Faluzure

Since the weather is finally warming up, I've decided to get my DB Z tinted with 35% tint. I shopped around and found a place my friend recommended to be the most appealing shop (looks clean & professional).

I wanted to go with Llumar tint, since that's what everyone talks about but it so happens that the shop doesn't use Llumar. They use a tint called FormulaONE. I never heard of FormulaOne, so I wasn't sure. I wanted to use the highest quality tint, which I thought was metal-laced, but it ends up their best tint is ceramic (so they say). The reason I wanted to go with metal-laced was because it doesn't fade. They say ceramic tint won't fade, but ceramic tint hasn't been out in the market as long as metal-laced tints. So I'm kind of skeptical.

Do any of you know anything about FormulaONE or ceramic tints? I could go to another shop who carries Llumar, but this shop really impressed me not only because it was clean & professional looking, but also the fact that they computer cut all the tint so I get an exact match. No razorblading.

They said the install will take about 2 hours, does that sound right? If you guys say that ceramic tint/FormulaONE sucks, I'll go shop elsewhere.

Brice-RX8

I've had Llumar on a car before as well as Formula One which was on my last car, and the Formula One is 10 times better, especially when it comes to not being able to scratch it as easily. The shop I went to for the Formula One had 3 different quality rolls to pick from the lowest being a dyed film, the second being a metal based reflective tint (which I think you are referring to), and the top of the line being a non-reflective metal base which is what I chose and I will be going back to get the top of the line Formula One on this car as well.

Faluzure

Awesome. I'm glad to get 2nd opinions on this. Does a 2 hour install sound right? Of course the Z is a little smaller than the RX-8, but I thought tinting was a half-a-day type job.

Brice-RX8

2-3 hours seems about right at least that was what it took on my other car (SVT Focus), it takes a little while for them to heat and mold the curved windows tint to make sure it is done right. Also, I was quoted $180 for the top of the line 35% Formula One tint for my 8, which I will get done soon

G8rboy

You also might want to look at Huper Optik - they're one of the more popular high-end ($$) ceramic brands... several guys on this board have gone with them.

KYRX8

ive not heard of Formula One before, who in lexington uses it? Ive always used the Solargard High Performance tint on my last few vehicles and bee nreal happy with it. But if there is something better, id be interested

Faluzure

Precision Tinting off Nicholasville Road uses FormulaOne. They seem really nice and use a computer to precut the tint, so you don't have to worry about them slicing up your car.

A good friend of mine (also a 350Z owner) stated that several of his friends recommended this place. He got his done at Trailblazers, who use Llumar, but I think it was before his friends recommended Precision Tinting to him. Brice-RX8 stated that he thought FormulaOne was 10x times better than Llumar. Which makes me want FormulaOne even more because I always heard awesome stuff about Llumar.

Here's the website for Precision Tinting. Here's FormulaONE's website.

I think I distinctly remember your car being tinted. Where did you get yours done and do you like it?

KYRX8

alright, ive had several friends get thier car done at precision, they do excellent work to. I wouldnt let trailblazers touch my car if they offered to pay it off. Ill probably end up getting mine done by Matt at Intints or Casey at Solar Control. They are 2 of the best tinters i know (i sell tint to over 300 tint shops and have seen lots of tint work) and they both use solargard film. I may stop over at precision anyway to check it out though.

PUR NRG

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Brice-RX8

Yea Llumar, Formula One are the only ones I have experience with never used solargard but heard it was pretty good, just don't know how it ranks.

KYRX8

Solargard is comparable to Llumar in just apbut every aspect. the only difference i hear from tinters is that they cut different, some prefer Llumar and other prefer solargard

wndotinter

Formula One is made by CPFilms....the same company that makes Llumar. Very nice film that will not affect radio reception or navigation. Although in 18 years of tinting i've only had one complaint of radio reception. And that was with a fully metalized film on an STI.

wndotinter

BTW...I prefer Solargard. Dropped Llumar about 12 years ago because of adhesive problems in the film...and then them not covering the problem in their warranties. That was quite awhile ago. I can only assume their product has improved, and hopefully their warranty coverage.

KYRX8

my customers still complain about llumar adhesion problems from time to time. We had a huge tint sale a few months back and went into every tint shop witin 300 miles of here trying to move some of it and we were able to convert alot of Llumar guys on it pretty easily after we got them to try a roll of SG. At any given time i have over 1mil in tint in our warehouse and when we get overstocked all you see when you walk in my warehouse is blue and white boxes all over the racks. Its a mess.

id still like to learn more about this formula one stuff though

Faluzure

Yeah... me too. That's why I thought I'd ask you guys. I don't mind the ceramic (except colorfade), which obviously isn't an issue. But this installer looks reputable by word of mouth. I just never heard of Formula One until today. Apparently people like it, it's just not as popular as Llumar or SG.

KYRX8

Precisions does very nice work and their tinters seem to know what they are doing. Youve probably never heard of F1 because precisions may be the only people in town selling it and you dont hear alot of people talking about it because not many people have it because its more expensive than Llumar or SG. Thats my thoughts on it anyways

wndotinter

Bingo...most tint customers want the cheapest prices they can find...that means going with standard films, not ceramic. Still frickin' amazing to me how people can spend $30,000 on a sweet car and bitch and moan about spending $180 on a tintjob. WTF? You get what you pay for.

KYRX8

so true.

Faluzure

Well they quoted me $239 on the ceramic and $189 on the highest quality metal-tint they have. I'm definitely not bitching, I'm just worried about this ceramic tint since it's so new. The metal-tint is tried & true, tested by thousands of automotive enthusiasts worldwide. Not the same for ceramic...but we'll see. I have until tomorrow at 3PM to decide. I narrowed it down to 35% Ceramic tint or 28% low-reflection metal-laced tint. I still don't know which to choose... I'm just so damn scared of that ceramic tint.

wndotinter

I wasn't saying you were bitchin at all. I was speaking in general. Personally I stick with the standard films...don't know much about the ceramic and solargard's film hasn't failed me yet. If you're lookin at the True Grey 28 then hell yeah...great film. Here it is on a black rx-8....

Faluzure

Damn, that 28% looks REALLY good. It's about the color I want but it's only available in metal-laced tint. The selling point for the ceramic was because of no RF interference, but it only comes in 35%. Do you have any problems with interference on radar detectors, radio, GPS?

wndotinter

Only 1 complaint in 18 years. If it's a concern, true grey has a color-stable non-metalized film. NRTG 35%...and it's a great looking film.

G8rboy

There's always dyed, non-metallized tint, like I got... this is Madico Charcool in 20% on the back, 25% on the front. I went with this because of the GPS receiver interference issue I witnessed with the metallized stuff:

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-multimedia-photo-gallery-6/pics-brilliant-black-tinted-windows-26286/

wndotinter

Solargard HPCharcoal 32 (my personal favorite) on both RX-8's

wndotinter

Another black one with charcoal instead of true grey.