Conflicted with TINT%!
 

I already browsed through the other tint questioned threads but I still want to ask because I have specific percentages in mind. I was debating either:

1. 20% all around OR
2. 35% in front/sides and 20% in back (I'm gonna assume no one does driver/passenger windows one percentage and the rear tiny little triangles another percentage? <- I hope that made sense)

I'm mainly worried about visibility at night (I am fully aware that the legal % in NY is 70% lol). I've seen the 20% in person and it looks pretty dark when you're looking into the car but not bad when you're inside looking out...HOWEVER, this was in broad daylight. Never got to see visibility at night. What do you guys recommend? TIA! :)

[EDIT] By "front/sides" I actually meant the sides of the driver and passenger, not the windshield. I plan on leaving the windshield as is.

I wouldn't go any darker than 35% in front. If you tint all the glass, it should look a lot darker than tinting all but the windshield. 35% all around would probably look pretty dark. It's illegal here to have any sort of tint on your windshield though, so I never see it.

I did. Mainly for legal reasons and to try and avoid hassle. I did 20% rear glass and back small windows and 35% front originally. (I'm at 50% now after getting pulled over)

I have 15% on the rear window. That's pretty good since the rear window faces the sun a lot and lets in a majority of heat. You'll definitely want the rear window darker than the others.

As far as the small windows on the sides of the back seats and the driver/passenger windows...I have those at 35%. Sometimes I wish that I had gotten 25% which is the lowest we can go here in Texas, but I got my tint done at a friend's place and the darkest he had available was 35%.

The only time it doesn't look dark enough is when you're looking right through the driver window and through the passenger window during mid day. If you look at the tint at any other angle the dark interior of the car makes the tint actually look a lot darker than it really is.

Personally I'd try to match the driver/passenger windows with the backseat windows. I think it looks messy when you have two windows next to each other and they are different shades of tint. You should try to keep the sides of the car uniform IMO.

If I were you I'd go with 20% all around if it's possible. I like the uniform look.
If you can't do 20% all around then maybe 15% rear window, and 35% for the rest. That's what I have and it looks great.

FYI....15% on the rear window is still good to see out of. Any darker though and you're asking for problems. I installed a reverse camera so I actually don't use my back window for reversing much though...

Technically 35% is the legal limit in Texas for the tint itself.

All glass has some tint to it already, and vehicle glass a little more -- about 8% give or take a couple percent. So installers in Texas use something in the range of 30-35%, as that actually puts you at about the legal light transmission rate in the state when a meter is used on the window (the law specifically states that the limit is 25% "when measured in combination with the original glass")

As for the OP: I'd go with Option 2. As far as the little windows goes most people go with something darker, simply because the laws allows it (in many places). But, given their size, and how relatively light is visible through them and you mostly see just black interior through them from most angles, they're always going to appear significantly darker than the door windows either way, so it's really a moot point.

Not sure about the laws where you live, but here's what 20% all around looks like for reference. Just FYI, where I live, it's completely illegal to have ANY % tint on your front windows. You can only do rear windows here, and I still haven't been given any grief. A lot of cops have come up to me and told me my car looked nice. :)
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Did you get pulled over for tint specifically? I've never got pulled over for tint and I don't know what % I've had, but it was always the one shade lighter than limo tint. The guy who tints my windows has 4 choices, 1 being lightest and 4 being limo tint. I always get #3.

What are your reasons for getting tint? Are you going for the look or functionality or both?


I personally just wanted the heat and UV protection. The black out looks is cool, but gets real old when backing out at night. I also planned on tracking the car and I wanted the best visibility.

With that being said I went with the 3m Crystalline 30% all around. I don't have pics but I will get some. At night it looks blacked out unless there is a light on in the car. During the day its pretty visible, just think legal 35% tint.

The advantage comes in with the heat rejection and UV protection. The crystalline tint has dropped the interior temps substantially. Perfect visibility out all windows at night. Superb visibility during the day. I highly reccomened it if your going for function and looks.




If your just tinting it for the privacy + heat get whatever tint. But I think the 20% all around (including front) is asking to get a ticket. Remember when you tint the windshield it makes it much darker all around.

Since the legal is 70% id say the best combo is 35% with 50% or even 70% windshield. Any darker than that and it is going to very noticeable.

You'll find that thIs cabin is very shaded and being such dark colors interior wise to begin with you'll be happy with a much less % then you think. I went sides and back at 30% honestly it's on verse of being too dark and I always have liked dark tint. Personally I wouldn't tint front even if I could seeing 100% clear forwards is well pretty paramount of importance and safety. Just my opinion of course.

Yes. Only the tint. Car was stock otherwise and i had the cruise set to the speed limit on a long road trip.

Tint laws in NY are 70% sides and anything you want for the back.

If you are going to risk it, might as well go dark...

I have 20% except windshield. Few months ago, I almost hit someone who was walking on crosswalk when I was trying to make a left turn. It was raining/night, so it was kind of hard to see. Even now, to get a perfect sight, I would have to lean forward and look through front windshield... I know it's dumb, but the vision isn't good at night.

I asked a cop buddy here what I should do when I had my GTI. Legal limit here is 28% all around minus windshield, I think. He said do 20% so that's what I did. Never had any issues with police. However, if I do tint again I'm likely doing 30ish. In dark rural areas I couldn't see a damn thing out any window except the windshield with 20% lol.

Hello OP again lol
like others said, get 35% at front and 20% back or whatever lol
mine is 35% and rarely get pulled over and it's dark enough to fullfill your satisfaction

dark tint (<20%) only looks good on black cars IMO.

I went with 20% rear, 35% on all 3 parts of the front windows. Looks great.

I have 15% all around and limo in the back on my FJ... but it's black..

do 15-20% all around. You won't regret it. But if you do it too light you will.Trust me. I had that debate too. Honestly having 15% for a few months now, I want something even lower.

Don't be a puss and get 5%, your girlfriend will thankyou. ;)

20% all around except windshield.
Seeing through the windows at night is a little tougher. I started taking a few extra seconds checking for pedestrians. I didn't even think about visibility when I got tints but it doesn't make me regret getting 20% at all. Just gotta be safer at night. Day-time driving is amazing
Can't recommend tinting the windshield

I had 20% all around with a 5% 6" visor on the windshield on my last car for a couple years. I also live in New York, never had a problem with cops and even when pulled over for other things they wouldn't check my tints or say anything about them. This could be a different situation when driving an 86 though, as I'm sure it would be much more of a cop magnet than a family sedan...

I have heard that it's best to drive with your windows down if you're on a state parkway like southern state & northern state etc. because state police are much more strict than just regular Suffolk cops (This is Long Island of course, not sure where in NY you are).

As far as visibility, it can be difficult to back up at night if you're not comfortable with your surroundings. I've parallel parked hundreds of times in Brooklyn with 20% tints all around without a problem though. Some bright LED reverse lights always help too. When I get my 86 I will most likely be going with 20% all around again but since she'll be new and pretty I may invest in a back-up camera for added safety.

BTW, if you're looking for a good place to get them done, I got my last job done at underground tinting in bohemia, they did a great job and it was at a good price too. Once again I don't know if you're on LI, but if you are I recommend them!

I recommend that you leave the windows alone. During the dark, rainy nights in New York, you need all the visibility possible ...... I don't care how young your eyes are .... http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...es/shocked.gif

Hey, so I'm no fun ...... but, you asked ..... http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra.../images/eh.gif

humfrz

I got 20% in the back and 30/35?% for the front/sides. Visibility is fine, but then again 99% of my night driving is in NYC. Question for you - do you drive through Westchester 'cause I've seen a firestorm every once in a while on 9A. when going home from work.

I did this. Would not go any darker in the back (wouldn't be able to see anymore) and would not do any darker in the front (legality reasons).

35% on side windows and banner across top of windshield. 30% on rear window.

35% all around (except front). And don't bother with the strip, the area allowed is so tiny anyway. Different tint percentages look bad in my opinion, make it uniform all around and retain a little safety as well. Hell even with 35% on mine it's still dark at night.

Pretty sure mine is 32% all around since it was dealer installed and said AL, GA, and FL legal (32% being the limit for AL and GA).

I wouldn't want to go any darker. Visibility is just fine at night, but any darker than 30% I think I might have issues seeing out the back. Personally I'd stick to legal, but if I really wanted to go lower I think the lowest I'd go in a state with 70% being the limit is 50% all around.... Not worth a ticket IMO. The 32% certainly does its job in Atlanta, I don't see the point of going any darker other than for cosmetics up your way.

Location: NY

First of all legal in NY is 75%, the stock tint

Second anything you do will be factored by stock tint. So if you get 50% it will really be 35%

See how many tint tickets you get before you decide stock (75%) is fine. It took me 2 years on my last car. When I got my ticket at 21% I realized looking good is not worth the price.

Yeah if your state is strict on tints then I would go 35% or lighter all around.

Good point about the dark interior of the car. Never even crossed my mind!

Yes, now that I think about it, I'd probably prefer to have the sides of the car uniform. Might be a little easier for the guy doing the tints too. I can do 20% all around (though illegal) but I'm just afraid it will be too dark at night and I don't want to risk mine and others' safety although 20% all around during daylight I think looks AWESOME :thumbup:

Ahhh, reverse camera! That's going to be on my list of things to get for the car now. THANKS A LOT, there goes another chunk of change hahaha. Just kidding! But not about the reverse camera going on my list of things to get. I'm so bad at estimating where the back ends on all the cars I drive; I always end up having way to much extra space :cry: It probably has something to do with the fact that I'm Asian. AND female. FAIL :lol:

Didn't know the stock glass already had tint to it. Looks super un-tinted to me!

I am now leaning towards option 2 after reading everyone's comments. But I think I'm going to keep the sides a uniform tint instead of two different percentages because the back window is the tiniest little triangles. Thanks! :thumbsup:

Thanks for the picture references! I think 20% in daylight looks awesome but I think I'm going to have trouble at night driving with them :( In NY, 70% is legal for the front. Not sure about windshield but I'm not going to tint that anyway. When I said "front" I meant the sides of the passenger and driver. Sorry if I was confusing! You're super lucky to not have any problems with the cops with your 20%! :happyanim:

I'm going for both look and functionality. Completely un-tinted looks "naked" to me and it would be nice if the interior didn't feel like an oven as well as having some privacy!

Is "Crystalline tint" something extra they add into the tint? Like do they have normal 3M and 3M Crystalline? I'm leaning towards my second option: 35% on the sides and 20% on the back. Windshield untouched. :D

Yup, that's one of my main concerns in getting it too dark.

If I get 5%, I might as well just crash the car into a tree because that's probably what's gonna happen LOL. I'm a female and straight, so no girlfriends for me :D

I wasn't planning on tinting the windshield. I already have enough trouble seeing out of my little Asian eyes HAHAHA :lol:

I'm sure I'm more of a target now especially since it's RED too. I hate the cold so I can't be driving around with windows down when it's cold out, boooo :( I'm actually located in Nassau County and mainly drive in LI (both Nassau and Suffolk) and Queens. Someone else mentioned a back-up camera which I think is a great idea. Definitely looking into that. Thanks for the recommendation in Bohemia but I already have a place. I'm getting clear bra + tints together at the same time this weekend :happyanim:

I think that's what I'll be getting. 20% in the back and 35% on the sides. The place I'm going to has 20% and 35% along with the other percentages but not 30%. I hate driving in the city! Those darn taxis!!! :mad0260: I don't drive through Westchester at all, I'm predominantly out in Long Island and Queens :)

Then I guess I will cross my fingers, knock on wood and hope I don't get any tickets! :)

After reading everyone's comments, I think I'll stick to my second option with 35% on the sides, 20% on the back and nothing done to the windshield. I'm getting both the clear bra and tints this weekend, woohoo! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL YOUR HELP! It was super helpful and I'm very grateful! :)

State: New Mexico
20% all around with 5% visor strip, which meets state law.

I recommend going as dark as your state allows.