically a free boxfor anyone daring to commit minor larceny.Even if you have your ragtop up,someone can easily cutit with a small knifeand there goes your book of CDsthat you've had since middle school.I had Green Day, American Idiot.Didn't have any Slipknot at that time.(upbeat music)Here at Donut, we love all cars.That's kind of our thing,and every convertiblethat we featured todayhas been an employee car.I think every car is cool,so I don't want to comeoff as a giant dick,'cause I don't really hate convertibles.I actually like them.If you're looking fora second or third car,I think they're a great choice.They're a lot of fun to drive and be in.But if you're looking to own aconvertible for daily drivingI would definitely give it some thought.It's not gonna perform as wellas a normal version of that car,and you're probablygonna have to deal witha bunch of things like mold, rain,and maybe someone stealing your stuff,and of course, birds(bleeped) in your mouth.Real quick, if you guys like this video,please give us a like and subscribe.That really helps us outthrough a long chain ofmatrix type (bleeped)and we get to do more videos,so help us out.(upbeat music)
