I haven't compared for that since I was buying mine in '02 but I clearly remember moving back and forth between the two cars they had avail in the showroom, one with and one without, trying them on. I'm 6'2" (also slightly longer torso than normal) and figured the first thing to check on such a small car was fitment...mine.
I distinctly remember being pleasantly surprised by both legroom and headroom in the car without the sunroof and then feeling equally surprised sitting in the car with the sunroof because my head was touching the liner. When I commented about it in the showroom I suddenly had lots of help from employees who assumed it was operator error and wanted to show me how to adjust the seats. None of that helped. These cars were brand new to them as well back then (Apr '02) and they assumed at first that the mechanism was broken or jammed in the sunroof car. Nope, they compared range of motion between the two cars and it seemed to match perfectly.
I remember the difference being well over an inch but that's as close as I can get with 13-year old memory of a subjective observation. Didn't bother me since I'm the guy who wants a discount to take a car with a sunroof, don't like them, but it left the Motoring Advisors confused and concerned.
FWIW, I got the same "it must be operator error" criticisms when I posted about it on MCO or Roadfly or wherever I was posting back then. (FYI, MCO or MINI Cooper Online was what NAM was called before MINI's lawyers forced then owner Mark to change the name.) It took a while before a few others my size and up finally started posting similar observations.
This may be stupid question but is the seat all the way down? I don't have a sunroof but my neighbor is easy 6.6 and he fits in my car without lowering the seat.
I pushed the handle until I hit a hard stop. It took some doing, the mechanism was stiff at first. Obviously the adjusters were rarely used by the current owners, and they were both a lot shorter than me. That's why I wonder if maybe there's something amiss in the mechanism. I wouldn't know what though, or how to check it.
I had an R53 and have an R55. Both I wanted without the glass top, but both ended up having the option.
Being what it is, I test drove multiple without. We are about the same height -- I am a touch taller, but I would not describe myself as long torso.
I didn't notice the difference in headroom. There could be some, but I'd be surprised if it was all that much. Issues with the seat may be the root cause.
I set my seat based on the speed/ tach in front of the steering wheel -- it is a good gauge of seat height change.
The liner drops down significantly to hold the sunroof mechanism. I replaced my roof (track car), and with a helmet, I hit the liner with the sunroof, with it out, plenty of clearance.
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