Moonroof or sunroof? Which is which? Also, which is better? We’re going to explain it all right now.
If it’s a nice day and there’s any way to get some air moving through a vehicle, many people will roll down the windows and pop open that pane in their roofs. As long as you’ve got air flowing through your vehicle, it doesn’t really matter what you call that panel above you, but there are some differences between a sunroof and moonroof.
Although the words are used interchangeably these days, a moonroof is technically a certain kind of sunroof. It’s like the way a square is a kind of rectangle. Maybe I shouldn’t use that example since I could never remember if a square was a rectangle or a rectangle was a square. Nonetheless, a moonroof is simply a kind of sunroof. Just how did the terms ‘sunroof’ and ’moonroof’ come to be, and what exactly do they mean? I’m glad you asked because you’re about to find out.
Let’s start with the sunroof since it was around before the moonroof was. It’s a moveable panel in the roof of a vehicle, but it started as one you couldn’t see through. These opaque panels weren’t glass. Instead, they were solid pieces of material that could be moved so that a chauffeur could be more aware of his surroundings while driving his employer around town.
These days they are designed with enough tint to filter out the sunlight. There’s no recorded history of the term itself, but the roof opens up to let the sunlight in. It’s safe to assume someone connected the functionality to the word and, voila, the sunroof came to be.
Of course, some of the earliest vehicles didn’t have closed compartments. As early models were built, purchased, and used, the needs of drivers evolved. Vehicles weren’t just used on bright, sunny days. They were used in all kinds of weather. That’s why a temporary cover, or a very early version of the sunroof, was introduced. It was in the 1920s that a version using a solid metal panel was used. This panel slid into a slot on the top of the vehicle, back in the passenger compartment.
Bentley, Barker, Gurney Nutting, and Park Ward were all building vehicles with a sunroof mechanism in them. A man named Noel Mobbs went all-in on the sliding roofs with the Pytchley Motor Company, based in England. As part of this patented system, the roof slid over the top of the roof. These tops continued being used on a variety of models for the next several decades, whether it was the Ford Lincoln X-100 concept car, the Porsche 911, or the 1969 Lamborghini Espada. It was in 1973 that a special kind of sunroof was created: the moonroof.
John Atkinson was working as a marketing manager for the Continental Mark IV at Ford when he coined the term, “moonroof.” The idea was greenlit, and the American Sunroof Company started installed moonroofs on the 1973 Lincoln Continental Mark IV. The 1976 Mk1 Ford Fiesta and 1980 Mk3 Ford Escort were also equipped with moonroofs. These days the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross, the 2023 Hyundai Santa Cruz, and countless others have moonroofs.
Really, though, the moonroof is just a sunroof that is built into the roof in a way that it can easily and completely retract. It can’t be removed. Many times, modern moonroofs also come with a sliding interior panel that can be used to block the sunlight if it’s just too miserably hot to let any daylight in. The moonroof, made of glass, can be tinted to filter the sunlight. Other times, it’s just clear glass without any kind of tint.
A moonroof is one variation of a sunroof, but there are others, too. These days a sunroof can tilt, slide, or completely retract to let the light and fresh air in. Those versions include the pop-up which tilts upward and is sometimes moved manually. They, like T-tops, are removable and have to be stored somewhere when they are removed.
A similar kind of sunroof is the spoiler, which pops up and slides. It’s tilted to allow a small gap of air to slip into the cabin. Some examples of cars with that featured this sunroof are the Chevrolet Beretta, older Acura Integra models, the Mazda RX-7, and the Toyota Celica.
Another version is the inbuilt sunroof. This is one of the most common kinds of sunroof these days. These sunroof glass panels slide between the roof and another in-cabin panel of fabric or plastic. Most moonroofs you see will are made in this style. The Lincoln Aviator, the Subaru Forester, the Kia Telluride, the Honda Pilot, and the Volkswagen Tiguan are just a few examples of vehicles with the moonroof.
Then there’s the panoramic sunroof. Just as a panoramic photo provides more viewing area, a panoramic sunroof (or moonroof) provides drivers and passengers an even larger viewing area. The panoramic roofs don’t have just one panel of glass. They use two panels to cover the opening since it’s so much larger than the typical sunroof. Tesla provides a glass roof on the Model 3 and Model Y, but the glass doesn’t actually move. The Model S does have a panoramic sunroof, though. It was introduced with the 2012 model.
BMW kicked it up yet another notch with the BMW iX, an electric vehicle that is filled with tech. One of the incredible features of the iX is the massive sunroof. Not only is it the largest glass roof ever fitted to a BMW, but it was made using polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) technology, which allows drivers to change the transparency of the sunroof in an instant. Pressing a button will change the glass from clear to opaque, blocking the direct sunlight, and then letting it in later on.
A fully tinted sunroof shades the passengers inside while a moonroof that’s not tinted doesn’t do much of that. However, both let air into the cabin on hot summer days and can warm up the cabin on cold winter days. They make the cabin feel less crowded and provide a nice view of what’s above, too. These are some of the reasons we picked panoramic sunroofs as one of our 10 Must-Have Car Features.
The moonroof is probably the most popular style of sunroof these days, but as car body styles continue to evolve, the sunroof and moonroof do as well. There’s no telling what’s next. In the meantime, as you look for vehicles with moonroofs, click on our list of Best SUVs with Panoramic Sunroofs. There are plenty of specs and features to compare in that article!