Not sure but I think the VOLT has a coated or inner coated windshield or glass to reduce the solar radiation.

Hopefully one of the Chevrolet people will find this thread and be able to comment on it?

 

I would really love to know if it has some built in solar protection because then there really wouldn't be much of a need to use aftermarket tint. This would be great since its so hard to see out of tinted glass at night.

 

I had the 3m Crystalline 90 applied to my Volt's windshield and I have other 3m Color Stable films on the other windows. I haven't encountered any problems with the A/C other than it being 104 degrees here this week and having to run it too much despite the tinting!

Anyway I don't really know anything about the solar sensor but my experience has been that everything works fine. I run the A/C on Eco with the fan at about half way and the car stays pretty cool after it pushs out the resident heat and as soon as it starts cooling down I switch it to internal air.

So if it works here in South Texas I think you'll have no problems with the heat there

 

How much does the 3m crystaline tint cost to put in?

 

thanks zagnuts, I think I'm going to go ahead and get it applied, any issues with vision at night?

Fleming

 

No problems with night vision. One of the more curious things I was told was the crystaline 90 is actually more clear than the glass it was applied to which is why it doesn't impair vision and why it is legal to use in most states.

The only issues with the crystaline are that it will have these kind of tiny divots while it is curing and that will take about 2-3 weeks before it completely dries and they go away. Oh but the second bigger problem is if something gets in there while they are applying it like for example a hair! I actually had this tiny thing show up in my field of vision and when I went back to ask the place what it was and if they could fix if they figured out it was a tiny piece of hair like beard stubble or something. Problem is they can't really do anything about it short of pulling the whole thing off and redoing it but over time objects trapped in there will start to lay flat and like now I don't even notice it.

But for lessons learned ask them if they can apply it in a dust free environment and if that is not possible ask them to make sure to watch for anything that will be right in the driver's field of vision, like just above the steering wheel at eye level.

One more thing to know about the film they will have to cut out a small piece for the inspection sticker and license but if they do it right you should not even notice it.

I don't remember how much they charged to put in the crystaline but they did it as part of a package where they did the whole car at the same time. I think it was around $550 total for all the 3m stuff that has a lifetime warrenty.

 

Tint effect is cumulative.

If the original glass blocks say 20% of the light, and then you add tint that blocks 10% of the light coming through the original glass, you are down to 72% of the total light coming through into the cabin.

So don't let some tinting shop high school drop out that said yes to drugs at every possible opportunity convince you that you don't lose some light when you add a tint that blocks 10% of the light (10% blockage of light is why they call it Crystaline "90").

Also, at $550 to tint your car, keep in mind that you probably are not looking at any return on investment since that money could be used to buy the extra electricity and gasoline needed to run the A/C at a higher rate. And since the factory windows already have solar blocking capabilities, you are only talking about running the AC a little bit less with the new tint, which means you may never get an ROI.

 

I certainly didn't mean to make it sound like a sales pitch. Honestly it might not be worth it to some folks but on the drive home from work yesterday the temp reading on the Volt's display was 107 degrees (anyone know what that is actually measuring because it was supposedly 104 here in town). I figure everything I can do to keep the heat from getting in the car the better.

And my previous car, a saturn, actually had the dashboard crack because of all the expansion and contraction with the heat so a few hundred bucks to potentially save the Volt's interior from such damage seems worth it in my opinion.

 

If you did a before and after temperature test of your car sitting in the sun, you would see that it would reach the same temperature inside the car. It might take a little longer to get there, but not enough to protect your interior from cracking. It's the green house effect at work.

I certainly didn't mean to make it sound like a sales pitch. Honestly it might not be worth it to some folks but on the drive home from work yesterday the temp reading on the Volt's display was 107 degrees. I figure everything I can do to keep the heat from getting in the car the better.

And my previous car, a saturn, actually had the dashboard crack because of all the expansion and contraction with the heat so a few hundred bucks to potentially save the Volt's interior from such damage seems worth it in my opinion.

 

My tint shopping has lead me to strongly favor the 3M Crystalline tint. While I'm not looking for Limo tint, I was hoping for something a slight bit darker than 3M offers in the Crystalline line. One of the better rated tint shops in my area (Tint Factory) sells primarily 3M tints, but they also offer another ceramic tint line that offers darker options (SPX I believe).

Tint Factory has a very impressive tint demonstration at their store. It is a heat lamp in a box. Various window tints are on each of the four sides of the box. They turn on the heat lamp and let you feel the amount of heat that passes through each of the different types of window coatings. The 3M Crystalline tint block nearly all perceivable heat from the lamp versus the others which didn't do nearly as well. Don't know if this is a gimmick or how this will translate to real world heat blocking, but I'm sold.

Cost is $500 for all but the windshield, computer cut.

Anyone able to vouch for the 3M Crystalline and whether heat blocking is as good as the demonstration?

 

I have the 90 Crystalline and like it a lot. I wasn't interested in privacy, just heat and UV rejection and maximum visibility. There's not much difference in heat and UV rejection with the darker tints.

Interior cracking is usually a UV effect, not a heat effect, and UV-rejecting tint helps a lot.

And the cabin will stay cooler. Tint is largely "one-way." Less radiation coming in, but about the same going out.

Don't know where you are, but it's generally illegal to tint the windshield in Texas, below the four inches or so that is already tinted.

I didn't care about "ROI"; cared about comfort. But I hope the interior will hold up longer, and not getting skin cancer on my left arm is priceless.

 

I can vouch for it. I work for first coast glass coatings and have been tinting windows for 18 years. I have the crystalline on my personal vehicles and have compared it to several other films and it does work in the real world as well as the heat lamp demonstration. Actually it works a little better because the film actually increases heat rejection on angle and the heat lamp demonstration has the film at 0 degrees angle. The greater the angle to the film the higher the heat rejection.

Also new DOT law states you can use a protective film on the front windshield as long as the total VLT "Visible light transmission" doesn't go below 70% and the crystalline 90 will keep you above that percentage.

All vehicles come with a color added to the windshield for heat but it is very low and blocks very little UV light. Even clear glass blocks a little UV light. The crystalline blocks 99.9% uv and 97.5% inferred light. The heat rejection on the cr90 is 43% on angle and the crystalline 40 is 66% on angle.

We have a demonstration lamp with limo film on one glass and crystalline 40 on another and the 40 is much higher heat rejection. We can even put two pieces of limo and you can still feel more heat through it.

We have also done experiments with it on a car to see if it made as much difference in the real world and it does.
Reading on the dash was 158 degrees with no film "hottest part of the day" and 128 degrees with limo "5%". Crystalline reduced the temp to 117 degrees on a black dash with the crystalline 40. Haven't tested that with the crystalline 90 but I know it would be close to the limo film.

P.S. voltage692 I'm not a druggy and I have a college degree in I.T. but I make more money tinting windows and I like what I do.

 

I have not seen a good list on UV blocking on standard car window glass please post more information is available.

Have seen data on IR but not long or short UV.

 

Some windows on cars have a UV blocking glass that will block around 50% of the UV light. The front windshield will block a little more because of the extra lamination between the glass but not much more.

Factory tinted glass blocks very little UV and so does glass not designed to block UV. I am not sure the exact amount but I think it is around 15%. I will have to check in to that. I would like to know that myself.

A lot of the window films on the market claim to block 99% UV rays but a lot don't. Most of the better films will block over 99%.

If your windows are the ones designed to block some uv light it should have UV printed or etched on the glass somewhere.

Remember UV is the leading cause of damage from the sun. Heat it the next biggest and visible light is one of the lowest causes.

 

Had Crystalline 70 tint put on my Volt's windshield today. If it works anything like the demo display, I think I'll be quite happy. Couldn't believe the heat resistance difference between the Crystalline tint and the 1-step-down 3M color stable tint. Cost me $165 + tax.

 

tint for skin

I just priced an installation of 90 on the windshield and 70 on the other windows.
Just a little over $500 but in my case it's appropriate. I have had 5 melanomas & the
UV rejection is well worth it. I will probably have the install in a few weeks......

 

I've had this tint on my Volt for 2 years here in sunny South Florida. I have darker tint on the sides and rear and rumor has it somebody put clear 3m crystaline tint on the windshield. I can report that the amount of heat was significantly reduced. On longer trips (over an hour) I actually have to lower the A/C fan to the lowest setting because the cabin becomes too cold. FYI, I don't use "auto" air, I set it to "LO" and adjust fan speed.

 

Thanks for the confirmation that this is a good move!! Rumor had it that there
was the Llumar AIR BLUE film on my old Soul's windshield...... but nobody noticed....

 

The Llumar Air Blue, or Formula One Air 80 is a pretty good product, almost invisible really, but works pretty well.

Here are some pics of mine.

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?62097-Tint-quot-git-er-done-quot

 

I got the 3MC ... 40% (Medium) all around. Very nice, and not too dark.

 

Just an FYI, NASCAR drivers use 3M CR90 in their race cars:

http://www.gregbiffle.com/newsArticle.cfm/i/33