Vehicle roof with sliding roof element

A vehicle roof with a roof opening and a sliding roof element supported so as to be movable between a closed position, in which the roof element closes the roof opening, and an open position, in which the roof element is moved out of the roof opening into a position below a section of the vehicle roof adjacent to, and behind, the roof opening in a combined vertical and horizontal movement, said roof opening being delimited by a guide frame including, at each of the opposite sides of the opening, a guide track structure with separate front and rear guide track members including aligned front and rear guide track channels, said roof element having front and rear guide pins projecting therefrom into said front and rear guide track channels, respectively, to be guided thereby during movement of the roof element between its closed and open positions, said front and rear guide track channels having inclined front sections for lowering said roof element upon initial movement thereof out of its closing position wherein a front section of said front guide channel is inclined to a lesser degree than that of said rear guide channel, one of said front and rear guide pins extending into said front and rear guide channels being supported by a length compensation element for accommodating different distance requirements between the front and rear guide pins during transition of the roof element between the open and closed positions thereof, and at least one of said front and rear guide structures including an additional guide channel which extends parallel to the front section of the respective guide channel and in which an additional guide pin is slidably supported.