Windscreen Glass, Pilkington or PPG/PGW? Topic is solved

[mrbrian200]

I'm not 100% sure what the term 'solar tint' on the Fuyao glass refers to, but I suspect it's heat reducing. It does look a little darker from outside the vehicle with a slightly purplish hue and more closely matches the glass on the rest of the car. Changes the look of the car, but in a good way. From the inside of the car I'm amazed how much cleaner and clear the view is as if there was nothing there. I mentioned that the slight reflection of the dash I would see on the factory screen is gone.

I drove my friends Civic the other day, the reflection of the dash off the Honda factory windscreen was unbearable and frankly, a little dangerous IMO. The Honda glass also has some minor waviness that's apparent when looking across the passenger side that was a little distracting at times. By no means would I say the Honda glass even remotely looks like there's 'nothing there'.

I saw an older mustang driving around couple days ago with some sh---y replacement glass that was all rippled, wavy and looked awful. Thats definately *not* what's going on with the Fuyao screen.

The computer system at the glass installer showed the list prices for various windscreen options that were available for my car. There were 6 or 7 to choose from. The Fuyao through PGW listed at $250 but being a 'volume business in a large competitive market' they let it go basically at cost ($125) and make their money on labor. It was a busy place with 4 or 5 teams working in a large garage + 6 or 7 people in the office working sales/management. In the afternoon there were 15 people in the waiting area getting glass on their cars installed. They were just as busy the week before on the day I dropped in.

Time will reveal the durability of the Fuyao. The factory glass was nearly bulletproof. It was a pretty large chunk of road surface concrete kicked up by a passing truck that caused the crack.

[Rattnalle]

I think a lot of the factory glass is from Sekurit St Gobain which isn't even mentioned here. My car has different brands on windscreen and side windows though the windscreen has been changed by PO. One is Sekurit and one Pilkington. Don't remember which is which. It all says Volvo..

Regarding a slightly purplish tint with the heat radiation treatment, could that be what makes a lot of cars look terribly wierd when viewed from the outside with polarised sunglasses? (Which by the way are my favorite driving accessory.)

[93Regina]

I'm not 100% sure what the term 'solar tint' on the Fuyao glass refers to

Scan that cite I gave for 3M...scroll down the page and notice different versions. Chances are 3M sells this to glass OEMs, and it is installed at their glass factory.

[93Regina]

Regarding a slightly purplish tint with the heat radiation treatment, could that be what makes a lot of cars look terribly wierd when viewed from the outside with polarised sunglasses?

See chart above....where it says "Glare Reduction"

I suspect it is a polarized film....just wear polarized glasses...they work fine

[mrbrian200]

The 3m product referenced specifically says it does not result in a purplish hue. I'm looking at the glass on my car again.. the 'purplish hue' I thought I was seeing might have been my imagination. I doubt that exact 3m product is used on my glass, however.

My impression from reading up on this subject is that surface film treatments are the least preferred method to accomplish UV/heat reduction and polarization properties. Preferably these characteristics are accomplished by incorporating special materials into the PVB laminate interlayers at the glass factory.

June, I'm suspicious part of the reason your glass is so darn expensive is that maybe in the early days they did do it this way by applying an 'added' surface film. To do it this way now might amount to an atypical (expensive!) process that breaks from 'modern methods' and pulls the glass out of the mass production environment which would spike the price astronomically and unnecessarily. A good ARG (aftermarket replacement glass) might accomplish the same thing by using 'modern methods' aka this is built into the inner layers, not as an applied surface treatment. I might encourage you to find a reputable ARG installer and start asking questions. Once in awhile dealer parts turn out not to be the best option, especially if the OE is insisting to maintaining some old/outdated method or process (unnecessarily).

[mrbrian200]

Just drove out to the suburbs. Traffic was moving 70-80mph in the express lanes. No wind noise. It's quieter than the factory screen was. Now I notice sort of an imbalance: more road and traffic noise through the side windows while forward is pretty dead sounding. Before noise was more even from all directions with noticeable mechanical engine noise while accelerating from forward that is now greatly subdued with just the lower frequency spectrum 'grumble' getting through.

It never occurred to me that much of this engine noise might be coming through the glass. I always assumed it was all through the firewall/front floor pan areas.

Music I'm listening to sounds cleaner/clearer with less ambient noise contaminating the environment. Being an audiophile nut this is a major + in my book.

[Rattnalle]

Just curious but could it be that the factory windscreen had a gap somewhere along the frame since you're noticing such a difference? Sounds like a lot for just a windscreen, even if glass thickness differs a little bit.

[mrbrian200]

Sound reducing properties is one of the areas where screen manufacturers have made some progress in the last 10-15 years. Has to do with the composition of the laminate interlayers. The thought had occurred maybe my factory screen wasn't sealed, however I lean toward discounting that idea. I'm thinking it's simply new glass with a better sound absorbing properties than Splintex was making in late 2005.

[93Regina]

My impression from reading up on this subject is that surface film treatments are the least preferred method to accomplish UV/heat reduction and polarization properties. Preferably these characteristics are accomplished by incorporating special materials into the PVB laminate interlayers at the glass factory.

Considering people change vehicles every six years...I doubt if a film installed or embedded in glass makes that much difference. In any event:


Eastman automotive glazing products include Saflex polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayers for glass lamination. Automotive engineers are taking advantage of the variety of benefits these products offer including head-up display technology, heat, weight, and sound reduction as well as safety, security, and UV protection.

Check out specs below:

PRODUCT TECHNICAL DATA - Saflex® Clear – Polyvinyl Butyral Interlayer .... All Saflex interlayers are supplied in roll form on 15.2 cm (6 inch) diameter cores.

[93Regina]

Note - In that PDF file cited above, they say this "Saflex® interlayers are plasticized polyvinyl butyral (PVB) sheeting produced by Eastman and its affiliates."

Question is, who are these "affiliates?" It would not surprise me if 3M was involved.