For the naysayers, I did another "test" today.

With my windows down, I get better radio reception. The tint definitely seems to make a difference. Anyone know an easy (cheap) way to boost radio reception?

 

Playing devil's advocate here... but that's a little odd to me. Isn't the antenna on the rear window? If that's the case, then it's being sandwiched by the tint on the inside and the glass on the outside. Having your windows open shouldn't make that much of a difference if the tint is causing poor radio reception since it's already being "blocked" on the inside. Thoughts?

 

AM reception is effected, not FM.

http://www.freewaytint.com/FAQ.htm

http://www.tintdude.com/totw92.html

 

Unless your FM antenna is located IN the rear windshield. (like our cars)

Metallic tint does not affect FM radio reception on vehicles with externally mounted antennas. It will affect AM reception, since the AM antenna (ferrite rod with coiled wire over it) is in the radio.

 

Also, this is a note from your link: "This tip is NOT for other electronics such as GPS, XM radio, Wi-Fi, Cell Phone, etc., which are affected by the RF shielding capacity of a metal film."

The RF shielding will affect anything in its path. If the FM atenna is is the rear window.......

 

True, but our GPS antenna's are not located on the rear deck therefore signal is unaffected.

 

Same is true for an external XM antenna. It wouldn't be affected.

 

Does anyone still listen to FM?

 

Thanks guys. I went ahead with the metallics. 28 all around except the rear deck window which is 18%. The 28 has better heat rejection than the 35 ceramics, and the 18 has equal heat rejection as the 15% ceramic. I'm also glad to say there is no issue with AM/FM/XM/Nav/Bluetooth and cell.

 

Wow, that is quite shocking. My Huber Optic 40% rejects a ton more heat than my Diamond Marquise 35%. It's not even close.

 

It may have something to do with the composition of the film itself. The tint shop i went two carried Jet (Llumar) and several Formula One tints--all of which were metallic, the heat rejection between them were noticeable - even if they were all rated at, say, 35%.

 

Did they have a heat lamp setup to show you the difference?

 

Sort of, the tints were all on their window, facing the sun. Does that count?

 

No :-) Doesn't matter. It is of my opinion that metallic tints look better. I put Ceramic on the Minivan because it is the absolute best at keeping the interior cool. I chose Metallic for the G because it looks better.

 

I just got my windows tinted this past weekend and got
Sun-Gard 2 layer Metallic Sputtered film (Endurance 20). When I went to the tint place (United Solar) the metallic tints had the highest amount of solar energy rejection (Heat). I also never had a problem with my radio (XM, AM, FM), Garmin GPS or IPhone GPS, or Valentine 1 Radar (Friends, used for testing) or Escort 8500 Radar (Mine).

I had 4 preset AM stations and still get them 100% clear.