Getting my Summer on
- Thread starter thaxman
- Start date
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- 2008 Mazda5 Touring
It's about time! I didn't deliver mine to my wife until I got the windows tinted. (sun)
No, no, no. I had them pull off the old 35% tint & go max legal in AZ. 35% up for the driver's doors, and 5% for the remainder and a 5% visor over the rearview mirror. I got some pics on the camera but have too much to do & haven't been able to upload anything yet. Also the silver/grey dashmat showed up & aside from the really ugly cutout where a pop-up nav would go on luxury vehicles, it fits REALLY well. In the summer, the dash probably reaches 130+F. And then it spends the next 6 hours radiating the heat back into the car. Can't say the dashmat is an "enhancement" but it is for functional survival here. It matches the A-pillars perfecty. I hope to have gotten good pics of the visor and dashmat. Soon we'll see. Maybe I can get them loaded 2nite btw work and class instead of eating dinner.
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- 2008 Mazda5 Touring
Who drives this mainly? I've had full limo (5%) on another vehicle for 10+ years now, and swore to never do that again. Hopefully your 35% fronts won't make it as unsafe.
Rockin03mp5
Member
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- '13 Mazda3 / '13 Edge / Your Mom
looks good. i have 5% on the rear windows as well. can be fun at night... but windows roll down and you can use the side mirrors.
This will be vehicle #3 that they have done this to. I had the Accord wagon receive this treatment 1st - it was painted somewhere between evergreen metallic and piano black. Beginning in late March all the way through October the car was hotter than a P.A. system heat sink. I lterally WOULD NOT use the AC because even when I opened ALL 5 doors to evacuate the hot air from being parked, and then drove with the AC on with the windows and sunroof open for 2 minutes to clear the rest of the hot air out of the car, after closing the car up it would still take 10 minutes to become less than ambient outdoor temp inside the car. I live 5 minutes from work. The tint helped but because the interior was sand colored, it didn't reduce interior temps much because the heat was radiating into the interior from the body. I sold it to a guy who took it back to NorCal, where the paint color isn't an issue.
Car #2 was the silver Subie with a medium grey interior. The tint reduced interior temps DRAMATICALLY!! The AC was ineffective on the wife's ride home facing into the late afternoon sun. After, the AC worked. IT WORKED! Sure, the windshield was still hotter than a stovetop, but the rest of the wagon was nice inside. Hoping that the same will apply here. The kids in the 3rd row get baked every summer even when all the doors are opened to evacuate the hot air before setting out. Hoping the dash mat reduces the dash temps as well. I have 2 sun shades stacked on top of each other - one partially opaque and a reflective one over it to cover the dash, but the dash would still be hot hot hot, even though it was technically fully shaded. It was over 90 yesterday & will be about the same today, so I'll ask the Mrs. how things went when she made the trip to school to pick up.
We've never had a problem with visibility and the 5%, at least not pro installed. Besides, the 5 has really huge door mirrors. (cool)
As an aside, in 04, we went to Disney World, Tampa, and Key Largo in June. The heat/humidity may have been oppressive, but when you started the car and turned on the AC, even on rental cars w/no tint, I was amazed that the AC worked by the time the doors were closed and we were moving. I don't think one can understand desert life until one's lived here. Rango kinda explains it, but they make it look silly.
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- 2008 Mazda5 GT
+1 on tint. It is a mandatory requirement for me on all cars and is the first thing I do as soon as I get keys in my hands. Only thing holding me back is the law. Had quite a few friends with 5-20% tint get pulled over and required to remove it on the spot or get a ticket and show proof of removing it in court –damn NJ cops. PA cops are cool about it. Personally, anything less then 20%, while great during daytime, becomes a nuisance when you have to backup in an environment that does not have surrounding streets lights. It's like looking into a dark abyss in the rear view mirror. Also bad when it fogs up in the back come winter or rainy/humid days, but neither of these are problem if you have a back-up cam. I can live with 35%. Enough to block up the burning sun yet light enough to not get any unwanted attention. Cut's the burning sun on the kids face when they fall asleep and I have additional static cling tint sheet (Walmart) for times when the sun is at dawn/dusk and can get straight into their eyes.
Update:
Had the car 3 years now, so we know the effect the desert sun has on black interior. So far, the 5% tint (from 35%, if not stated above) and the silver-grey dash mat have had a DRAMATIC effect on the interior and AC effectiveness. Before, if the car sat in open sun for 1 hr (with windshield shades) you could open all 5 doors, let the breeze blow out the stagnant hot air and get inside & run the AC & has little effect. The black dash would be almost too hot to touch and you could feel the heat radiate from the dash and seats. Now, if you open it up to load the kids inside, the hot air dissipates and the AC is effective. Obviously, this is of no importance to many of you, but those in Sun states may find this interesting.
Had the car 3 years now, so we know the effect the desert sun has on black interior. So far, the 5% tint (from 35%, if not stated above) and the silver-grey dash mat have had a DRAMATIC effect on the interior and AC effectiveness. Before, if the car sat in open sun for 1 hr (with windshield shades) you could open all 5 doors, let the breeze blow out the stagnant hot air and get inside & run the AC & has little effect. The black dash would be almost too hot to touch and you could feel the heat radiate from the dash and seats. Now, if you open it up to load the kids inside, the hot air dissipates and the AC is effective. Obviously, this is of no importance to many of you, but those in Sun states may find this interesting.
