I'm planning on getting my windows tinted next week. I've got a black on black coupe with Aerokit. Trying to decide between 20-35% tint. Went to the place today and they thought the 35 would look best.

They use two types of film. Either Digi Film or Llumar. Ereryone seems tyo know Llumar but these guys were pushing the Digi Tint for a black on black car becuase it gives a true smoke look. Anyone ever hear of this film or use it before. Both Llumar and Digi Film have lifetime warrenty.

Any thoughts on the Degree and type of film?

 

If its legal in your state, the darker looks best i think. I love the dark window look on sports cars. 35% is the limit in our state. I am tinting my car with Madico Onyx tint. It's a metallic black tint that reflects a very deep black when you look at it. At an angle it looks its true degree. It looks darker than it is. Its expensive to get, but it might be a consideration to have a blacker look against your black paint. The only problem with truly darker degrees of tint are night visibility loss. If your rear is 20%, you wont see nearly as much at night as if its 35%.

 

Search for similar threads on the Turbo Forum. Personally, I put nothing but 20% metalic tint all the way around on my cars. Of course I live in sunny Los Angeles, and the extra darkness helps keep temps cooler inside. I would strongly recommend a metalized film - they help reflect heat much better than conventional film and are less suceptable to turning purple. Contrary to how it sounds, they are available in black, not just the shiny silver. You'll pay $50-$100 more for metalized but trust me it is SO WORTH IT. As for brand name...I don't really look at that - I look for length of warranty.

 

fwiw, i got mine tinted to 35% with llumar, which was the limit in my state. i toyed with the idea of going to 20%, but decided to stay legal. one week later when i went to get my car inspected, the first thing the guy did was pull out the light meter and test it! he looked at me and said "barely legal - you're lucky."

fyi, the guy who put my tint on swears by llumar, and says the other brands are not as good. i've no idea whether that's true, but i'm very happy with mine.

 

hey cable guy,

in answer to your question about the tint on my car windows... there is none. likely, the position of the sun, in the picture of Nacelle, makes it look like the windows are tinted

 

Tinting is an excellent idea... makes the AC much more efficient and protects the interior from fading. You want to make sure that you have a good tint film, I look for Llumar myself. But you can have the best tint in the world look like crap if poorly installed... so on that note make sure you goto a good installer. As far as darkness, check the local laws, in FL I think the max is 35% on the front windows though you can go darker on the back. Trust me... to dark is a royal PIA at night.

 

Everyone seems to like the Lumar taht I talk to. This shop has been around for 15 years and they carry both llumar and digitint. This DIGITint is fairly new. Been around for about 5 years. Few bucks cheeper (who cares)then the llumar but the guy at the shop seemed to push it, thinking that would look best on my black on black coupe. HE said that the DigiTint is a true smoke. Also, it's computer cut to fit your car. Should I try it? Both are acked by liftime warrenties.

 

Go to the digitint website - http://www.digitint.com/ - it is SO cheesy, and it doesn't tell you anything about the window film, it just says how it helps the installer's shop make lots of profit.

I'd stay away from it.

BTW, what does he mean by a "true smoke"??? I don't like smoke tints because they tend to look too brown. Maybe I'm wrong, but still I'd stay with metalized Llumar (called Titanium or Platinum I believe) anyday.

 

Trojan Man..Thanks for the website. What he meant by a true smoke was a charcoal color. Not a brown finish. They like the digitint especially for SUV becuase they can get an exact match to the rear windows.

I'm a little hesitant using it, but they swear by it. I'm so confused.

 

cableguy,
If these guys love Digitint, see if they have a vehicle sitting around that has it. What's on their cars? The only way to really be sure is if YOU like the way it looks, so ask them if they can show you a Llumar AND a Digitint side by side...

 

I saw both.....Lumar had more of a mirror look. DIGItint was more of a plain smoke. They though Digi tint would look better on the black on black.

 

You might want to look into ceramic tint as well. It rejects heat much better than the dyed ones. I used 35% Huper Optik (ceramic) tint on the P-Car and it works great. In terms of heat rejection, its much better than the Llumar tint on my other cars. Twice as expensive though.

 

Unless I am missing something... Looking at the website it looks like the digitint is just the computer aided system for cutting the tint. This helps the shop b/c they can get the job done quicker, use cheaper/ less experienced installers, and charge the same amount; hence more profit for the installing store. Still, the real trick is in the quality of the actual install. I would ask to see some of the work the installer has done and make sure you look at closely when finished. No tint job is ever going to be 100%, but someone that cares about their work should be able to do a very good job.

 

Here's a link to the Sam's Tinting who would be doing the installation. I think DIGItint is also the brand of Film? This place have been around for 15 years I believe.

http://www.samstinting.com/

 

Can anyone recommend a good place to get windows tinted in the SF Bay Area?

Thanks