[broderp]

First off I'm joking about the snarky title remark but like all stereo types there is sometimes a ring of truth in them. In this case it seems like everyone wants to go as dark as possible. Many claiming 30 or lower is the ONLY way to go.

THE RANT:
Summer is here, and so is the heat and sun. So it was time to tint my Elantra. I am 48 years old and although I can appreciate the privacy everyone claims to want (what are you doing in your car that you need to have the windows blacked out? B)) I want to have some resemblance of being legal.

I'm not the complete "Fuddy-Duddy" I appear to be. My two Celica's are 33 front/ 26 rear tint. My F150 has the front windows tinted to match the factory tint and my wife's car follows the same - pretty dark and illegal. I have NEVER been pulled over for tint and I attribute this to a few things:

• My age (I don't look like I'm up to anything shady as I drive by in my "business casual attire"
• I don't speed as I'm never in a hurry
• My cars although somewhat flashy (my Celica is a radar magnet) they are stock looking (not lowered or slammed or any of this stuff)

CERAMIC TINT
In Ohio most websites state:

• Windshield - Must allow more than 70% of light in.
• Front Side Windows - Must allow more than 50% of light in.
• Back Side Windows - Any darkness can be used.
• Rear Window - Any darkness can be used

The one thing that tint does not protect against much is HEAT. So on this car I decided to try Ceramic tint. Locally I was very limited the 3-4 places I found basically carried the same options. (80, 40 or 15). So onto YouTube I went. Here is where everyone was claiming its a waste of time to go higher than 35 VLT. Well in my opinion, they are WRONG. So this is all subjective but I wanted to share my experience in case anyone out there has a similar opinion and is looking for information. Although technically my car is illegal, based on my previously mentioned reasons I don't think I will have anything to worry about. I was expecting it to be lighter but instead found it to be darker than anticipated but still transparent enough to be ignored by the police. I did my homework and simulated what I believed it would look like. I knew the OEM tint would impact the final VLT and I'm very happy with the 40 LVT. I may have been perfectly fine with 50 had I been able to find a local installer. I do however wish that the windshield would have been available in 90 or even 100 as the main purpose of tinting the windshield was to block heat.

See the attached image for my results. Please note that the images are representative given the time of day and lighting. From some angles in certain lighting the tint looks very dark. At other angles it appears as the images show. Overall, the tint seems to be mostly the darker version as seen in the image labeled "3C". I'm looking to get the sunroof tinted as well. I couldn't see paying the installer the $80 they were wanting to do just that. :surprise:

If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to try and answer them.

 

[Midwest]

I like my ceramic tint but also love the dark privacy. It looks good. I understand wanting to be legal. I just drove through several states, with a ton of fireworks that would be illegal there. Fines upwards of 2K USD and up to 90 days in jail. I took the car with the lightest tint 20%, also illegal in these states. I regret my tint choices most times.

I like 3B. I don’t see many pictures of tint with the door open. That’s a great way to capture the tint, bravo.

 

[solman98]

That tint looks very light compared to mine. That almost seems worthless for what I need it for. Get's hot here in the south. I'm 35% on the fronts and 20% on the rear.

 

[CyprusCorner]

Arizona lets you go pretty dark, no tint allowed on the windshield, and only down to 35 on the front windows, but the other windows can be as dark as you'd like them to be. I hate driving cars that actually go down to limo tint in the back, it's impossible to see through at night!

 

[broderp]

That tint looks very light compared to mine. That almost seems worthless for what I need it for. Get's hot here in the south. I'm 35% on the fronts and 20% on the rear.

Is your tint ceramic? The claims are ceramic reject/reflects the heat, even in the higher LVT ratings. In theory Ceramic 80 VLT would block as much heat as Ceramic 15 VLT. Thats what they say anyway. This is my first car with Ceramic so I will have to see.

As of right now it seems to be legit, I have had several hot and humid days (80-90 degrees) and getting into the car was unbearable. The day I got the tint and took the pictures it was like 90. However even after sitting in the sun for several hours it was hot but not nearly so hot that I burned myself sitting on the leather or touching the steering wheel. I'd say (complete guesstimate) it felt like the car temp inside was the equivalent of what the interior temp would be if it were like 75 outside. It was also not nearly as muggy. I may do a comparison test with my other car with darker tint, but non-ceramic.


On a side note: do you have any issues at night with visibility?

 

[broderp]

I like my ceramic tint but also love the dark privacy. It looks good. I understand wanting to be legal. I just drove through several states, with a ton of fireworks that would be illegal there. Fines upwards of 2K USD and up to 90 days in jail. I took the car with the lightest tint 20%, also illegal in these states. I regret my tint choices most times.

I like 3B. I don’t see many pictures of tint with the door open. That’s a great way to capture the tint, bravo.

Regret is tough to live with sometimes. I must be old because I am so torn with my tinting decision. I absolutely LOVE the darkness of it but at the same feel concern about visibility out the front at night. I was actually hoping it would be a bit lighter. I suppose driving the car without any tint grew on me. It's really weird because I don't think a thing about it when I get in my other cars. Regardless, the money is spent and I got what I ordered. They seem to have done a really good job.

I like to see the contrast as well in these types of images. My Nikon D7000 is pretty accurate in its color representation. The images came out pretty much how my eyes saw it. I did that to show how dark 40% is when you add the factory tint to it. I want to also say that I believe the factory tint also influenced the final color to some degree. I'm glad you found it informative.

Did you set off all the fireworks? >

 

[broderp]

Arizona lets you go pretty dark, no tint allowed on the windshield, and only down to 35 on the front windows, but the other windows can be as dark as you'd like them to be. I hate driving cars that actually go down to limo tint in the back, it's impossible to see through at night!

My wife want to move to Arizona. :laugh: My car would probably not raise any eyebrows there unless they focus on the windshield.

I agree with driving at night with dark windows. My other cars are like 26 on the back window and its a pain. Luckily I don't back up much. :smile: The Elantra has a backup camera, this helps.

 

[solman98]

On a side note: do you have any issues at night with visibility?

None at all.

 

[Midwest]

On a side note: do you have any issues at night with visibility?

None at all.

15% is when it gets dangerous IMO. In high traffic pedestrian areas, my windows have to go down. Turning with no street lights, windows have to go down.

 

[broderp]

15% is when it gets dangerous IMO. In high traffic pedestrian areas, my windows have to go down. Turning with no street lights, windows have to go down.

I respect the fact you are aware and take precautions. I suppose I have nothing to worry about with my 40 tint. lol

 

[Propflux01]

I have the same car and colour. When I tinted mine, it was the 'legal' 35 tint. It looks almost exactly like yours. The tint place thought I was nuts to leave it teh same all around, but I think it makes the car look better than a lighter front window and darker rear window.

 

[broderp]

I have the same car and colour. When I tinted mine, it was the 'legal' 35 tint. It looks almost exactly like yours. The tint place thought I was nuts to leave it teh same all around, but I think it makes the car look better than a lighter front window and darker rear window.

Yeah, the 40 all around is growing on me. I think I made the right decision. The ONLY concern/ regret is tinting the front windshield with 80 VLT. I wish it was 90 or more. The 80 is impacting the auto light sensor.

Its summer and the sun is out past 8 pm, but my headlights are coming on around 7:30 unless I'm facing the sun. What a PIA. It's bad when the radio dims and I can barely see it. Oh I know I can change it to be in "daylight: mode all the time, but then when it's really dark out the radio is too bright.

I've got some ideas how to get around this, but hacking the sensor is not something I want to do to my car while under warranty.