Review: HeatShield Windshield Sun Reflector

[Namuna]

Haven't seen too much on the subject of sun reflectors for our twins, so I figured I'd try the one from HeatShield and share my findings.

For folks not familiar, a sun reflector is that shiny metallic material you see people put in their windshields when it's really hot and sunny out. The reflectors' purpose is to block the suns rays from the cars' interior, thereby keeping the inside cooler, and keeping all surfaces from being too hot to touch.

These reflectors can be had for as cheap as $7 from Wal-Mart, or all the way up to over $100 for the one made by TRD. This tested one from HeatShield is their gold series and sells for $49.95 (Silver is $39.95 and functionally equivalent).

Here are the links to their respective products for BRZ/FRS:
For BRZ
For FR-S

I actually started off with buying a generic, cheap $7 reflector from Wal-Mart. The fit was awful so I tried to cut it to size myself. After that failed miserably, I decided to spend the extra money and find a quality reflector that was fitted to my FR-S. After some web hunting, I found HeatShield. They make fitted reflectors for our twins, it looks like a quality product and though the price is considerably more than a cheap wallyworld reflector, it's still less than some of the others out there.

The first thing to note when ordering is that it can take up to a couple of weeks to get one, as they're each custom cut at the time of the order so there could be a backlog.

Once it arrives, it comes in a protective drawstring bag.



The reflector itself also has a velcro strap to keep it rolled-up when stored.



As for storing it when not in use, I keep it out of the bag (for convenience and another reason which I'll explain below) and in the backseat.



Mounting the reflector is fairly straightforward, you unroll the reflector with the shinier side towards the windshield and with the rear-view mirror cutout at the top. Once it's unrolled, push the reflector down into where the windshield meet the dash and then fold it around your rear-view mirror (Even with the 3rd party 300mm wide mirror I have, it's no problem).



Now fold both sun-visors down to lock the reflector in place and it's done.



Here's how it looks from the outside.



All in all, this is a solid product. The fit is dead-on (well, mostly will explain shortly) and it keeps the car from being a roasting oven when shade isn't available.

A few points to note:
1. I say the fit is mostly dead-on and that I store this reflector out of it's bag because to store it in the bag you have to tightly roll the reflector and then velcro it. the problem occurs when you unroll it and put it in place, the ends tend to want to curl back up which leaves a sliver of space on either side for the sun to get through.
2. Reflectors keep the sun out of the interior, which includes the blocking the sun from the shift knob. This is particularly helpful if you've got a metal alloy knob that gets super hot in the sun and burns to the touch.

[zeal86]

Love mine! I have the silver reflector in 3 vehicles. +1 on this being a solid product!

2014 6-speed Monogram (37J)