pg_rider

The guy I want to do the tint on my TL uses SolarGard Truegrey metallic stuff. I didn't see it on the SolarGard website -- is it any good? How's the color compared to a "black" tint?

Also, he typically uses 18% but that seems too dark to me -- I was thinking more like 25%. Seems like most people on here use between 25% and 35%...

01tl4tl

find out what tint level is legal in your state, many places are cracking down on it because the Officer NEEDS to be able to see the number race age sex of all occupants...
Too many bad apples with guns ruin it for the rest of us who just like tint

There are problems with interferance of GPS antenna and mettalic tints, making them unusable for our cars- ask the shop about it
and check the gen3 threads for more info

pg_rider

I read a lot about metallic tint interfering with the GPS antenna (including the reference in the Nav manual); however, based on posts here it seems nobody has had an issue with it. I'd be curious to see if anyone has!

01tl4tl

I have read about it many times here on azine- thats where I learned about it, and most things particular to the TL

avs007

I think Solar Guard tints in general are great. I have Solar Guard tints on my other car. It's been 10 years since I got it tinted, and the tints still look like they were just installed. Haven't faded at all.

And, you won't have any problems with metallic tints on your TL. Ours has metallic tints, and I have zero problems.... (I also work with wireless devices in our labs inside RF isolation rooms (faraday cages), so I can tell you that the tints aren't going to block any type of RF radiation since they are not grounded.

I was able to use my cell phone inside an RF isolation booth, simply becuase in that particular booth, a contractor didn't install an optical interconnect on the CAT-5 network cable going into the room. Enough RF was able to enter the room through the CAT-5 cable, that my cell phone rang, and I was able to answer it.

If Metallic tints were all that were necessary to block RF signals, our company wouldn't have paid $100,000+ for each Faraday Cage booth in our lab.

leedogg

the manual doesnt recommend it.
it probably doesnt help any
if you have any nav problems, the dealer can just blame your tint.

smsTL

iTrader: (1)

I think you should think twice and see examples of difference %tage cause i just got 20% all around i think it little too light in day time. I wish i should have got 15% or atleast 18%. Here is some examples of different %tage Acura Tinted:
http://shadesofgray1.proboards83.com...ead=1181867536

Hope this helps

avs007

It also depends what type of tint you get... I got 30% Titanium Tint on my TL, and my coworker got 35% Charcoal on his TL. But his looks darker, because mine is slightly more reflective.

theklassic

As a whole, SolarGard is a great brand. This used to be our manufacuturer of choice before switching completley to 3M. As for the %, thats a personal preference no doubt, for me 20 is the spot. But 35% is my recommended when considering looks AND all around best night time visibilty.

Collin

pg_rider

Thanks for the great replies -- very informative. Just gotta decide now on the %. He's got an 18 and a 28; I'd like to go with the 28 for visibility and legality concerns (27% is the law here in CO). My wife thinks it won't be dark enough though, and will defeat the purpose of even getting tint from an aesthetic perspective. From the pictures I've seen 28% is quite dark -- just gotta figure out how to convince her of that!

Now if I could just find a step-by-step guide for how to install moleskin.... (tint guy wants $20 per door to do it.)

avs007

What color is your interior? That makes a big difference too. My G35 and TL have the exact same tint, in the exact same percentage, but my G35 looks darker, I'm guessing because it has a black interior, whereas our TL has the light grey interior.

avs007

I think you should be fine with 28%. My friend has 25% and I can't even see through their window when they wave to me.

Here's our TL with 30% Titanium Tint. (Charcoal will look a little darker. I have grey interior, so if you have black interior it will look darker too) And of course 28% should be a touch darker still.

First pic is in our garage, second picture is outside on a hazy day.

leedogg

Keep in mind the oem tint is like 5%, so you might need to do some calculating to figure out what is legal. A 30% on top of the 5% sounds about right though.

What avs007 said is true, a metallic tint has higher reflective properties and gets its tint % more from reflecting light away whereas the ceramic tints get their tint % more from absorption and appear darker. So the same tint % can look lighter in a metallic than in a ceramic.

Thats pretty cool that the wifey wants it darker usually it seems like the guy always has to plead his case on why it needs to be opaque.

One last thing, make sure they do the moleskin well. Our car can be tricky as hell to get the doors off. Sometimes these tint places just cut the rubber blades inside. Sometimes they just put mole on one of the blades (there are 2 on each side)

I would take a look at the diy's here and do this yourself.

pg_rider

Well, I did the moleskin myself this weekend. Pretty simple, but I'm just hoping the glue holds up and the felt doesn't peel and smear glue on the windows! I used the tintprotector.com stuff...

Gonna go with the 28% for sure, but I'm wondering if we should go with the 18% on the rear windshield. I still worry about nighttime visibility... but I guess that's what the reverse camera is for!

Last question -- what should I tell me tinter (or check for afterwards) with regards to the rear 1/4 windows? I keep reading that there's a right way and a half-assed way to do them. How will I know if he did it right?

subbuzz

I just put 18% Titanium Tint all around (black/grey int, no navi issues yet)

avs007

I know around here, the law specificly talks about percentage of the film you apply to the glass, so whatever % the glass was is irrelevent. Which is also why they made it also illegal to apply more than one layer of tint...

Of course, your state may vary. But usually the tint shop can help you out with those kinds of details.

Buda

iTrader: (1)

One correction on a statement I saw above. The OEM tint is about 75%, not 5%. The tint level is how much light it lets through.

If 27% is the law in CO and you put on 28% and you get pulled over and a tint meter is used you will get a ticket. I have 28% solar guard supreme (non-metallic). I love it however when I lived in MN I got ticketed for the tint as the combination of it and the OEM tinting caused the actual tint level to be 22%.

However there may be one good thing. If you go with metallic, I believe the installer told me that metallic tint tends to trick the tint testers some due to the reflective nature. IF that is true then maybe 28% will come across as 28%. Also if you have a dark interior then the tint will look much darker than it really is. I have a friend with 35% and a black interior and it looks much darker than my 28% with a camel interior. I guess it all depends on how picky the police are about it in your area.