It's all about spinning the plates. For the first five years, mostly solo, I never had the top up. In that time I never faced a deluge, buit when the rain starts, then, as has been said, it's a balance of speed, traffic density and road safety. Eventually the rain will come over the windscreen, and drip off the visors, and will leave a wet stripe across your thighs. My black leather interior has never suffered from wet, it stays "as is".
I think MrsW's first experience was coming back from the Canterbury Mog on the M20. It was very busy. Stopping on a Motorway is dangerous, and could get you killed. As it happened it never got much above a steady shower, so we were Ok. I also think that my perspex wind break does help. If you have to slow down, the rain will eddy into the cockpit, and that's when it is worse for covering the inside of the screen and your spectacles.
On one occasion on the M42, the heavens really opened, and there was no choice other than to take the next exit, find a safe place to stop, and get the hood up. Be in no doubt that the easy-up hood is not easy in the pouring rain. Inside of the car gets soaked, you will get soaked, and when you resume your journey, the whole of the inside will steam up like a sauna.
My best wet drive was over the Grampians, which I've shared before. We were heading North-ish, on The Lecht, A939, so high up! In the distance about three miles away there was a solid grey curtain of heavy rain. The road in front was empty. I looked at MrsW, and we agreed to carry on. When it hit us, I was able to keep the speed, and hardly any wet came in because there was nothing coming the other way to cause eddys. We had one encounter coming up behind a people carrier, driven in the style of a Sunday outing - garden centre enthusiast, and that wasn't anywhere near fast enough, so we passed him and vanished into the rain......I always wondered what he thought. That was the only car we saw and a few minutes later it was blue sky again.
