So as I understand it:
a) A cabriolet is a car with a folding roof.
b) A folding roof is also refered to as a convertible roof, from which comes the term for a car body style.
I've always been under the impression - reinforced by the naming rules of manufacturers - that a cabriolet has a folding cloth roof, whether powered or unpowered, and a coupé cabriolet has a folding metal/hard roof, always powered in my knowledge but not necessarily for the name. If someone would like to design a manually operated folding metal roof
"Convertible" is a blanket term for all cars on which the roof can be raised, lowered, or removed (partially or fully); whether manually or automatically. This comes from the ability to "convert" the car from one with a roof to one without a roof, or with a modified roof (for example a T-top).
As I understand it, that is.
Putting more of them in LFS? Only if it's coincidental, like the RAC. Going out of one's way simply to have a type of car which is mostly avoided in racing for safety reasons - the FiA have already laid out guidelines for LMP-class cars to be of closed-cockpit designs, by a year which escapes me at the moment - seems a bit pointless.
For the record, I don't think the UF1000 counts as a convertible, because the only way to remove its roof is to cut it off and replace the rear window with a rollbar... Our option in the pit menu to have the roof on or off doesn't really reflect the speed or ease with which such an operation could be done on the car in reality, it's hardly "convertible" just because we have the option to cut its roof off
Yeah, that is a really good point. Once we have proper chassis flex, there will be a noticeable difference driving a car without the extra stability a fixed roof provides.
