Thread: Window Tinting - Good Idea or Not?

There are a significant number of benefits from window tinting.
1. Keeps the car cooler - the RACV needs to get back in the real world.
2. Increases privacy & security.
3. Improves the ability to read screens etc in glarey conditions.
4. In an accident stops glass going everywhere.
5. Reduces fading of interior.

The only real criticism is reduced vision to the rear of the car at night.
I have found this to be negated by parking sensors & the excellent vision of the D3.

Regards

Chuck

I also got mine tinted with the darkest legal 3m tint just after purchasing it to avoid luxury car tax, as I had in all my other vehicles. Keeps the car and passengers cooler especially if the the sun shines directly through the window. It's harder for people to see in, looks good and I cannot really find anything wrong with night time visibility but then again I have had all my cars for the past 15 years tinted so maybe I am used to it

My personally imported STi has the rear screen and doors tinted way more than would normally be legal in Aus. This is not the best to reverse at night using the interior mirror. The side mirrors are fine as these windows are not tinted.

The D3 has the darkest legal tine and I wouldn't have it any other way - full UV block, stops the direct heat from the sun which the AC can't directly help with, etc. It also adds privacy. This is nowhere near as dark as the STi and doesn't cause problems. There are reasons why the legal limits are set where they are!

There might be the odd occasion when the added darkness makes reversing intersting, so I have two buttons on the door which instantly clear the tinting and any other dirt on the windows! It is easier to lower the windows once a year than deal with the glare, etc. the rest of the time.

Cheers, Steve

RACV does not encourage motorists to have their vehicle's windows tinted. Window tinting can reduce a driver's visibility in certain driving environments and this has the potential to decrease road safety.

Possibly, but I doubt it given tint would reduce fine detail at long distances, not obstruct.

• As an alternative to window tinting, RACV recommends drivers and passengers wear sunglasses as an equally effective means of reducing excessive glare.

Not why all my cars are tinted. It's because they don't heat up as much.

• RACV believes there is a lack of evidence that tinting provides any significant benefits in keeping a car cool. Features such as air conditioning will do this job more effectively.

??? Out in the real world it works. Also, the biggest benefit is not coming back to a cooking car.

• RACV does not support a change to the current required minimum levels of light transmittance through vehicle windows, as currently prescribed by Victorian roadworthy regulations. As yet, no solid evidence exists to show that this would reduce the number of crashes on the road.

Whatever that means...

• RACV calls on window tinting businesses to ensure their work complies with roadworthy requirements. RACV also advises consumers who choose to have tinting applied to their vehicle to seek assurances their vehicle will remain in a roadworthy state as a result of the tinting.

finally something I can agree with.

All my cars are tinted for the reasons described above.

I went 20% tint.... Looks great plus the car is so much cooler.

I have always tinted all my cars. Wish they came out that way.

Dorko

The tinting question to me comes down to what are you trying to achieve.

Do you want to keep people from seeing you, (common in Southern California it appears), block Ultra Violet, the rays that fade the interior, or block Infra Red, the rays that heat things up, or all of above.

For me, in Western Canada, we have a sun that often sit lows on the horizon, (expect the same in Oz), and the rays coming thru the drivers side windows can really make driving uncomfortable - as in sunburn - left arm here, right arm in Oz I suppose).

In the winter we go from bright sun to cloudy and dull, so for me, dark tint on the side windows is not desireable.

As such, I have installed a clear tint that blocks Infra Red radiation - about 30 percent of it anyway. That is enough however to say that the decrease in heating/burning effect is noticeable. The clear film contains a Low Emisitivity material similar to what is put in what is called Low E glass when used in building windows.

Low E glass is also common in most domestic vehicles produced by GM and Ford, but seemingly not known in Europe - always cloudy there I guess. Here, now the windscreens and side windows etc are all Low E glass primarily as that allows the manufacturers to downsize the air conditioners and hence improve overall, their CAFE, (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency).

I just wish Land Rover made a Low E windscreen - sound rejecting is available, (the little ear symbol), but heat rejecting, not yet.

Watpub,
Just tint the windows
I have opted similar to Niel,
Front 2 side widows legal requirement (Vic 30-35%) & the rest of the vehicle is at 85%.
Depending on color choice inside the vehicle Almond or Ebony it makes a huge difference when returning to the vehicle.
Black will always retain heat & with tint it makes it a little easier to put up with the leather in summer.
Cheers

Hi Ron,

I too have gone for the tinting option. The dealer is having it fitted and I am told that it will be the darkest legally permissible. My hope is that it will keep the car cooler during the day in the height of summer. However and more importantly for me and perhaps some of the other 'older' drivers is that certain medications may make a person more susceptible to UV rays i.e. sunburn. Some cholesterol lowering medications are like this as well as other stuff. I hope that tinting reduces UV entry to the car.

Cheers,

George