[mwy23]

hello fellow cayman owners,

i'm going back and forth between tinting (30 to 35%) or not. i generally dislike tint and being in the pacnw, sun defense isn't really a top priority. i'm a little concerned about night time visibility, especially when its raining. it'd be nice to get a little privacy and any extra sun protection is a bonus.

what are you thoughts on tinting?

FYI - white '07 CS, bone stock.

 

[rexambar]

Depends where you live,country or states laws,personal preferences etc.
yesterday I tinted my new cayman s (black/basalt metallic black) with v-kool which is a very good brand.Even the NASA use their products (see their site)
I used in my car : k-37 and v-70 combination, is a real BLAST.
By the record I live in a VERY SUNNY HUMID HOT caribbean country :dance:
rex

 

[KS-CS]

Well, I think it really is one of those personal preference things, though in certain parts of the country (e.g. Florida, Arizona), I think it is almost necessary. I have 35% on mine; I personally think that cars look better with tinted windows, but I got mine primarily to reduce the thermal load in the sun, and I think it does make a big difference with that (the rear hatch window especially causes a nice greenhouse effect).

If you are concerned that 35% might be too dark, then go with a lighter tint e.g. 50 or even less. FWIW, I don't think it hinders night-time visability (I don't have the front windshield tinted), and actually helps to reduce headlight glare from the rear.

 

[Tomasz]

I have self dimming mirrors and found the tint on side windows and rear window to reduce nigh time visibility. If some idiot were to drive with lights off on relatively well lit highway I could not see them. All I saw were headlights, not the car.

This annoyed me, and I removed the tint. Though I live in Seattle, not the sunniest place on earth...

I do not know how dark it was, previous owner installed it.

 

[808croc]

i'm in honolulu and window tints are almost a necessity. i haven't experienced any problems with nighttime driving.

 

[[email protected]]

I'm in Texas. Very bright here most of the time.

I don't tint any of my cars. I don't like the reduced night-time visibility. I just wear good sunglasses during the day.

Just my opinion, but I don't like the look. I prefer the factory tint.

No flames, you are entitled to your tint...

 

[landrovered]

I do not like tint, it is a pain and mars easily. One little defect and that is all you can see for the life of the tint. It is a pain to remove, you cannot use ammonia based window cleaner on it. I have removed it on every car I own but one. I like the way it looks, I do not like the way it ages.

Park in the shade and wear sunglasses.

 

[gomarlins3]

I had mine done a few months ago and much prefer the look now. I have no problems at night or when it is raining and I went pretty dark, but not limo.

 

[808croc]

I do not like tint, it is a pain and mars easily. One little defect and that is all you can see for the life of the tint. It is a pain to remove, you cannot use ammonia based window cleaner on it. I have removed it on every car I own but one. I like the way it looks, I do not like the way it ages.

Park in the shade and wear sunglasses.

the quality/type of film and the experience level of the installer affect the quality of the tint on the glass. although i've seen some terrrible tint jobs, i've never had any problems with mine. also, i use non-ammonia based glass cleaners anyway.

 

[landrovered]

I have had factory tint (privacy glass) on my 93 Range Rover reduce itself to micha like dust. I have high quality tint on my 03 Range Rover HSE that has marks on the side windows from people clacking the seat belt against the window. My 01 Boxster S has marks right above where I look at the passenger side mirror and my wifes 98 Boxster tint was so horrible I took it off as soon as we got it home.

The tint I have had has been high quality but as I stated above it is delicate and does not last as long as it should given the cost of putting it on.

It seems the older I get the more important clean glass seems to be to me.

 

[kehr]

I have an '07 blk/blk so I am on the other end of the spectrum of the OP's white car. The tint was the second thing I added to my car after the clear bra. I love the look and my 53 year old eyes don't have any problems at night. Keep in mind that the film also provides some UV protectio for your interior.

 

[gasman1]

I like a lighter 50% tint which would workout nice for the PACNW area.
Rear visibility is fine plus some glare protection from head lights behind.

 

[[email protected]]

Gasman1, your car is gorgeous! I saw you at the Cars/Coffee sat morning...

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I'm also in WA and have 35% tint and been very happy. I don't have auto dimming mirrors and find tint actually helps reduce the glare at night when a pickup is pointing its beams directly through the rear hatch. I don't really flip the dimmer on the rear view anymore as the tint takes care of unwanted glare. Visibility out the side windows may be worse at night but can't say I ever really noticed much of a change.

 

[gasman1]

bglz42, Thank you!

 

[Lead Foot]

Must have for me due to the blinding headlights from the cars behind at night. I found the manual day/night mirror to be clunky and more of a pain. I went with 35% non-ceramic Formula One tint and the car looks much sharper. No visibility issues.

 

[808croc]

I have had factory tint (privacy glass) on my 93 Range Rover reduce itself to micha like dust. I have high quality tint on my 03 Range Rover HSE that has marks on the side windows from people clacking the seat belt against the window. My 01 Boxster S has marks right above where I look at the passenger side mirror and my wifes 98 Boxster tint was so horrible I took it off as soon as we got it home.

The tint I have had has been high quality but as I stated above it is delicate and does not last as long as it should given the cost of putting it on.

It seems the older I get the more important clean glass seems to be to me.

sorry to read about your tint issues. either i'm lucky, or you're unlucky. i've never had any issues with the tints on any of my cars ('85 chevy s-10 blazer, '93 volvo 850, and '02 audi a4).

 

[gasman1]

A little trigonometry never hurt anybody! Given an approximate 30 deg. angle of the rear hatch window in a Cayman, this halves the effective tint % for light directly from the rear, e.g. bright head lights behind the car at night. This means a 50% tint converts to a 25% effective tint for light directly through the rear window. This explains why the rear hatch window as seen from behind at the driver level looks darker than do the side windows.

 

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

I live in PHX, AZ heat reduction tint is a necessity here.

 

[Law]

I have been back and forth with this issue. I once had 15% on my CS (really dark and looked really cool) tint only let 15% light through and with black interior you are barely seen from the side windows. I got really paranoid every time I saw a Police car (in Cali it is illegal to have ANY tint on the side glass, risk getting pulled over and receiving a "fix it" ticket, a huge amount of trouble flagging down a cop to sign off you fixed it, taking a morning off work, going to the court house to show proof or pay fine). So after a month or so rolling down the windows in sight of a cop, especially how I drive, I just pulled the tint off. That's where I'm at, I have been thinking about going a really light 50 or so % might get away with 30% because with a high end sports car it's kinda expected anyways. I do think windows look so plain without some sort of tint. There definitely is a fine line between good looking and trouble. It's the risk you have to consider.