Heat and UV Reflective glass

[IT]

Just wondering if anyone else has ever felt the benefit of this ?

Its one of those things you take for granted if you have it, and miss it when you don't.

I was in a C7 A6 2.0Tdi Quattro Sline Black Edition Avant courtesy car for the past few days. It was all very lovely, in a woefully underpowered 4 cylinder tractor engine sort of way.

Anyway, today it was quite sunny and I had a decent hour plus journey to a customer site.

And I cooked. Proper melted. It was like being in a greenhouse. The sun was throwing more BTU's into the cabin than the A/C could remove and there seemed to be no way to get it under control.

A number of cars I've had recently have had the upgraded glass, and I guess the timing has fallen that the ones without I've maybe had over winter or driven on cooler days but it was quite a wake up call as to how bloody good it is.

Don't confuse it with the heat reflective twin pane glass that was standard across many of the A8's. This stuff is quite rare really.

The only model I'm aware of that had it as standard was the D3 S8. It was also a standard feature of any D2/D3 that had a heated windscreen.

So, does anyone have it, and more importantly, do you appreciate the benefit of climbing into a luke warm car on a boiling hot day, instead of a sauna ?

[Norretal]

I took a pic of your D3 S8 when I came to your home to view it, the windscreen really stands out in that pic, I must try to find it.

I take it for granted now but have certainly noticed the S8 is cooler, in every way, than lots of more modern cars I've been in during the warmer weather

[Conan_the_Librarian]

Yep! Coupled with the solar sun roof, it is very noticeable when compared to my PF. I have on occasion suffered sun tanning of my right arm on long drives in the summer. Not with the windows on the murple!

[IT]

Originally Posted by Conan_the_Librarian

Yep! Coupled with the solar sun roof, it is very noticeable when compared to my PF. I have on occasion suffered sun tanning of my right arm on long drives in the summer. Not with the windows on the murple!

Of course, forgot yours had both the late version solar roof and heated screen... nice...

Always good to know I'm not dreaming that these benefits exist lol

[pete-p]

I'm not sure if mine has heat and UV reflective glass but it does have a heated windscreen. I do notice that the leather seats aren't so hot that you get 3rd degree burns when sitting down though so maybe I do.

[Conquistador]

Should look like this on the D3 unless I'm mistaken? A barely noticeable blue film between the two window panes.


Climbing into a luke warm car instead of a boiling hot sauna is quite accurate.

Solar sunroof on the other hand I am not a huge fan of. I think it's OK for a few minutes blowing the cool air conditioned air into the cabin, but if the car has been in the sun for a while, all it does is blow the hot outside air into the cabin, not aided by the big hot engine taking its time to cool. I do wonder if it makes any difference leaving the sunroof tilted up?

I've got UV glass, solar sunroof and blinds, and when combined I must admit the benefit is noticeable. (Was tinted glass available on top of the UV-reflective glass??)

I was driving S-Class's for work for years which had Merc's infrared-reflective glass spec'd (evidenced by a very noticeable blue tint on side windows, as below) and it's a step above Audi's. You never ever felt your arms warming up in the sun



There is one big downside of course, phone signal is crap, and forget about getting a data signal unless you have the window open a few inches.

[IT]

Originally Posted by Conquistador

Solar sunroof on the other hand I am not a huge fan of. I think it's OK for a few minutes blowing the cool air conditioned air into the cabin, but if the car has been in the sun for a while, all it does is blow the hot outside air into the cabin, not aided by the big hot engine taking its time to cool. I do wonder if it makes
any difference leaving the sunroof tilted up?

I've found the solar sunroof and Uv reflective glass have similar benefits, and combined is definitely a winner.

My experience of solar roofs is very D2 centric though, and it was quite a noticible difference having a bit of air movement through the cabin versus none at all. Its not about bringing cool air in, but moving it around a bit and stopping it from becoming a full on sauna. I guess leaving it on tilt could provide additional airflow, and the electrical contacts were certainly designed with that in mind....

Originally Posted by Conquistador

There is one big downside of course, phone signal is crap, and forget about getting a data signal unless you have the window open a few inches.

Phone signal is crap regardless.... Thats why Rsap is such a god send. It makes a mobile phone, actually phone whilst mobile....

[HPsauce]

The solar sunroof I'm a definite "fan" of, but it has its limitations. To the extent that on my FL I've fitted a cut-off switch.
(Dead easy, break into one of the leads down into the passenger footwell, switch sited on transmission tunnel trim but hidden by closed glovebox.)
I leave it off in winter - why blow freezing cold air into the car on a bright day?
And only usually turn it on in summer when out and about and parked up for a while in the sun. So just sunny day trips really.
(Didn't bother having it on in Derbyshire…)

[Dezzy]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

(Didn't bother having it on in Derbyshire…)

Is that, I forgot to switch it back on and came back to a sauna?

[Dezzy]

Originally Posted by Conan_the_Librarian

Yep! Coupled with the solar sun roof, it is very noticeable when compared to my PF. I have on occasion suffered sun tanning of my right arm on long drives in the summer. Not with the windows on the murple!

Truckers arm.
If the build sticker is to be believed T8 has uv glass, though the windscreen has been replaced at some point. Solar food stopped working a while ago