Oris Windstop

The Oris windstop is a professional-quality windstop for the Miata. The same manufacturer makes the windstops for the Mercedes SL roadsters.

But the U.S. importer discontinued it, so I ended up buying a Keith Tanner windstop instead. The Keith Tanner is an excellent windstop and very low cost (you can make it yourself, or Keith will make one for you for about the cost of a single good tire.) However, the Oris is just much more sophisticated in looks and ergonomics. Fortunately, Larry Cohen, of Serious Automotive Accessories, and South Coast representative of the Bay Area Miata Association, has brought it back. I got one of the first ones to arrive.

Installation

Evaluation

Here is a list of observations, with some comparisons with the Keith Tanner windstop where appropriate. I have no experience with other windbreakers, but I understand they do not work effectively, so I do not worry about them.

Looks:

• The Oris looks professionally made; and really nice even for that.
• When you get off the highway you can simply push the windstop back down for that nice original Miata look and some additional fresh air.
• During driving, the windstop takes on a position that is slightly slanted forward. Personally, I think that this looks better than vertical or slanted backward, although a reviewer on miata.net disagrees. It seems to me it should be easy to add a stop if you like it the other way. Note however that this may reduce the effectiveness of the windstop, since the top will be further back.
• The Keith Tanner is a large piece of plexiglass and will almost unavoidably develop some light scratching when you go along. Mine did. But I also scraped the edge of my Oris against some concrete, losing an edge of black paint on the head of a bolt. These large windstops are hard to handle. And like another reviewer noted, the legs of the windstop that go in the brackets will scratch. Who cares: you cannot see it since they are inside the brackets.

Functionality.

• The Oris windstop is mounted well back behind the seats. As a result the position of the seats is unaffected. I love it, since to install the Keith Tanner (which clasps to the seatbacks, before my side-impact bar), I always had to raise my seatback to a more vertical position than I like. Also, with the Oris, the passenger and drivers seats can now be adjusted independently.
• Both the Keith Tanner and the Oris are highly efficient at stopping the wind into the cabin. After some informal testing using some shreds of paper, I decided that there is less air motion at the lower part of my face and neck with the Keith Tanner. This is not surprising in view of the fact that the Oris and Keith Tanner are the same height, and the Keith Tanner is directly behind the seatbacks. On the upper part of my head the Keith Tanner seems to be generating more turbulence. But I do believe the Keith Tanner offers superior cold weather protection.
• The Oris seems to be a bit quieter than the Keith Tanner. I ran an informal test by listening to a CD with the Keith Tanner and adjusting the volume to the best level, than replaying the same song with the Oris installed. With the Oris I found that I wanted to adjust the volume just a tick down. The difference may not be significant within the experimental error (traffic noise), but I do believe there is more turbulent air motion with the Keith Tanner. I would think the more rounded top of the Oris produces less violent turbulent eddies, while air motion through the screen of the Oris may also help break up the large eddies. Also, you are closer to the Keith Tanner's turbulence. I believe the Oris is less tiring on long trips.
• Though I have not done formal tests, I believe the Oris offers less adverse effects on the driving characteristics. I have noticed that under certain conditions, there can be considerable wind forces on the Keith Tanner. The Oris will not do that: being hinged, it would yield to the wind. I also believe the design using rounded tubes and a wire mesh reduces the forces compared to the Keith Tanner even if the windstop would not be hinged.
• Contrast is reduced considerably looking backwards through the screen of the Oris. Both the Oris and the Keith Tanner will reflect things in front of the car, though I think I would rather have the Oris reflect the sun than the Keith Tanner. (I have not yet seen the sun being reflected by the Oris.)

Handling:

• The Oris is very easy to install, simply slide it in the brackets. The Keith Tanner tends to be a bit more effort, since you have to adjust seatbacks, and it is heavier and larger and has straps.
• The Keith Tanner can be put vertical on its side against the car, the Oris cannot since its sides are rounded.
• When you no longer want the windstop, you can simply push the Oris back down: it hinges and will lay almost flat against the collapsed top. Remarkable that it stays vertical on the highway with only a bit of friction in the hinges to hold it up, but it does. You have to take the Keith Tanner off to lower it.
• You can raise the top without removing the Oris windstop, but in that case I cannot raise my Brain-Storm glass rear window. However, raising the top without window may provide some security or protection against light rain. With the Keith Tanner, you could in principle raise the window, but there is no way to lift it up. In any case, I would think you should be able to easily zip up the original plastic window with either windstop in place.
• The Oris is considerably easier on trunk space than the Keith Tanner, since the bottom part of the Oris is a screen flap that buttons into the deck. The Keith Tanner is solid plexiglass all the way down. The Keith Tanner will fit in the trunk in a weird way, but it blocks the lower part of the trunk almost completely and leaves little usable space on top of it.
• You can simply shove the Oris on the deck when it rains. To do this with the Keith Tanner, you first have to push both seatbacks to the front.

Conclusion? Regardless of all the pros and cons, both are very good windstops. I do believe most decisions between Oris or Keith Tanner are probably going to be based on weighing looks versus price, not so much on features. The main exception I would see is the desire to adjust your seatbacks freely and independently, which requires an Oris.

I love mine. Mark Petry has my old Keith Tanner, and I am sure he is happy with it too.

Price