Thursday, May 12, 2011
In the Phoenix heat, it really isn’t a question of if you should get window tint or not...it’s a must unless you basically want to fry. :) There are a lot of different options and brands out there and prices seem to range between $150 on the cheap end to $550 on the high end. I figured you do it once, and over the life of the car, what’s another few hundred to do it right? After doing my research I decided on Huper Optik Drei. Huper Optik has a few different tint options but the Drei Series is considered their best when it comes to just about every category. Visible Light Transmission is 35% (which keeps in on the legal side for Arizona), Glare Reduction is 61%, UV Rejection 99.9%, IR Rejection 98% and Energy (Heat) refection is rated at 70%. You can see how it compares to other Huper Optik tints on this website.
I went to Danny’s Family Carwash on Scottsdale Rd. and Tierra Buena as Danny’s is the whole Huper Optik authorized dealer in Arizona, so you really don’t have much choice if this is the tint you want. I called them about 5 weeks ago to inquire about the cost and was told $549. I called today and was told...$699! Uh...what?! I told the guy the previous price I got, he said he had to check with the manager and ended up honoring the previous price. I called three other Danny’s and they all said $699, so maybe the price went up since it got hotter? Maybe. So...$549...then I wanted the sunroof tinted as well, which was another $30 plus tax came out to a cringing $630.
Enough with the story...how’s the tint? Freaking fantastic! I previously had no tint and with the sun hitting the driver’s side window, I could really feel the sun’s heat to the point where it was uncomfortable. I had to use the sun visor but it was normally not wide enough and I needed to lean forward to drive, it was that bad. Now, I could barely even tell the sun was shining through. The difference is crazy.
I, of course, had to take it a step further and do some testing. ;) Stopped by Home Depot on the way home and picked up a cheap infrared thermometer. And by cheap I don’t mean price (it was only $29) but I don’t know how accurate it really is, the temps were a bit sporadic at times.
So here’s what we’ve got...first some pictures of the car and then the tests...
Before...
After....
In the shade, it’s fairly dark and VERY reflective at certain angles.
In direct sunlight however, it’s pretty light and almost unnoticeable in my opinion.
For the heat testing, I used a 500W flood light which I already had. Measured directly, the flood light came in at an insane 543º F!
The stock glass offers significant heat reduction already, even without any tint, dropping the temperature down to 196.7º F measured through the windshield. I’ve read that the windshield is considerably thicker than the side windows so it may be blocking more heat than the side windows would...I didn’t have a chance to test the side windows without tint unfortunately.
With the Huper Optik Drei window tint applied, the temperature drops to 119.8º. What’s really impressing though, more than the number, is how much cooler it feels about 2” away from the glass, which I can’t measure. You barely barely feel any heat coming through, very faint, whereas with the windshield, it is very hot at the same 2”. I’ll have to see how I can get a loaner car from Audi to test a non-tined window. ;)
I also did a quick temperature reading of the leather in a spot where the sun hit it through the front windshield and a spot where the sun hit it through a side window that had the Huper Optik Drei tint installed. This was about 5:30pm with the sun low in the sky and not nearly as strong, it was about 95º outside. I’ll have to retest when summer rolls around.
Without tint...
