im very close to getting some 25 percent black tints on my black rx8 but the only thing is that it is against the law to tint t0he front in NJ...

NEways friends have told me not to do it because they themselves have tints on their cars and say they get hassled alot more because of the tints.

Others keep telling me how much better the car would look with tints.

I really want to get those tints put on but im not sure if i want to deal with pigs harrassing me even more than they already do.

Any of you 8 owners with dark tints please post your experiences with police and tints. thankx

 

i live in nj and my friends that blacked out there fronts get constantly harrased it isnt worth it.

 

Mine came from the dealership with what I believe is 35% tints on the sides and it looks really nice. You have to ask yourself: Is it worth it to drive a car you're likely to be driving too fast (at least some of the time) with something *ELSE* they can hastle you with... For me it would be a "not worth it".

 

i have 5%tint in the rear window 35% in the back and 50% in the front. Havent got stopped once and i live in NJ. I also dont have a front License plate. i'm just waiting to get pulled over however i've been driving like this for a few months now. If anythin i'll use my PBA card and get away with it. If you really want to tint it then just tint the front windows 70% its noticable but hard

 

The 50% looks quite dark because of the black interior. I haven't been stopped yet. It's easy to remove if you need too...takes about ten minutes for both

 

Don't do it. I think it detracts from the look of the car, cuts visibility and thereby is a safety concern, and guarantees that any officer pulling you over will be pissed off at you.

One of my buddies is a cop. If he stops ANY car with tint - any tint - legal or not - he tickets them for whatever he pulled them over for - no warnings, no lieniency or anything, because it pisses him off that he knows two cops that have been shot through tinted windows.

 

That's a difficult question. Here in Colorado, we have over 300 days of sunshine per year, so the vast majority of cars/trucks have tinted windows. The law here is 35% on the sides and rear . . . factory only on the front.

 

Here in Illinois, the law says no tint on the driver/passenger front windows, but i did it anyway- 20% in the back three windows, and 35% on the front two. i wanted to make sure that you could still see inside the cabin in the front, which the 35% allows- and I think that is the most important thing a cop is going to look for. I haven't been hassled in the least, and as for looks I wish I had done it sooner- on my black it looks incredible. Here are some pics from my thread when I had it installed;
https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-multimedia-photo-gallery-6/pics-brilliant-black-tinted-windows-26286/

 

I know that plate!

I saw you on the road this past weekend. Did you see a Lightning Yellow -8 with Appearance/Wing/Rotary accents up in your area on Saturday? With no license plates (yet) ...

 

Your friend cop sounds unprofessional, if he has a grudge with legally tinted windows he should contact his congressman instead of taking it on drivers.

 

there is actually a cop on this board that owns an RX-8 and lives in New Jersey, you shouldn't have any problems if you stop calling them pigs.

 

Sorry- must have missed you... I was on my way to Indiana Saturday and was probably a little distracted with the kids in the back : ). Glad to see more 8's in the area... congrats.

 

I'm not sure if it's worth it in NJ. The sun isn't all that bright there.

In FL it's almost required.

At any rate, the RX-8 does look better with tint, but only if it's uniform across all the windows. Having darker in the back and lighter up front doesn't look nice.

As far as visibility, it really doesn't hurt what you're able to see. At 18%, I do notice it a little harder to see at night, but not enough than it's even close to a problem. Anything 20% or higher would definately be just fine. Under 15% and you're asking for trouble...

This is with 18%

 

What about ceramics, are they any good if I have NAV?

 

Yes - ceramics are excellent and don't interfere with the Nav, cellular or stereo... they just cost quite a bit more and can be hard to find installers.

 

I have navi, and I used non metalic tint. It's solargard's HP true grey.

http://www.solargard.com/index.cfm/f...gh_Performance (the url says they have metal in it, but the HP true grey installed didn't and definately didn't hurt GPS reception)

The only problem I have with ceramics (other than price) is that they don't seem to come in dark shades. All I've seen are 30% range. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I think the car looks so much better with tint that it is worth the risk.

 

I went to the RX-7/RX-8 Club of Houston meeting last month, and I seemed to be the only owner that didn't have tinted windows. Good observation, but window tinting is not my style.

 

G8rboy:

May not have been this weekend ... but I do a lot of driving out your way - I live in Buffalo Grove - closer into the city, and head out your way for weekend activities including Sunday AM sports car rides ... should meet for coffee some Sunday morning.

Also, I'm running in the Chicago Region SCCA event this weekend in Joliet ...

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To the person who suggested my cop friend is unprofessional, I take issue with that. The issue is that in his opinion, window tint means you're most likely trying to hide something - either your identity or something else worse. Because it puts him in a tense situation, he's much less likely to give a break that he'd otherwise give.

Suggestion to ALL that decide to tint their windows - if you DO get stopped by a police officer, I strongly suggest you lower the windows on BOTH sides of the car, and have both of your hands up high on the steering wheel.

What he hates is that as he approaches the car, the driver is invisible through the back and rear side windows, and if the driver doesn't have the window down BEFORE he gets there, it's possible for the driver to have a weapon and him not to see it.

And that's why he's not likely to give you a break ... he doesn't want to orphan his children.

 

Sounds good- I'd enjoy a Sunday morning fun run & get together. Are you autocrossing your 8 or something else? I did an event with the Miata guys up in Zion, and had a blast... but was disappointed in my abilities in the '8 compared to my old Miata. I guess it was hard to get used to all the extra weight and softer suspension.

To get back on topic, I agree with you on the subject of dealing with the police- a little respect on the driver's part goes a long way. What I don't understand is the complete ban on tint here (why not allow at least 50% for the sake of keeping the car cooler?), where states like Florida where I moved from are anything goes. If there's any place in the US that needs a tint law, it's South Florida!

 

Do not put dark tint on your car.

It is more important to be able to see the road during the day and the night.

Do you see Race car drivers with tint?

I have a very low amount of tint where safety is in mind but reduces heat build up.

 

FL does have tint laws.

 

That's news to me- I've had several vehicles tinted in the WPB area and never had to sign any waiver or do the paperwork that I had to do up here... and I've never seen it enforced.

 

tint laws: http://www.tintdude.com/ntoo.html

Here in Tampa there was a crack down for a few days (not sure if they're still doing it) on illegal tint.

My tinter (located in Clearwater) gave me papers that stated the name/address/info of his business, which I assume is needed in case of problems with the law. They claim they don't install illegal tint, but the url above says front windows are 28% max.