Now that my accesories are in at the dealer, and the car is nearing it's final destination (I hope), I'm looking at getting the windows tinted. Pictures I've seen of the Lightning Yellow RX-8 do not show or highlight tinted windows. Dark tinted windows on the Lighning Yellow would look awesome.

I do have a few questions before moving on though.

1) How dark a tint can you safely get and not break any laws in Ontario. Safety is my first concern and may void getting any tint period.

2) Does it really do a good job of keeping the car cool in summer.

3) Where is the best place to get the windows tinted in the GTA, and what is the best magnufacturer. I've seen some pretty bad tint bubbling and peeling off. I do not want tint if this is what happens to it after a few years.

Thanks so much for your input and words of wisdom.

 

Here's some answers to your questions, having had some nice sports cars for the last few years...with aftermarket tint.

1) Law in Canada (from my experience...I could be wrong) is that driver/passenger side windows have to be at least 35% visible (to gauge that, limo tint is usually 5%, and what most would consider "dark" is 15%). The rear windows of your car can go down as low as 5%.

2) No...still gets hot as *****, I'm not sure who ever started the rumour that tint keeps your car cool...I've never noticed a difference in the before/after.

3) My advice for where is either the dealer (if you're willing to pay the steep cost...although Mazda will likely just send it to a 3rd party anyway) or to go to a Mercedes/BMW/Jag dealer and ask who they use. Advantage with the dealer is, that if they screw it up, the'll likely give you a good warranty on the tint to redo it on command if it peels, bubbles or tears. Advantage with Prestige car referral is that the people that do the tint are used to being extremely careful and professional when applying the tint to $100,000 cars...and won't do things like smoke in your car or cut the tint on your window (yes, both happened to me with one of my old cars as a teen....advice being don't get a cheap Mom & Pop shop to do your tint).

I'll likely get the dealer to tint my black RX-8 when it gets here in time for the Vancouver Olympics in 2010

Hope this helps.

 

I have had all my car windows tinted. It does keep the interior cooler and prevents fading. I am from St. Catharines and I've always used a company by the name of INSULTINT. They are on Nihan Dr. in St. Catharines. The owners name is GUS! He does all of Performance Cars vehicles ( Benz, BMW, Acura, Lexus, etc.). The Mazda dealer in this city also uses him. He does nothing but a perfect job!
If I was keeping my RX8, I was going to get Gus to tint my windows again.

JayDee

 

http://www.iwfa.com/iwfa/Consumer_In...vincelaws.html

not sure how true it is though.

 

I've been to several different tint shops over the last seven years and they have all recommended 35% on the front driver/passenger windows and 20% on the rear side windows to avoid any problems with the police. I have had 35% on my MX-3 for over seven years now and I have never had any problems with the law.

 

I've read a number of times that the tint must be light enough so that the driver is 'clearly' visible within the car. That leaves it pretty much up the discretion of the officer.