I’ve snuck a few open top days in with the temps hovering in the high 30′s and low 40′s. The key is to do it in town and keep the highway time down to a minimum. With that said the car creates a fairly strong warm zone between the seats and the heaters running close [...] (visit MotoringFile for the full article) More...
I've not gotten the bug to go topless since the temp fell into the 60s and 50s but yesterday I saw a Porsche driver with no top at about 49 degrees.
There's no doubt that my Roadster is not as good as my previous Convertible in terms of a calm-air cabin with the roof down, so I don't think it will be that good in low temperatures, particularly as the heater isn't as good as it needs to be in an open car. I had a Merc SLK that could be driven down to about freezing at low speeds and even for a while at freezing at higher speeds - a good heater, a very calm cabin (an effective wid-block) and heated seats. So it was like that with the top down that I was passed by a Ferrari Enzo travelling at warp speed. A few miles up the road I passed the Ferrari who had very sensibly slowed down to take a phone call. When he came past me again, I had my hand up round my ear to indicate that I was listening and he kindly slowed down to the 80mph I was doing, changed down several gears and lit up his rear tyres accelerating, which he continued to do until he was out of sight - though not out of hearing. It was magnificent and clearly he should have been allowed a 'public service' defence against any prosecution for his driving.