MK6 Front Tint to match factory 'Dark Tint' option

[stucam]

The factory tint is actually quite nice. As it's actually not a film and is simply part of the glass, it's extraordinarily clear (from an optical point of view). The only thing you need to ensure is that, as per the comments in this thread, you don't tint the front windows too dark. Because whilst it's fine for the rear windows to be darker than the front windows, it looks a bit silly the other way around

Thanks Corey. That's what I thought initially. It's easy to become uneasy reading some of the threads in here, although most are incredibly useful. I am looking forward to a new GTI CW 5DR (with tint!) late Feb! Can't wait. Cheers, S.

[REXman]

Sorry guys, I tried reading through all 21 pages to see if my question was already answered but after about 6 pages i've thrown in the towel.
Just wanted to know if it's legal to tint the windscreen at all?
And i mean any level of tint.
Thanks

LOL really?

[Hoofee]

Hey ravun, why do you say that the "privacy glass" on the rear of the R is 16-20%?
Volkswagen don't give a "VLT %", they just say that it's "65% light absorbing" - they also call it "dark tint" and not privacy glass. In addition, "privacy glass" still has to comply to the laws of 35%. I'm not sure of how to navigate VICROAD's site, but here is the link to the rules on the NSW RTA site. As you can see, on passenger cars, 35% is the minimum even for the rear side and rear windows...

Not only that, but one of the other members who recently had his windows tinted had the factory tint measured at 42-43%.

I actually had my windows tinted this morning. We were in a bit of a rush so we didn't measure anything.
I had it done by Rob from Hunters Hill Window Tinting Service. He's done numerous Golf R's now (both private and dealerships) and was extremely helpful and professional. He's an official Solargard dealer, which is good, because they're the product I wanted.

I initially wanted a HP Supreme 35 on the front and the Supreme 70 on the rear sides and rear window, but on his advice, used the HP Quantum 52 on the rear sides and rear instead.

The reason for the swap from the Supreme to the HP Quantum on the rear was three fold:

• Supreme has a greenish tinge to it to match privacy glass, but since we were putting this on top of privacy glass, the silverish tinge of the Quantum would help neutralise the green a bit.
• The "HP" products have much better TSER properties (Total Solar Energy Rejection... i.e. heat rejection)
• Since the "privacy" glass was so light the 70 wasn't dark enough so the 52 was used instead.

I don't have pictures yet, since it was only done this morning, but I'm really happy with the results. The rear side and rear are definitely less than 35%, but not enough to attract any unwanted attention, and the front windows having the 35% film will measure within the variation to pass inspection with the VLT measuring device the RTA/police use. The colour difference and light between the two sets of windows is also much closer than previously. It looks great.

Pepe used HP Supreme on his car too (pictures on the previous page), but used darker ratings than I, so he would have had no need to use HP Quantum on the rears to try and even the colouring. He did use a lighter version of the HP Supreme on the rears as compared to the front though, which is why the photos of his car look so good and the balance between the windows looks good.


Summary, if 35% on the front, use HP Supreme 35, and if you want the rear's a bit darker and to match nicer, use HP Quantum 52. If you're going darker, then you could probably use HP Supreme all around - but do that at your own risk.

So that's my advice on the product to use.
To find the dealer in Melbourne, a good place to start would be the Solargard Melbourne Dealer list.

Hi Corey_R,

Did you use Hp Quantum 52 on the rear window too? Looking it up on the SolarGard website they say that it's a metalic film and I have concerns about it affecting the aerial on the back window. I remember when I got my STi done about 6 years ago that they told me not to use a metalic film because it affects the reception or something along those lines.

Obviously technology might have improved since then, but thought I'd ask in case it's a non-issue these days.

[Corey_R]

Yep, sure did.
Tint goes on the inside of the car, so the aerial is on the outside of the tint (since it's in the glass, or on the glass, of the rear window). I haven't had any reception issues with FM... I haven't tried AM. I mostly don't listen to the radio anyway.

[Hoofee]

Thanks Corey_R,

FYI. I decided to contact SolarGard to see what they had any more information on using metalic films on the rear window, this was their reply:

<SNIP>
Quantum is a fully metalized film which means all the ‘tint’ or colouring you see in the film is from layers of metal. This is often but not always an issue for AM radio reception. It is only an issue when the car’s radio antenna is built into a window which will look like vertical bars in the glass. I am not sure if your model has an in glass antenna, nor if it does then which window it is in as it differs between sedans, wagons etc. but a tinter will be able to determine this for you instantly on viewing your car. If for example your car has an aerial in the rear window then placing metalized film on the other windows won’t effect reception at all.

I say that often the AM band is interfered with by metalized film as I have known variations in the rule where one car will have critical reception issues where the next one won’t and some cars only have an issue when you get towards the edge of the broadcast range for the AM signal. The safest rule of thumb is to use a non-metalized film on the window with the antenna and metalized elsewhere.
<SNIP>

Like you, I'm not planning on listening to AM radio in this lifetime, so I'm fine with that. I didn't realize it was only AM that was affected.

Cheers,
Dave.

[Corey_R]

Yeah... and using a non-metallzed film would mean having tint that turns purple etc after a few years - and that would suck.

Who listens to AM anymore anyway?!


(Yes, I know that AM stations still have the most listeners in the morning...)

[police state]

I went for Tint a Car F1 on the front and clear on the back, on the basis that there is definitely a green tinge to the factory tint. It looks good and if you look really hard, perhaps the front is ever so slightly lighter. I'm very happy with the match, especially colour-wise.

I looked at the Street Legal tint from the dealer, but to my eyes it was grey/charcoal.

[Lucas_R]

Can someone please post some nice pictures of their tint rather that just talking about it. Obviously it is helpful to know what % tint you used to achieve a uniform colour between the privacy tint and the non tinted front windows - but as they say, a picture says a thousand words.

Pictures please guys. Im sure im not the only one thinking this. I would like to get my windows tinted in the next week or two so i would like to be armed with the info and suggestions for the tinter.

[Corey_R]

There are pictures of Pepe's car several pages back. This was asked of me this morning too in the "Best Window Tint" business thread. I'll get some next time I wash the car... but the problem obviously is that almost no one has calibrated cameras and screens etc (just look at how many different "Rising Blue" colours there are in the picture thread ). So the only real way is to see it in real life, or just get it done

[police state]

So the only real way is to see it in real life, or just get it done

I couldn't agree more, I don't think you can tell with photos, I also think the tints look different depending on the light. If you look at my car side-on in good light, the tint looks identical front and back. If you look at an angle from rear of centre towards the windscreen, you can tell that the F1 is slightly lighter than the factory tint. From inside the car, both tints have a greenish base, which is why I picked F1 and am very happy with my choice.

I think if you went with a grey or charcoal based tint like Midnight Express or Octane or Street Legal, it might look good outside but you might notice two different colours inside? Who knows?