[cubby558]

Thought I would start this thread about the new windscreens that were offered at Rendezvous II. I know there were some that bought them and probably used them on the trip back home. Please let us know how they worked so we can decide if we want it or if it is worth the price!!!

Thanks,

Cubby558:cool

 

[rufcar]

Can Someone Who Has A Plastic One Make A Tracing For Me So I Can Make Some Samples And See How They Work In Acrylic? Send To Jim C/o Restorations Unlimited Po Box "v" Elizabethville Pa 17023 Just Lay It On A Piece Of Papar And Make A Pencil Drawing And The Hole Patterns Too. Thanks Jim

 

[rleonard]

I was fortunate to try one of the new windscreens out on the road. Here are my observations;

1. It helps quite a bit, but does not completely eliminate, buffeting.

2. Workmanship and fit is first rate.

3. The top of the screen has a edging material about 1/4 inch wide. For me, it fell exactly at the horizon when looking out the rear view mirror. Too see traffic behind you more than about 1000 ft, I had to stretch up or move down to see above or under the edging material.

4. I am having trouble with the price. If it was around $300 I would stretch to purchase one, but not at ~$650. Especially since there are alternatives available.

Bob

 

[mswaim]

Does anyone know how many were purchased at BG?

 

[cubby558]

Does anyone know how many were purchased at BG?

I'm guessing very low--due to the price. Possibly 1-4 units.

Cubby558:cool

 

[DarkJediTL]

I saw a couple of cars that had the screen on them during the park and shine or when they were leaving.

 

[Ed and Sandra]

We're positive there were 5 sold and there may have been a 6th one late Saturday morning. According to the AIM representatives (Accessories In Motion - GM suppliers of the product), who were extremely nice, low-key people, there were firm commitments for more and a fair number of "I'm interested but I want to think about it."

rleonard1 actually has more practical experience than we do with his trial run with the top down (it must have worked - his hair didn't look messy at all afterwards). Something interesting we noticed during the long drive back from Bowling Green with the top up, is the screen progressively puts things "out of focus" in the rearview mirror the further back the objects are. It doesn't decrease awareness or general visibility of things behind you, but they're just not as sharp. Although we don't know this for a fact, we would guess that's characteristic of any mesh screen.

Best regards,
Ed and Sandra

Ooops, forgot to add that according to the invoice from Martin Cadillac in Bowling Green the base price is $625 and local taxes there took the total to $662.50.

 

[mswaim]

Thanks for the feedback. My experiences with the lexan windbaffle were mixed; on the positive side it alleviated some of the buffeting, however at night it reflected light especially with the top up. car headlights would be reflected on to the side windows, diverting your attention.

On a brighter note, Doris and I spent the weekend at the Pebble Beach Concours and the vintage races at Laguna Seca. We spent two days driving around Carmel and Monterey; the main street in Carmel was lined with every exotic you can imagine (Lambos, Ferraris, Vectors, Aston Martins, etc) but we never laid eyes on another XLR.

We parked the car and walked away, when we came back there were almost as many people standing around looking and taking pictures as there were two spaces down where the Aston Martin display was set up. The passion red with the chrome grill/wheels really makes it stand out.

I'm thinking all the XLR's were in BG, so we had the west coast to ourselves......

 

[rleonard]

I just had a new idea about the baffle. I want to give it some thinking time before I go public.

And of course my hair was not messed up on the test ride. The littleI have is cut short!

Bob

 

[XLR I FL]

mswaim:

YOU were missed!!!! We had a GREAT TIME but it was HOT-104-105 degrees all the time.

 

[mswaim]

It would have felt like home, Central california has been running about the same temps the last few weeks. Doris and I didn't want to pass on the Concours this year, however perhaps next year we will plan on BG.

 

[mswaim]

BTW - This beauty was from your neck of the woods............I love the plate.

 

[motorboat]

wind screen

Well, I will jump out there and let you all know that Helen and I bought one. :eek
We did not get to use it on the way home but we did take it for a short test drive before we bought it and it did what she/we wanted it to do.

Our problem:
Whenever we would drive around at anything over 40 mph our hats would start to come off, if you turned your head, tilted your head back some or a big truck would go by.
Helen was NOT looking for something that would keep her hair in place.
"You don't buy a convertible if you want that"-just something to keep you from getting that feeling of being pushed around.

Pros::thumbs
You did not have to put your hand on top of your hat if you went over 40 MPH.
I noticed that the air was not buffing my ears as much.
It was also a little bit easer to hear what she was saying when we were talking.
We drove up the freeway a few miles and went up to about 75 MPH and it acted the same.
When we turned around and started back I stopped and removed the screen just so we could make sure what we thought was happening was happening.
It works!
I had bought one of the "wind baffles" before and I can say this one works much better because there is air coming thru it. The wind baffle tried to stop all the air from coming into the car but a lot of it would then ride up and over the top of it and hit you in the back of the head - giving the pushing sensation.
This would also make it move around a lot making the lights from cars or the sun behind dance around.
This one is easer to store and you cannot scratch it. It also comes with a nice zip up case.

Cons::cry
The top of the netting has a 1/4" hem in it and when you look back it may be in your line of sight. If you sit down in your seat or maybe up a little it is not that big a deal BUT if they could REMOVE the hem that would help a lot.
Better yet if they would make the netting 3/4" - 1" higher PLUS remove the hem that would be great. This would also help keep more air from coming back into the car and would move the hem out of sight for almost all people.

They have the word "Cadillac" printed on one side but need to ADD the word "XLR" on the other side. I am sure they only did this so they would not have to make two different ones - one for the "V" and another for just "XLR's".

Price: :confused
It is too much I think but it did what we wanted better then anything else that is out there. Just our two cents worth!!
Plus as "Standby" says if you want the first one you will always pay more. Maybe in a year or so it will be $400.00 and work better...

In the next few months we will try it out some more but "have to go back to work now" and will report back with more news.

All in all I think I would give it an "8"...arty

Blaise

 

[mswaim]

Thanks for the road test, your feedback should help quite a few of us decide if its worth the cost. In the grand scheme of things it's really not that much money, just the principle of spending so much to get so little. It is a no-brainer they chose the mesh construction over a solid material (ala windbaffle) since all of the other convertible manufacturers who supply a wind screen had done the R & D for them.

I guess we will take the plunge, I'm tired of contributing hats to the homeless, our freeway construction workers and those folks who donate time to clean our roadways here in California. :thumbs

 

[motorboat]

This week or next I will try and see if I can move the mesh up some. There hem at the top is lowered some so if I can find a way to move it up that would help.

At first I thought maybe I could just move the two pieces that go over the roll bars up some but when I put the top up they almost hit it so that is out.
Still this could be done if you removed it before raising the top.


Blaise

 

[Ed and Sandra]

For those who want the new windscreen you may find it a bit of a rarity at first in terms of trying to obtain one. As we understood it from the AIM representatives there were only 28 in existence and Martin Cadillac had taken at least 24 of those. We got the distinct impression that it might take a while (weeks, months?) before there were adequate supplies available to meet the expected demand from Cadillac dealers.

If you really want one now, we recommend you immediately contact Jerry Blankenship, Parts Manager, Martin Cadillac, Bowling Green, KY, telephone: (270) 842-6323. Tell him Ed and Sandra said "Hi." Doing the purchase this way might save sales tax for non-KY residents, but that probably would be partially offset by shipping.

Best regards,
Ed and Sandra

 

[XLR I FL]

BTW - This beauty was from your neck of the woods............I love the plate.

NOT from here!! I would guess maybe Sebring, Palm Beach or Miami.

Regards

 

[Ed and Sandra]

I’ve just returned from a 2-hour drive with the top down and new windscreen in place. The speed for the most part was 65 – 70 mph. The bottom line is without a doubt the windscreen noticeably reduces the buffeting from behind – no question about it! Previously I would find myself periodically tugging on the XLR ball cap to keep it snugly in place and still on occasion would wonder if it were about to fly off if I turned my head sideways or tilted it up significantly (watching for the dreaded police traffic helicopters). Today I didn’t touch the cap a single time and even experimented by turning my head various directions with never the slightest feeling the cap would come off. If anything, there was a very slight downward wind pressure on the cap which helped keep it in place.

Most of the wind is now noticed as being on one’s face and front upper torso, but not strongly so. That effect may have been there all along, but just wasn’t particularly noticeable because of the much stronger wind buffeting from the rear.

It bears emphasizing again the windscreen makes the view in the rearview mirror darker and not as clear. The top trim on the mesh did not interfere at all with my view in the mirror. The more I thought about that particular matter as I drove and experimented with shifting my position around in the seat I could see where the appearance of the top trim could vary considerably depending on the height of the driver and the position of the seat. In my case, I’m not very tall – a little over 5’10”, I have the seat position almost all the way back and at its lowest height and, as indicated, there was no noticeable obstruction by the trim.

There were some questions about whether there was sufficient abatement of the wind to keep one’s hair from being blown into disarray. The answer basically is “No.” If you wear a cap or some other restraint to keep your hair in place you’ll still need to do so for the most part when using the new windscreen. However, there is some exception at speeds up to 35 mph. There was sufficient reduction in turbulence, in my case, to not have to wear a cap in that speed range. Beyond 35 mph it quickly turned to the same unruly mess as always.

It was discovered as the XLR was being brought back to its normal pristine condition after the Bowling Green trip that the windscreen, if left in place, presents some interesting challenges as far as cleaning the vehicle. The already awkward feat of cleaning the inside of the rear glass becomes even more difficult. And that’s with the glass in optimum position – vertical in the interrupted top down sequence and placing one’s knee on the center armrest. Similarly, the material beneath the glass becomes more difficult to vacuum. The only practical way to clean the foldable flap immediately behind the roll bars is with the top down. Of course, those challenges don’t exist if the windscreen is removed which is no big deal to do.

There has been a lot of questions and discussion about whether the windscreen is worth the cost. That’s almost impossible to answer because of the subjective variations of perspective involved. In other words, the answer understandably would vary by individual. Now that we’ve got some real experience using it I can say we’re very pleased to have it and the cost didn’t bother us. Others might feel quite differently. We do wish there were some realistic way for all interested parties to try one before actually purchasing it.

Hope these observations have been helpful.

Best regards,
Ed of Ed and Sandra

 

[rufcar]

Ed youv met me I dont have hair, But my wifes is like Sandra's. How did her hair survive the test ? Thats the real question here and is there a difference in air on one side vs the other? I wonder if the mesh could be made from lighter colored material then the vision might not change! Thanks jim

 

[Ed and Sandra]

Jim,

Sandra wasn't with me for today's test (as is normally the case, she's working while I'm having fun), but I can assure you she will still be wrapping her hair inside an XLR ball cap or pulling it through the back in ponytail style. Otherwise there would be hair everywhere and she wouldn't be able to see a thing!

I'm certain there's no difference between the driver and passenger side as far as wind effect.

It's not the color of the mesh that's changing the focus - making things seem progressively blurrier the further back they are. A lighter fabric might make the view a little less dark, but I suspect it wouldn't change much. By the way, the AIM reps were asked in Bowling Green if a shale or cashmere color version would be offered and the answer was "No." They thought the roll bars and upper interior surfaces on all XLRs were black, and were surprised when someone told them that was not the case.

Best regards,
Ed