For stock purists, what is your stance on window tinting?
 

This was a great video
Here's Everything You Need To Know About Window Tinting

I am the stock type.
I don't like aftermarket anything. No mods!
I want it original, and I don't like pimped out cars.
Not sure if this is an issue in the P world.

This video has a guy tinting his 911.
Do stock purists dislike tint?
Or does tint get a pass for aftermarket mods?

I tinted the windows in my 911. I could care less what anyone else thinks. It's my car.

Considering that a lot of Porsche owners "backdate" their cars, it's not an issue. In fact, most here have modded their Porches in one way or another.

Depends on the character of the car. A truly vintage car (over 20 years old), probably not. A daily driver, a newer car with power windows and secure enough build that the windows won't scratch the tint after awhile, sure. Especially if you live where it's hot.

WHen you start calling them "Mods" is when it gets out of hand. Dumb things like "intakes" or "exhaust"- ya, waste of money on a modern car. If it doesn't improve the car for it's intended purpose, it's a waste.

With that said my old 911 had all kinds of things done, got compliments all the time on it. Lowered, turbo Fuchs, RUF nose, Sparco's 930S wheel, a trick stereo and alarm, tint, all kinds of stuff. Especially if the Euro versions (euro ride height) exist elsewhere.

the USA is a compromise of a lot of bad things for a car. Ride height being one of them.

rjp

Lets not forget about the whole "R Gruppe" thing. ;)

Purist? If it ain't on the COA, it ain't on the car.

On the other hand... should I ever get a fat wad to restore the 356 with, I'm torn. Will stay wtih black interior, white headliner, and dolphin grey paint, but am oscillating between factory original chrome stuff and windows, or have everything "black chromed" and going with tinted windows... to the point that I picked up a complete set of glass on a deal about 10 years ago. It arrived, I checked for breakage, packed it back up, and put it in the attic.... figure if I ever do it I can keep my original glass and tint the replacement...

......That's why it pays to chop up non special cars. I'd never chop up a 73RS, but a garden variety 911 sure, suspension work and all kinds of cool stuff. Same with muscle cars. Hack up and build an original 6 CYL car- sure. But a rare one, - well I wouldn't PAY FOR one. I prefer to chop the stripper versions- more fun.

Don't even start me on pickup trucks.

rjp

Window tint is a film and is completely removable/reversible as a modification to the car. I generally can't live w/o it on a daily driver here in SoCal, I'm even getting the windshield UV film, (clear), on my present truck.

I have fair skin and the UV protection is unfortunately a very real concern in this part of the world. It also makes vehicles a hell of a lot more comfy to be in, especially on a trip up the 5 freeway or anywhere in the west with that crazy intense sun beating through the windows. I cannot drive here w/o high quality sunglasses, optical quality tint film is no different, IMO.

That said, the grade of tint and the quality of the film and installation is very important, aesthetically speaking. Most vehicles look like crap with too dark film or more than one grade along the side. Some SUVs are an exception with darker rear windows. On an older car, like my 1980 450SL, I prefer no film or very light film. Visible or noticeable tint is undesirable on most older cars, IMO.

This. Who gives a crap what the "purists" think. Some "purists" think that driving in the rain or on anything but an immaculately paved road is blasphemy. :rolleyes:

Porsche's are meant to be driven and enjoyed as much as possible, and if you get better enjoyment from your car by doing a couple of simple mods, so be it.

Screw what the "purists" think when it comes to personal enjoyment of YOUR car.

The OP does. Why berate him for asking? Oh, and sentences that ask a question usually have one of these at the end: ?.

As to the original question: IMO, if you are wanting to retain the original classic look then stay clear (pardon the pun) of tinting. I debated tinting mine. I love the look with tinting but wanted to retain as much of the classic look as possible. There's nothing wrong with wanting to retain the original look or modification. As others have said, do what you want.

I'm not berating him. He's free to be a "purists". I'm just saying who gives a crap what "purists" think as it pertains to YOUR car????????? (extra question marks just to keep your OCD in check!!)


Nothing wrong with anyone being a "purists" of course. I could care less what they think of my car. And likewise, I'm sure the "purists" could care less what I think about their car.

Bottom line: It's your car. Enjoy it as you see fit. Mods or not.

The answer to the title of the thread is that a true "purist" would not like tint film on any 911. This board does not cater to the purist crowd in the least, so the answers will be predictable. They also do not answer the original question, more like a sample of their opinion of "purists".

I'm not a purist on modern cars or other non-special cars that were made in large numbers. On antiques or special cars, I like them either stock or with period correct modifications, and even some of those were in bad taste back in the day.

I tinted my windows to help keep my interior UV pure. Ha!

Oh...for the purists. There are a number of films that are amazingly clear, and you'd never know the windows are tinted. Even the windshield gets done. Why would this matter to purists? Because these films reject heat and block UV rays from their interior which prevents fading, cracking, etc..

I'll ask the purists....would you put a film on your car with no visible tint if it protected your interior?

I've seen the 3M Crystalline films...and it was mighty impressive.


http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Window_Film/Solutions/Markets-Products/Automotive/Crystalline_Automotive_Films/

You seem to be conflicted...
To answer your question, if the car is a concours original it may be a problem but if the original look is retained then shoot, why not? Again, it all goes back to the intent of the OP. If he is wanting to look stock then tint is a no-no IMO.

There is a solid argument for doing just this on a car you want to preserve, especially if it's driven and parked regularly in the sunnier parts of the world. My dad's old 1980 450SL, bought new and always garaged in Minnesota, has virtually zero UV damage on rubber/paint/trim or interior. A similar car here in CA. would be cooked. :cool:

I did the expensive UV tint on my windshield. 70% tint. It's not as effective against glare as dark tint, but you can feel the UV reduction- my totally unscientific method involves putting my hand near the glass, on my BMW the windshield area is generally cooler than the side windows- I can feel the heat radiate from the side glass much, much more.

Given that, I'm gonna do the rest of the car in 30% UV block instead of the cheap stuff on there now. I think it helps, on a black / black car in AZ anything helps.

Also check out some other brands other than 3M. That stuff commands a premium, I don't know if it's worth the $$$ or not.

I have my black 944 track car tinted. I bought it that way. It looks good and keeps it cool. A/C is broken. I tinted my dark blue BMW sedan afte pr a few years. It's to stupid dark but it is illegal and it keeps the inside cooler when it sits all day at the train station. I would not it not the Targa because I think it looks terrible on a Targa.

I am a big fan of window tint. That being said, on a classic 911, I don't see dark tint working aesthetically. One of the near colorless UV blocking films would be perfect.
Our black Denali has 15% tint all around. It looks great. My dd Buick and the 944 have 20%. In hindsight, I wish I went darker on the Buick.

You can't tell it's tinted. It's clear.

I couldn't tell when they had 2 identical cars parked side by side.

I think the 3M Crystalline would change your mind. It's 200 layers of film, all the thickness of a regular film. It's impressive.

I choked on the price tag. It was literally double the other stuff and the stats and warranty looked identical..

rjp

We own Porsches. We're used to choking on prices for stuff! :D

OP has never lived in TX.

There are the purists who dislike window tint.

And there are those with window tint who get butthurt when someone makes a remark about their window tint.

I say no big deal, it's a big world and everyone has their place. I did finally added window tint because the 110F summers are just too hot here without ANY tint. I think it's a practical thing, but if someone thinks it's a pimp thing to do, then fine. I'll try not to trip on my cheetah coat and platform shoes.

I tinted the windows on my 911 a very dark color. It made a significant difference for the heat inside of the car. I was using it as my business car and working in Nevada, California, etc all during the summer. With that tinting, the a/c was adequate. Before the tinting, in the 100 plus heat with slow traffic, it was just not cutting it, particularly when I was dressed in business attire.

At the time, the new basically clear UV products were not out. At least not out long enough to actually be tried-and-true. So I went with the dark color. I don't really like the look of it on the car as I think a 911 has lovely glass area and this sort of hides that. But it did its job and I've no qualms with it. I'll probably have it removed this winter and the new UV stuff installed just because I prefer the look of it better.

I did take a little flak from purists, but it's a pretty short list of people who truly own a "blue collar working class 911" like mine. In this case, function took precedence over absolute beauty and "purists" would only see my beloved car as fit for a scrap yard anyway, so I just don't worry about snippy comments.

angela

I actually think my Targa looks better with the tint, but I think that's due to the large rear window.

https://sphotos-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/h...007_7796_n.jpg

Kinda helps on the track too... Can't tell if that guy behind me is flashing his lights to pass or not. :D

https://sphotos-b-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/h...5007_493_n.jpg

It depends upon where you live and how you drive your car. If the car is a daily driver in Houston (or Phoenix or anyplace with lots of very hot weather), then I'm all for tinting. It's reversible, and an improvement.

Tire technology changes, and new compounds and constructions are much, much, MUCH better than the tires that were available in the 80s. Would I want to use the best modern tires I could afford, hell yes, because they improve the car.

Would Prof Porsche want you to use old inferior tires? I'd be surprised if he did.

Would I put a carbon fiber overlay on the dash. Hell no.

Tint can be like new tires, it'll improve the performance of the AC, and possibly keep you from getting cancer.

Shoot, they now have a clear coating that blocks UV rays. That sounds like something I would install/have installed.

I don't have A/C. Oh wait! I took it out. :D Never worked right anyway.

I did it to keep the heat out as well. I was going to do my Corolla as well, but got lazy, then decided that without it , I kept that "urban camouflage" image. Now finding out there is clear UV available, I may just take care of the Corolla as well.

What is life expectancy of 3M clear stuff? Will it cloud up or scratch easy?

It won't fade. As with any tint, sure it can scratch if you're not careful. It's is guaranteed for life against fading/purpling, bubbling, peeling, etc...

A good tint shop will put moleskin on the edges of the door so rolling the window up/down won't scratch the tint if there are any sharp edges.

Waste of money for UV protection. Only 5% of UV comes through a regular car windows anyway. Have you EVER gotten a sunburn in a car with closed windows? I didn't think so. So, just fix your a/c and keep the windows up. And save your money on the UV tint.

UV exposure in cars. [Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed. 2003] - PubMed - NCBI

G

Not sure that I understand that study, how does one only get 62% of the sun's rays in an open convertible?

Of course I have not read the paper, as it costs $$$ to download.

You can assume that they look at real life scenarios, i.e. sun angle across the day, different driving directions and then compare it to someone standing or sitting in the open sun wearing the same clothing. I can see that the windshield and doors cut a lot, considering that the sun hits from a pretty flat angle for large periods of the day.

I once drove north with the windows down for about 45 min in the evening sun. I had sunburn from hell on my left neck. Never had anything close with windows up, even during very long road trips in direct sunlight.

But don't feel bad. I love the welding shield sun screens some of the Asians wear driving around in addition to long white gloves up to the elbows. I should forward them the study. ;)

G

I don't care for how it looks on classic cars at all however I have heavy tint on my 85 Mercedes wagon to keep the sun and wandering eyes out of the interior and it makes a very noticeable difference. Hate the look of the dark windows, its purely for function.
I did not need it when living in Northern California but in Costa Mesa/Newport its a necessity.

As others have said it is easily removable- I have removed it once from the wagon and it took about an hour start to finish with a clothes steamer. Magic.

Around here, tinted windows seems to be a tipoff to the police that the vehicle's occupants have gang connections. They stop cars solely because the cars have tinted windows. Often find lots of interesting stuff, too.

You must live in a bad area. Around here, well over 50% of the vehicles on the road have aftermarket tint. In Bel Air/Beverly Hills or Malibu, it's probably more like 75%+.

Now if the police see a clapped-out Honda Civic or Nissan Altima with really dark tint, they probably take notice. They completely ignore cars that *look like they belong* with illegal tint, (any tint film is illegal in CA. on front door windows). :cool:

I love the tint on my 911.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1379000872.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1379001000.jpg

Nice car Glen, I think the stone guard and the tint look good. I don't have tint or stone guard on my 88. No A/C so the windows are down 95% of my driving time.

My windows are up 99.8% of the time. I drove an un-air conditioned 914 for 20 years. I have had my fill of wind noise and hot interiors.