the jukster

Had a local install the optiks on my L. silver 8 , 2 weeks ago & so far no blemishes on my install... I'm Keeping fingers crossed i don't experience problems....Man that stuff is thick,,,Any ways, I m new to your forum ,thankx for letting me in,,,,Later....:D

RX8-TX

May I ask $$$ ?

DJ Freon

What darkness did you get? I was thinking about 40% on all windows except the windshield, where I was going to do 70%.

Ajax

huper generally runs around 350 installed. it's not overly dark but it reflects a lot more heat because it's ceramic.

allstonway

I paid 370.00 and had the sunroof tinted as well.....tinting was huper ceramic 30%

Atacdad

I've heard that HO film is thicker than some others. For those who have it, how is the visual clarity. I really really hate distortion (I have enough built-in naturally to my eyes!) and it gives me a headache after a short while. would you folks apply the term "crystal clear, can't tell its there" to the film after its cured?

MrWigggles

I have Huper in my car and the clarity is fine looking out the windows.

I will do a light measurement to see what the actual attenuation is.

The color is pretty nuetral but it has a very very slight green/amber cast to it when installed on the RX-8 windows which could be due to the very slight tint the RX-8 windows have coming from factory (about 67%).

I like the tint because it has the heat rejection qualities of a limo tint but it is still pretty light in color.

-Mr. Wigggles

RX8-TX

You can't escape my question: how much $$ ?

And thanks for the info!

MrWigggles

Your question wasn't to me.

However, I promissed Executive Motoring (713-467-7000) here Houston not to tell how much I paid.

So far I have seen prices posted on this forum for 4 people who have had Huper done to their RX-8. The prices were $250, $350, $370 (with moonroof?) and $400 with the $400 being the only one from Houston.

I could guess the guy in Houston who paid $400 got his done at Executive Motoring as well since they are the only dealers in Houston.

How much are going to pay in Richardson? Don't know. Start haggling.

-Mr. Wigggles

Boozehound

Does anyone have HO and factory nav?

BaronVonBigmeat

Mr. Wiggles--

Did they do the sunroof on your car? They didn't do it to mine. Something smells funny to me, because the installer guy working that evening said something about excessive heat breaking the glass on horizontal glass surfaces. This is at Executive in Houston btw. Somehow I think I'm getting smoke blown up my butt.

I also paid $499. I had been under the impression that that was a pretty average price. Guess not. Do I have to give them the secret handshake or something?

MrWigggles

Baron,

I really had to negotiate hard and I brought up how much others had paid through out the country for Huper.

I also named a price and I said if they couldn't beat it I would have Gary who does the BMW's at Northside do lluminar instead.

So they either had to meet my price on the Huper or I would do business elsewhere with other tint.

$499 does sound a little high since it has been confirmed that someone else did get it done $400 in Houston. Once again I did promise not to tell how much I paid. Sorry...

-Mr. Wigggles

Boozehound

I had mine done at Executive this week and made the same faustian deal that Wiggles did not to disclose what it ended up being... I would just say that you should follow Senor Wiggles' advice and then throw down when you're talking price.

A-TXRX

I paid $320 at Mothers in Austin after some negotiating. I think they wanted $380.

While I was there I decided to do the sunroof and that was an extra $50.

Obviously, the total was $370.

Atacdad

Mother's quoted me $399. They won't get that much now that I know I can haggle. Thnx A-TXRX!
I've compared the energy rejection numbers for several films and I don't see that HO is anything special in the ability to keep my car cool. It seems that its claim to fame is the transparency to radio signals. I'm considering if thats worth a couple of hundred $ to me...and leaning to no. Might look into HO on the rear glass and something cheaper on the windows....

Thanks for the good info everyone...keep it coming.

RAM

Does it significantly reduce the heat being transmitted into the vehicle beyond that accomplished thru the legal maximum tint allowed otherwise? If so, I would jump at it in light of the general AC issues . . . it can't help but make the AC more efficient if it signififcantly reduces the heat load . . . esp if it works on the sunroof. Can anyone quantify the advantage?

DJ Freon

I just did all that research, and have been posting it on another thread. https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=31439

So far I've found that Huper Optik does reject heat better than most tints (look at the IR rejection number, the Total Solar Energy Rejection and the Shading Coefficient). But V-Kool seems to be the best at blocking heat. Even the 40% visible light transmission model blocks over 98% of IR light! That's a lot of cool light in my opinion.

BaronVonBigmeat

Hmm...I've never actually paid to have my windows tinted before, I guess I wasn't aware that you're supposed to haggle over the price like a rug at an Afghani bazaar. Sigh.

I'm still curious if Executive tinted your sunroof though. Maybe it was just the one guy there who was trying to brush me off or something. It's kind of important I would think...I mean you're talking about a buttload of sun potentially coming in through that window.

For the record--it does seem to be pretty damn good tint, although I'm not sure how good V-cool is in comparison. For a brief moment the other day the sun was out, and I realized that I'm usually sort of uncomfortable on my left side coming home from work, with a nice pool of sweat on my back when I get home. Now I just put the A/C on 1 and feel fine.

A-TXRX

I negotiate on everything. My wife hates it. I saved $3000 on a dining room set and $600 on a 60" Sony Grand Wega just for asking for the best deal and then pushing a little harder.

I only saved $80 on the tint but, it was worth the 30 seconds of haggling. I would feel stupid if I didn't at least ask for the best price.

Build some rapport and ask for a better deal. The seller will work harder for you if he likes you. You will not be any worse off for asking.

Boozehound

Baron - I didn't get my sunroof tinted when I went in to executive. I don't think I would want that anyways - I like being able to see out at night through the sunroof, and during the day, if it's hot - just pull the shade.

Atacdad - I wouldn't just assume that the HO has all these "invisible to RF" properties that most people assume. My nav still works with the 30 installed, but there has been a noticable degradation of the signal quality. Regular radio signals don't seem to be disturbed (and they shouldn't be, the antenna's outside of the tint), but I wouldn't claim HO is tops because of it's electromagnetic transparancy. If I didn't worry about nav, I would definitely go with either Llumar Ti or look into V-Cool.

Atacdad

I'm not sold on the RF properties...just noting the claims. GPS signals are notoriously sketchy, especially so as the satellite gets closer to the horizon (more easily blocked by ground structures, further away, more atmosphere, etc).

I've seen pictures of Llumar Ti, looks nice and probably what I'll look for. The previous comments about Vcool having the best numbers agree's with my research as well, but I don't know if there is an installer in Austin.

Boozehound

If come across HOs claims again, can you point me in that direction? I'd really like to see them - especially if I need to contact HO's customer service if my GPS degradation becomes a problem.

Atacdad

Huper Optiks USA mentions it twice on this page:
http://www.huperoptikusa.com/products_ceramic.cfm


EDIT: Woohooo it ^^^^ worked!

Boozehound

Gratci. I may need that in the near future...

Pavehawk

Atacad, I have the Llumar Ti film on my side windows presently. If we're both at the next TexasRX's event you can get a peek at how it looks on the Ti cars. Other than the RF issues with my factory Nav I think the Llumar Ti film is a great film.

Has anyone other than me been told that HO film was primarily meant for flat glass application and that installing it in a car could yield less than desirable results?