Advice regarding tinten windows

[paul_a3_tdi130]

Hi Guys been thinking about getting my windows tinted and was wondering what would be the best combination?

My cars a Black sport

Option 1: mid tint all round

Option 2: Limo black on the rear and back windows and light on the front 2

Option 3: Limo black on rear, mid on back sides and light on fronts


Don't want this as a poll just wanting people opinions? and not just looking at the 3 options

Some pics of my car encase anyone wants to photoshop it for me or to get an idea of what it will look like

Thanks

 

[Rocko]

Tinting the front windows in anything other than light smoke will draw attention from the local plod.

Plus in future it will be an MOT failure (it already is over here)

Saying that, mine are very dark rears and back and slightly less on the fronts. Its not legal, but I swap out my windows come MOT time.

 

[Rocko]

And Ill sort you out a few chops tomorrow.

 

[paul_a3_tdi130]

Cheers mate, not to bother about MOT's as there sorted ;-)

 

[aragorn]

Its more the fact that ANY film applied to the front side windows is illegal.

This was changed a few years ago to counter the fact that few police cars were equipped with the hardware to measure if the tinting film was too dark or not.

Basically you get pulled over and the coppers see you've applied tinting film, they WILL hit you with a removal order where you need to remove it and have the thing stamped by an appropriate garage to state that the changes have been affected correctly

It really depends if you want the hassle. Mid tints on the rear side and rear screen will make the fronts look darker anyway. If you go very dark on the rears with a light tint on the fronts, you might not get any hassle as it might look like the fronts are standard.

 

[aragorn]

also, if you've never been in a car with dark smoke tints while driving/manoevering at night you might want to thing carefully.

Mate of mine had limo black on the rear screen and rear side windows, and a medium tint on the fronts a few years ago in a Pug 306 and said it was treacherous to drive at night as you cant see ****** all.

 

[paul_a3_tdi130]

also, if you've never been in a car with dark smoke tints while driving/manoevering at night you might want to thing carefully.

Mate of mine had limo black on the rear screen and rear side windows, and a medium tint on the fronts a few years ago in a Pug 306 and said it was treacherous to drive at night as you cant see ****** all.

Really good point i forgot about an Astra that i used to have and at night it was a right nitemare errrrrmmmmmm decisions decisions

 

[aragorn]

i'd go with a mid/light smoke on the rears and leave the fronts and see how it looks. That way its all legal and you can still see.

If you find you want the fronts done too, then you can always do them at a later date, and even pickup some spare glass incase you do ever get any plod problems.

Just need to complete the black look by dechroming the car, joey modding the headlamps and painting the rims black too.

 

[JamesS4cab]

joey modding the headlamps

Aragon - WTF does this mean??

 

[1wheelonly]

think he means de-chroming the back parts of the headlights leaving only the projector bits chrome like our cabs, cant see the attraction myself , it might look nice but i find my headlights *****

 

[aragorn]

http://www.lr90.org/Audi/lights

 

[J7USS]

Dont go limo Black, that'll look Tacky mate serious!

Go with 25% sides and 50% rear screen!

have a look at my (old) Red one, its 50% rear sides and rear window & 25% up front, I think 25% all round will look just right....imo of course

 

[quattrojames]

Personally I think due to the amount of cars on the roads these days with "Privacy Glass" that less is more.

I also feel that the Avants can carry off darker rear glass better than the saloons, and at the end of the day while you may be able to get the car through an MoT if you need to, eventually you will get stopped and fined/VDRS'd or whatever - plus there are genuine safety issues in having the front windows too dark.

25% tint all round IMO.

 

[ScottyP45]

aye a lad at work with an S4 has the windows 25% all sides and rear and it looks dark as hell from the outside until you see inside and its quite clear.

It gives a good effect without being too dark to see out. Dunno if its a polarised film or something tho, never asked and dont know if you get such things on motor tints.

 

[Marc1]

The percentage refers to the amount of light that can get through, therefore 50% is a lighter shade than 20%.

They generally fall into the following brackets, although there are some slight variations between the films:-

50% is the lightest tint (but still officially illegal as you need to allow 70% light through IIRC)
35% = Mid smoke
20% = Dark (OEM privacy glass shade)
5% = Limo black

Also take into account what your interior / head lining is like. Black seats and headlining will make the tint appear darker. As will tinting the fronts.

Don't have a black car or photoshop, but this is 35% rear only, with grey (pale) interior.

 

[J7USS]

Some tint guys refer the 25% as the tint, some refer it to the amount of light it lets in.
I was refering to the 25% tint like my tint guy does. Like the yanks, they sometimes call the dark tint 50% and limo up to 90%.

So basically I meant a light smoke tint all round.

 

[paul_a3_tdi130]

Cheers for the advice so far guys looking for more pictures and advice before i make a decision like

 

[mrjheeta]

on my old b5, i had limo black at the back, and a mid smoke at the front. i got pulled over one day whilst i was up in leicester, made me pull into a car park and checked all my docs, all were fine, then i put my window back up, he stopped me yet again, did the light test at the front, pulled out a pen, started hacking at my front windows to rip the tint off. i was gutted. also gave me a fine! so just a word of warning, they wont hesitate to rip your tints off at the side of the road.

 

[Xmay4444]

Hi guys,
Was out with VoSA and the Police yesterday morning and in an aprox 5hr period, up to 20 vehicles were pulled just bcos of the tints on their front windows. Even the slightest hint of tint, (no rhyme intended), was checked. You may get away with it if the traffic Police can't be bothered with you, but if they can or you get stopped and VoSA are with them then you will surely have to get them removed.

 

[aragorn]

Yer, a lot of people dont realise the law was changed a few years back.

They used to just state a minimum light transmission value, ie 75% of all light hitting the glass must pass through. However due to the issues and expense of having every police car equipped with suitable measuring kit, they modified the law to add that any film applied to the front windows was illegal. That way they don't even have to measure it, if its a film, they can tell you to remove it.