I agree with what others have said - it's all your preference. I got my first convertible years ago and can't imagine not having one. When I decided to my my "adult" phase (being an adult is totally overrated) and got a Volvo, I was miserable and couldn't wait to get a convertible again. As for the storage everyone complains about - I personally am ecstatic with the amount of usable space I have now! I went from a Pontiac Solstice to this and I have more storage in the cabin and an actual, usable trunk (my gym bag is in my trunk and I don't have to carry it into the office like I did before because I couldn't fit it in my trunk and didn't want to leave it in the passenger seat)! This is my daily driver and yes, here in Atlanta it gets stupid hot and humid as well, but if it's not raining and it's over 50 degrees, that top is down! I'm willing to be a little warmer (or even hot and sweaty) for the sake of some sunshine and wind. Besides, if you drive faster, you get more wind and it isn't as hot!

I'd say drive both and get the one that speaks to you the most.

 

My F type has way more storage than my Harley did! ;-)

....it's all relative.

Dave

 

Clearly other members have given you some background and ideas. From my view, my first Jaguar drophead was the early E type, which had both tops, hard and soft tops. The next one was years later (with saloons and an XJS coupe intervening) and was the XK8 which was delightful, although I remember some cowl shake. Not bad just noticable.
The F convertible was an easy choice for me, and the cowl shake is non-existent in my opinion. Let us know what you decide.

 

Please describe "cowl shake". I owned a 280SL, a Sunbeam Tiger and 3 AH Bugeye Sprites, all drop tops (in fact the Bugeyes had no tops at all). No clue what cowl shake is.

 

Resonant vibrations at certain speeds. Kind of like driving with a badly balanced wheel that you can't fix.

If cowl shake is especially pronounced vibrations will amplify longer you stay at 'bad speeds'. Usually, but not always, can be fixed by installing strut braces and under body frame X brace.

I used to have a convertible you couldn't drive at 55-58 mph or it was like wash machine on spin cycle. All other speeds was fine, and was especially smooth at above 70. So I just drove it fast everywhere. However, it bugged me enough that I eventually got rid of it because of this flaw.

 

Was this affliction limited to ladder frame cars or are there examples of uni-bodies with the same issues?

 

Over here they call that scuttle shake. I could remember reading it in a recent review https://www.caradvice.com.au/576609/...riolet-review/

Just searching the term on caradvice, it is mentioned with many convertibles, but with the f type svr it is said to have been eliminated.

 

Hmmm...that's just poor design that they should have identified in the wind tunnel. It appears to be a flexi-frame issue.

 

Cowl shake, aka shuttle shake, is due to the limits of body strength available when there is no solid roof. My description was an occurrence typically on rough roads where the front of the car shook, a bit of a twisting sensation. Not felt on the F type.

BTW as part of your vert decision, you may be happy to know that GOLF CLUBS can be carried in the boot. A youtube video taught me -- just remove your drivers and stash them first towards the rear of the car, and then lay your remaining bag of clubs in the space forward of the drivers.

 

All F type verts are the same structurally - but yes, it's not an issue on the F type


Dave

 

I've been doing that for 5 years. Little-known secret: if you're persistent, you can get two stand bags in the trunk. Then the woods go in the driver footwell. It's not easy.

 

I experienced it on both, but typically it is less pronounced on unibody cars.

 

I fought this issue on many cars, and this isn't always that straight-forward.

a. Stiffer your suspension, more likely you will have it. For example, early Mercedes R129 were without issues, but then 99+ as a mid-model redesign Mercedes put stiffer suspension with bigger rims on these as a standard equipment and some of them started to cowl shake. I also had a case where R&R suspension with HD Bilsteins created an issue.

b. Roads make difference. Some roads are just more likely to induce cowl shake than others.

 

I had a 2002 Maserati 4200 Spyder. The early generations of these cars had lots of cowl shake and body flex. Its hard to describe but you can feel the car flex, and the rearview mirror never stopped shaking. In that car it wasn't bad at high speeds, car settled down. At slower speeds and anything but perfect pavement it was very noticeable. My F-Type convertible is way better, no shake at all.

 

The F-Type was designed from the get-go as a convertible so this was taken into consideration well before any of us even knew that the car would come out so perhaps in 2012 I would guess and the design compensated/corrected for this so that it would not occur in the F-Type convertible. The convertible is plenty stiff enough as designed from the factory & the coupe is amazingly solid.

 

Coupe and it's not even close. Lines are way better. I do live in NY though haha!