Well, I have had my roadster since July and it has been dry and warm since here in the Pacific Northwest until this weekend. I have never driven it in the rain but that will be changing since the rain has returned and will be here for the next 8 months. I will be interested to see how it drives on wet streets.

Anyone have winter or wet weather driving experience with a roadster?

 

It's fine in the wet for me. The summer tyres aren't the best in standing water situations, but it's perfectly usable. Doesn't fog up like I feared it would either (my wife's Beetle convertible was terrible).

Visibility sucks when you have to have the top up though. Make sure to take care changing lanes or backing up.

 

Around here, when it rains it is serious! Handling is fine but as Spiney states, visibility is a real challenge.

 

You dare drive your roadster in the rain??? FOR SHAME!!!

LOL j/k, the first month I had it (April) it seemed like it decided to rain everytime I took her out. Drives pretty much just like the wife's 09 MCS......

 

How do you guys adjust your side mirrors? Every time I've test drove the Roadster I adjust them outwards a bit and I feel like visibility is just fine - definitely not great, but not anything that would worry me too much.

The trick is adjust it in a parking spot, and adjust it so that instead of seeing the side of your car on the inside-edge of the mirror, you see the lines of the parking spot. This allows you to lean in or out a bit and cover 95% of your blind spot.

I'm also going to look at getting wide-angle mirrors, or maybe holding out for one of these:
http://www.drexel.edu/now/news-media...ves-US-Patent/


I do think it's really strange to me that the Roadster doesn't have the blind spot sensor/notification light system found on a lot of cars these days. I'd pay for the option.

 

OH now you did it just kidding. I think it should be standard along with the back up sensor with an option to have a back up camera.

 

Does anyone have any idea how much it would cost to retrofit the backup sensors? Is it even possible? And without MINI Connected what displays do you get?

 

Oh, now I get it - you mean driving in the rain with the hood up.

One thing that I didn't expect the Roadster to be as good at as the Convertible I had before is driving in the rain - provided you can guarantee not to have to slow below 40mph, there's really no reason to stop and put the Convertible hood up if it rains, as you will stay dry even in quite heavy rain. It seems the upright screen of the Mini means that most water goes round the sides rather than going over the top, where it gets spat at you.

I've been surprised that the Roadster is nearly as good, despite the fact that more rain must get pushed over the top by its greater rake. But the problem seems to be that water going round onto the side window gets drawn up the window (by suction from the A-pillar?) and ends up going off the top of the side window, not the back, and sometimes spits in your eye. Not bad, though.

 

I feel you pain on visibility. Try a Crossfire Coupe. It might as well not have a back window. The window is already tiny and once the auto spoiler goes up at 65 mph. the bottom half of the back window is blocked. Oh well, if I wanted great visibility I would have bought a Honda Fit [blech]