Glass Canopy: To Tint or Not to Tint

[hydbob]

We, too, had an our new Lucid tinted (only the front and top glass, not the side windows). The tinting shop was also next to Lucid's point of distribution in Houston, Texas. It was not cheap even with my military discount. The shop owner all but guaranteed that his tint would do the trick. It did not. We just made a roundtrip to Austin. We would hate to see how hot it would have been had we not tinted the glass roof. It was almost too hot to keep the back of our hand touching the glass. This is clearly a design defect or else the glass used was not up to standard in hot climates such as Texas.

PS: It is only April in Texas, not July or August.

What tint did you put on?

 

[texas1Hog]

At the moment I don't have the paperwork. However you can contact Auto Film Specialists at 713-970-1099.

 

[TotalDetailingPA]

We, too, had an our new Lucid tinted (only the front and top glass, not the side windows). The tinting shop was also next to Lucid's point of distribution in Houston, Texas. It was not cheap even with my military discount. The shop owner all but guaranteed that his tint would do the trick. It did not. We just made a roundtrip to Austin. We would hate to see how hot it would have been had we not tinted the glass roof. It was almost too hot to keep the back of our hand touching the glass. This is clearly a design defect or else the glass used was not up to standard in hot climates such as Texas.

PS: It is only April in Texas, not July or August.

Automotive glass of any grade isn't going to reject heat. Only film will. The glass is infact to standard - but its going to get hot with the sun beating on it regardless - the only thing that will make the interior comfortable, will be tinting the roof/windshield.

AFS does great work. The owner is an industry leader.

 

[Adnillien]

We, too, had an our new Lucid tinted (only the front and top glass, not the side windows). The tinting shop was also next to Lucid's point of distribution in Houston, Texas. It was not cheap even with my military discount. The shop owner all but guaranteed that his tint would do the trick. It did not. We just made a roundtrip to Austin. We would hate to see how hot it would have been had we not tinted the glass roof. It was almost too hot to keep the back of our hand touching the glass. This is clearly a design defect or else the glass used was not up to standard in hot climates such as Texas.

PS: It is only April in Texas, not July or August.

I am curious where you think the energy goes when the intrinsic glass or tint blocks the transmission of heat into the car. It only has one place to go and that is the glass itself. Hence, the glass does get hot to the touch but the transmitted light is not heating you or the inside of the car. What you call a design defect, most would call physics.

I live an Phoenix and had my car all of last summer.

 

[Dr Chill]

All I can tell you is the metal roof lets in much less heat than then glass roof. Happy we made the switch here in South FL.

 

[linnea1]

I had my sides and rear window tinted this week and notice the difference nicely. It was a heat reflective tint which I may add to the roof if needed.. summer is coming and we do get heat here. I have a garage fortunately to hide the car from the sun…

 

[blueice89]

I did Spectra Photosync 45 on all side and rear windows, nothing on the windshield or canopy.

I am still debating on doing the windshield with 70% since it may provide more benefit. The windshield is difficult/expensive to tint. Good shops can do it but it takes time and skill. Since rock chips are common in AZ, I did not want to add the cost of new tint to the cost of a chipped whidshield replacement. Other forum members can comment on the benefits of windshield tint.

What did you end up tint wise?

 

[pjdcorp]

What did you end up tint wise?

I think that without tinting on the canopy, you will roast in warm weather. All my glass, including canopy, is tinted & it still gets pretty hot after the car sits in the sun in warm weather.

 

[blueice89]

I think that without tinting on the canopy, you will roast in warm weather. All my glass, including canopy, is tinted & it still gets pretty hot after the car sits in the sun in warm weather.

Yes I am for sure doing tint especially in Phoenix, its hot as hot can be..

My Az friends have mostly done PhotoSync so that's a new film to me
My usual installer does SunTek Evolve Ceramic ... (but last couple times i didn't like the film it looked hazy, and then one time they cut my glass on Lucid causing me to replace the glass)
So that installer I know about 10 years, is now someone I may not trust my Lucid with this next time.
And then Broski and some others mention 3M Cyrstalline.
Most folks say Photosync pretty good, but I have never used it, so not 100% sure of it, I dont want haze, I want clear picture, but I also want as much heat rejection as possible.
I also want uniform flowing tint of the car, and I want tint every glass surface.
Usually I do 35s all around and 70 front, wonder if I can do that in Photosync .

 

[texas1Hog]

Living in south Texas we thought tinting the all-glass roof was the way to go. Notwithstanding the high cost and the salesman's sales pitch we cannot help but to wonder if we were played a fool. The sun bearing down on the roof radiates heat on top of our heads. The A/C vents cannot be adjusted upward toward the glass roof.

 

[Alex]

Usually I do 35s all around and 70 front, wonder if I can do that in Photosync .

Yes, you can. It seems this forum is exploding today with people asking about Arizona Tinting. I've done PhotoSync on all my cars for the last 8 years. On the Lucid I did 70% on windshield and top glass and 45% all around (really wanted 55%). In Phoenix the only authorized dealer is Cactus Auto tint:

Prestige Spectra PhotoSync IRD Automotive Film - Cactus Window Tint | Automotive, Residential & Commercial Window Tinting - Scottsdale, AZ

Prestige Automotive Window Film Spectra PhotoSync IRD Automotive Window Film Spectra PhotoSync IRD The most advanced technology in automotive window film comes in our Spectra PhotoSync IRD® Series. Utilizing our patent-pending nano technology, our lines of window films block out more

cactustint.com

 

[blueice89]

Yes, you can. It seems this forum is exploding today with people asking about Arizona Tinting. I've done PhotoSync on all my cars for the last 8 years. On the Lucid I did 70% on windshield and top glass and 45% all around (really wanted 55%). In Phoenix the only authorized dealer is Cactus Auto tint:

Prestige Spectra PhotoSync IRD Automotive Film - Cactus Window Tint | Automotive, Residential & Commercial Window Tinting - Scottsdale, AZ

Prestige Automotive Window Film Spectra PhotoSync IRD Automotive Window Film Spectra PhotoSync IRD The most advanced technology in automotive window film comes in our Spectra PhotoSync IRD® Series. Utilizing our patent-pending nano technology, our lines of window films block out more

cactustint.com

Its probably mostly me asking questions lol. My car is currently tint less and shopping around picking people minds.
Alex, how you compare photosync to say Llumar stratos?

 

[blueice89]

Same question for anyone else: Llumar Stratos or Photosync?

 

[Alex]

Its probably mostly me asking questions lol. My car is currently tint less and shopping around picking people minds.
Alex, how you compare photosync to say Llumar stratos?

Not familiar with Llumar Stratos, but from many web searches and comparisons from other tints, PhotoSync has the highest TSER rating for a given % of light transmission. You can compare the PDF above with the Llumar PDF below and see that for their IRX series which is the best heat rejection, they rate 49% TSER for their 55% tint vs PhotoSync's 68%TSER for their 55% tint. Also, the Llumar appears to not have anything greater than 55% light transmissibility, which would not be acceptable for the windshield (you would probably get pulled over for that). Here are some links to some brands

PDF WINDOW FILM PERFORMANCE DATA | Automotive: North America - LLumar

https://www.xpel.com/web-assets/downloads/XPEL-PRIME-Spec-Sheet-v2.pdf

In doing some web searches, it appears that Stratos is a Formula One brand, so not sure if it really is Llumar. But the bottom line is the TSER rating. Most brands will give you a high UV & IR rating. Even though PhotoSync has been around for a long time, it appears to have the highest TSER rating.

 

[Dr Chill]

Same question for anyone else: Llumar Stratos or Photosync?

I had Spectra Photosync on my Taycan and have Stratos on my Lucid. No appreciable difference in my opinion. Did my windshield with Clear blue 80 on both cars. Windshield was $200 extra. Compared to my first Lucid Air Touring with glass Canopy, my second Touring has a metal roof which dropped the interior temps dramatically here in South FL. Much prefer the metal roof.

 

[blueice89]

I had Spectra Photosync on my Taycan and have Stratos on my Lucid. No appreciable difference in my opinion. Did my windshield with Clear blue 80 on both cars. Windshield was $200 extra. Compared to my first Lucid Air Touring with glass Canopy, my second Touring has a metal roof which dropped the interior temps dramatically here in South FL.

How much was total for Stratos on your Lucid?

 

[Dr Chill]

How much was total for Stratos on your Lucid?

$650 for side and rear windows.

 

[Dr Chill]

Still waiting for that Weathertech sun shade for the windshield though. Need to cut down heat as much as possible.

 

[Tginther]

I have 25% on the side windows and 35% on the rear and windshield/canopy. Absolutely love it on the glass canopy, makes all the difference. 90+ degree humid day in FL with sim overhead and interior stays nice and cool, don’t feel the heat of the suns rays.

I originally had the lightest film available which clicked 95% of the UV rays but the cat got very uncomfortable during the day. There was An issue with the original film installation and it needed to be replaced. I learned my lesson and went with this dark time and it is fantastic!

 

[Alex]

I originally had the lightest film available which clicked 95% of the UV rays but the cat got very uncomfortable during the day. There was An issue with the original film installation and it needed to be replaced. I learned my lesson and went with this dark time and it is fantastic!

Yes, UV rejection really does not do much for heat. You need good IR and TSER rejection to deal with heat. As I mentioned before in this thread PhotoSync provides the best TSER currently without having to go to an extreme dark tint – which looks cool, but makes nighttime driving difficult, especially in poorly lit roads and driveways (at least for me).