Sunglasses! Not only to protect your eyes from whatever, but also because it's impossible to see if the sun's out.

 

On two occassions I got hit with my daily driver vehicles, and I wondered how it would have ended up if I was driving top down in my S2000.

The first one was a vehicle in front of me drove over a piece of wood, the wood flew up and hit the roof of my car , it hit real hard and dented the roof, definitely would have caused some damage if I was in my convertible. The second episode I was driving over the crest of an overpass and I hit a huge swarm of large insects, either bees or grasshoppers, it wasn't apparent until I was right on top of them, the windshield was totally plastered , it made the sound of being hit by paint balls. Must have been hit by at least 200 of the suckers, very gross, but at least I wasn't in a convertible.

 

Get stones all the time. but I'm tall. I put on shades all the time.

 

I've never had any problems with flying debris. Aerodynamically the car is designed very well and makes a pretty solid slipstream at highway speeds. There was a mythbusters where they drove a 911 cabrio top down through rain at 70mph which resulted in almost no water in the car. At 90mph there was no rain inside.

If it's cold, I'll roll the side windows up to help keep the heat in, but there's no reason to be afraid of being hit by something. Just my opinion

That's weird, I've noticed that with the top down, I can leave whatever I want on the passenger seat and it doesn't move. Theres actually significantly more turbulence inside my DD with the windows down and sunroof open than in the S with the top down.

 

When big trucks run over stones at highway speed, the amount of pressure on the stone is great enough to shoot the stone across with enough momentum to break through the aerodynamic shield
Rain is fine. you can drive fast on the highway with the top down
Imagine it's raining stone

 

When big trucks run over stones at highway speed, the amount of pressure on the stone is great enough to shoot the stone across with enough momentum to break through the aerodynamic shield
Rain is fine. you can drive fast on the highway with the top down
Imagine it's raining stone

 

With the top down at highway speeds, I've had pieces of paper in my shirt pocket get whipped out and fly right on by, lost forever. I've also thought that paper in the passenger seat was safe, but found out the hard way once or twice. Loose paper now goes into the passenger footwell, where there's less turbulence, or under a floor mat. Rocks and other debris regularly crack windshields in any car. You could always wear a helmet, but that might look a little strange on city streets and highways, in a car like the S. Wrap around sunglasses should be minimum wear. Add a hat if you want a little more protection from the sun or flying objects. Convertibles have been around for a long time. Yes, accidents happen, but you don't read about them every day. Relax and have fun. That's what the S is all about.

 

I once had a passenger fly off with the top down on the highway. Never saw her again, that was our last date...

 

"I once had a passenger fly off with the top down on the highway. Never saw her again, that was our last date... "

Wished that I knew that when I still had a wife! Would have saved me some time and trouble.

 

It's relatively safe. You can get hit but rock chips on the front of the car and debris entering the cabin space are two entirely different things. Chips happen all the time with the S.

Your car. Your body. Your call. I know didn't buy a convertible to drive it with the top up all the time.