To tint or not to tint

[ohniner]

Having just purchased my 09 R8 I am loving the car but need help. Previous owner tinted all the glass (not windshield of course) and car is Phantom Black with Daytona grey blades. Can't decide wether to leave the tint or remove it. Heat is not a concern, just appearance. Can anyone post a picture of a Phantom Black R8 without tinted glass. Of course opinions are much appreciated.

[NVRL8R8]

I think all cars look better with a nice light tint to the Windows.

[FredBMOC]

The picture of your car looks nice but I personally leave them as they come from the factory; so I would leave it alone since its already done but probably won't tint my new R8.
In sum , I didn't help you one bit ;-)

[soho]

I prefer the look of the subtly dipped factory glass to be honest, especially in my body color (Daytone Grey Pearl), but I just couldn't deal with the amount of people that were trying to look at me rather than the car. I decided to go with a light 35% ceramic tint, just enough so that people can see a silhouette of someone driving but not recognize who the driver is. It gets weird when people are staring at you and you know that they can see you -- my opinion, of course. I just feel a bit uncomfortable.

[Baer]

Although I haven't added any tint I sgree that some tint is nice but not so much as you can't see the driver clearly as that could become a safety issue if other drivers can't see you.
JMOFWIW.

[ohniner]

It's clear then (or not clear at all). seems like personal choice, oh how I hoped my decision would be made for me.
Thanks.

[desperado]

I don't like tint, but I had my black TT tinted recently anyway. The decision to tint was all about reducing heat gain from the rear glass - the new ceramic tints reject the heat very well. See Radius8's excellent technical writeup elsewhere on R8Talk.

I used the lightest tint available on the sides, and went one shade darker on the rear (and I only went darker because my son browbeat me until I gave in ). I have to confess that black glass on a black car looks pretty nice...

That said, since the rear glass on a R8 doesn't put heat directly into the cabin I don't think tinting an R8 would have a similar advantage. So, it is up to personal preference for appearance or for privacy.

The one disadvantage, especially for those of us with eyes older than 40 or so, is the increased difficulty of seeing at night.

[FredBMOC]

My wife's Range Rover had too dark of a tint on the side windows and that made it a pain to drive at night; couldn't see anything out type side windows

I don't like tint, but I had my black TT tinted recently anyway. The decision was all about heat gain from the rear glass, and the new ceramic tints reject the heat very well (see Radius8's excellent writeup elsewhere on R8Talk).

I used the lightest tint available on the sides, and one shade darker on the rear. I think the car looks pretty nice with black glass on a black car.

That said, since the rear glass on a R8 doesn't put heat directly into the cabin, I don't see it as being such an advantage. So, it is up to personal preference.

The one disadvantage, for those of us with eyes older than 40 or so, is the increased difficulty of seeing at night.

[M3R8]

I personally don't like tint but for some reason it looks awesome on a black car.

[achan]

I love the way tint looks on a dark or light car, and yes it offers a sense of privacy. I opted for ceramic based tint that rejects a significant amount of heat/radiation. Personally I would not go over 35% as it becomes very difficult to see at night. You would be surprised, but even 50% ceramic/nano tint offers significant glare/heat reduction.

That being said, I opted not to tint the A6 I bought for my parents due to night visibility issues...