Windshield Protection Film

[Roadster869]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a windshield protection film? I noticed ClearPlex on a google search. With the availability issues (and cost) of replacing a Roadster windshield, I was thinking of adding a layer of protection against highway rocks. Also, I have the solar guard windshield.... any insight as to whether the protection film will interfere with it?

Thanks!

 

[snd92]

View attachment 242590 View attachment 242591
10x more resistant to road and rock damage.
35% reduction in night time glare
10x more water repellent

I am wondering how they quantify these numbers. Generally I would not buy from vendors like this.

10x resistant to rock damage?

- Due to hardness (10 times harder than glass without protection)? How did they measure it?
- If 10 rock projectiles are directed to the windshield 1 will crack it (statistical promise)?

I am 110 % sure that these claims ar BS. (See what i did there?)

 

[Roadster869]

Appreciate the information. I'll look into DiamonGuard. Does anyone know if the Tesla Solar Guard windshield option is something they put on the inside or outside of the windshield. Whatever I end up doing, I don't want it to interfere.

 

[wiztecy]

Only thing I worry about is clarity through the glass with "something" over it. Glass is the purest thing to see through without any distortion, throw some plastic film over it that gets hammered by time and UV rays and it starts breaking down and becomes distorted. I like the concept, however I won't want to compromise the visibility. My Roadster has an attraction for rocks falling off dump trucks and fresh chip - seal just laid down on roads. I've had many rocks hit the Roadster's windshield, none cracking, just chipping fortunately.

 

[shrink]

I had Lumar Air Blue 80 on my Roadster windshield and rear window 2 years ago. I'm happy with it.

Visibility is perfectly clear to me and the UV protection worthwhile in the desert. I actually had a dark tint on the rear mirror, but had a lot of trouble seeing at night so I removed it and put the Lumar on. The CF roll bar seems to prevent a lot of direct sunlight from hitting the rear window, anyway, so a dark tint was unnecessary for me.

LLumar Air Blue 80 - Absolute Perfection Window Tinting - MD | DC | VA

 

[shrink]

Oh, I'm sorry. Lumar is for tint and UV protection. It won't do anything to protect the windshield from rocks.

 

[Rotarypower]

Just had a huge rock kick up and hit the windshield while on I-5, 70+ mph over the weekend. No damage.
Glad I had the coating applied just a week prior.
I don't work or get paid by dfi. It's just inexpensive insurance. Glad I have it and when I've parked it outside and the morning marine layer has left a layer of dew on the windshield a quick acceleration and it's gone. No windshield wiper streaks no water spots. I may do the top and rear windows just because of the hydrophobic properties.

Diamon-Fusion International

Scientifically Proven Safety Feature™
That sounds pretty complex, but what it really means is that you and your passengers are safer in a car that has a windshield (or windscreen) treated with Diamon-Fusion® than a windshield (or windscreen) with no protection, or even a competitor’s coating. It’s really that simple.

The Diamon-Fusion protective coating is a patented chemical invention that has been used by the US Army to provide better visibility and reduce the damage their HUMVEEs experience in the harsh environments in which they operate. In a passenger car or light truck, the windshield (or windscreen) is often part of the structural integrity of the vehicle so driving around with a chipped or cracked windshield (or windscreen) reduces the safety of the vehicle. The windshield (or windscreen) can actually help support the roof of the car and in some models it actually provides a backstop for the airbag.

Diamon-Fusion’s impact and scratch resistance was proven by tests conducted at the Institute for Glass Science and Engineering at Alfred University in New York. That test confirmed that to damage a surface treated with Diamon-Fusion, the force applied had to be ten-times more than what it takes to damage an unprotected surface. In other words, the smallest pebble that can do damage to your windshield (or windscreen), when traveling a certain speed and hitting a certain angle, has to be ten times larger to do damage to a Diamon-Fusion protected windshield (or windscreen)!

This damage-resistance, the increased reaction time provided by Diamon-Fusion’s hydrophobicity, the reduced night-time glare, the durability and longevity, and the overall increased safety of you and your passengers delivered by all of these benefits is why the US Army, the US Navy and over 750,000 vehicles have been protected with Diamon-Fusion around the world.

So you don't work for this company, how about do you sell their product? Seems strange to me that you only have 3 posts on this forum and all are dealing with this thread? So you created your account just to post here.....seems strange to me? Do you own a roadster? A Tesla? It is pretty easy these day to crawl the web for keywords so you can mysteriously jump into any conversation on the web. After doing a few searches on the web, it appears the diamon fusion reps are pretty good at jumping into almost every conversation.

So my take is this is a marketing company, selling a new type of snake oil, taking advantage of people's gullability and naivety in many different areas of human passion. I looked over the patent for this, and this is NO new technology like they claim, patent was filed back in 1998, almost 20 years ago. 20 year old tech. This is simply a silicone spray creating a film on your windshield. Do you REALLY belive this will stop catastrophic failure or damage of glass when hit with falling aggregate or road debris at 70 mph? Will it help with shedding of water molecules. Of course it will. It is a hydrophobic chemical, just like all the others you can purchase at Autozone, Advanced Auto, or your neighborhood grocery store. Im sorry, these type companies that prey on the weak really piss me off. Do some reasearch, stay skeptical of these marketing trolls, and keep your hard earned money to simply self insure your own windshield replacement, or pay the small amount to have windshield insurance with your policy. If you want water repellancy, use the $9.99 product(s) available over-the-counter.

Some of the comments I found doing some research.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is now April of 2007 – only 3 months after I purchased my vehicle and had the Diamon-Fusion Product applied at the dealer. The water beading effect is totally gone. When comparing my windshield to the other auto glass on my vehicle, it has nI o better qualities than the rest of my glass.......

I second that. Total scam.
It stops working after 3 months and the “warranty” only covers a $20 repair job that you could do yourself buying a glass repair kit from Wal-mart for $5. Most of auto insurance companies would pay for the job and waive deductible, so there’s not benefit of that warranty.......

I had the same experience. I bought DF after a new car purchase, and in 3 months the rain would begin to sheet off the glass at 75mph only. Rainx works much better. I call the guy who applied the DF and he came out to reapply it again, and it’s still no better. I’m pissed because my story is the same as you guys......

I always had my doubts on Diamond Fusion and it is similar to the “Throttle body cleaning” recommended maintenance that the dealers try to sell during a service visit. Outright scam!!!......

I am not sold at all on the windshield strengthening properties. Someone will have to provide me some solid proof of that. I have chips in my Diamon Fusion windshield just like my other vehicles........

I have been in the glass business for 41 years & have seen all the hype . I would sell you a service contract for a thousand dollars & laugh all the way to the bank ........

I’ve sold this stuff at our Toyota dealer and there was a bit of hype. So I decided to get it done to my own car. Didn’t work at all! Driving behind a gravel truck and when the trunk hit a bump in the road, it started spilling gravel all over. Next thing I know a loud smack and my windshield crack spread within 10 minutes. That was when I actually read the fine print. Guess what, it’s not covered! It only costed me about $100, but it was wasted. I wouldn’t sell this to anyone now........

I was surprised to find reapplications were required at least every year for 24.95 plus tax. This was not communicated up front by the reseller.......

Thanks everyone for the informative posts. The John Eagle Acura dealer here in Houston is trying to sell this service as a dealer add on for new vehicles. I’m always very wary of someone trying to sell dealer add ons on a service. Also its telling when DFI doesn’t support the warranty but its the dealer that has writes the replacement warranty. The dealer wants like $250-300 for this application. If reapplications are required, DFI won’t stand behind the replacement warranty, and my insurance covers glass, this is not worth my money.........

We just purchased a new windshield and were “sold” on the DF idea. After all, we were told that the Canadian Army uses it on it’s vehicles, so who wouldn’t want that! Within 10 days, I had a rock fly up into my windshield and a lovely star that spread within minutes … oh, and it’s right in my line of vision and is now 12 inches long and growing. I went back to the glass place here in Calgary, and they are trying to “figure out” what to offer me as this is not actually “guaranteed”. Seriously? First you sell a customer on the product and then you wash your hands of it? No way … total waste of money. When I questioned them about the 6x strength of my windshield, the guy said, “Well, it WOULD have been.” Would have been? Huh? Why DIDN’T it? I’m very disappointed by this product, and the company that sold it to me. The windshield is actually worse than the one I replaced … very poor product indeed. Oh, and on the rain repelling side of things, that was pretty cool, until I noticed that after about the third day of rain, I had a “smear” look on my windshield … it made it more difficult to see clearly. Either this product was installed incorrectly, or it’s just crap … my opinion is the latter........

------------------------------------------------------------------------

These are just a small tidbit of disappointed consumers. Caveat emptor!

 

[Jonathanm]

Moderator should remove the thread?

 

[wiztecy]

To be fair, the poster M808 does have a LinkedIn profile associated to his profile: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemoore01)

I don't see anything related to resale or connection with DFI, I do see some technical background experience with aviation and also that he's a pilot.

There's no reason to pull this thread and happy people contribute. Yes it seems odd that the 3 posts are related to the windshield / DFI, however he may not own a Roadster, admires them, and is posting his experience regards to putting the film on some other vehicle.

As with the covering, I know that with my iphone screen I know having some simple plastic shield over the glass substantially prevents damage to the screen. However as I mentioned earlier, any time you cover glass you are losing visibility. Glass is the purest thing to see through without any distortion. But that's the trade-off. The loss may not be all that noticeable if any. May be worth the try after doing your research on the product.

 

[Rotarypower]

To be fair, the poster M808 does have a LinkedIn profile associated to his profile: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemoore01)

I don't see anything related to resale or connection with DFI, I do see some technical background experience with aviation and also that he's a pilot.

There's no reason to pull this thread and happy people contribute. Yes it seems odd that the 3 posts are related to the windshield / DFI, however he may not own a Roadster, admires them, and is posting his experience regards to putting the film on some other vehicle.

As with the covering, I know that with my iphone screen I know having some simple plastic shield over the glass substantially prevents damage to the screen. However as I mentioned earlier, any time you cover glass you are losing visibility. Glass is the purest thing to see through without any distortion. But that's the trade-off. The loss may not be all that noticeable if any. May be worth the try after doing your research on the product.

Yep, I'm being fair. Just calling it like it is. This is not a substrate film, it is a silicone spray. It's not going to prevent windshield damage. Sorry to be contrary, but really? A clear bra-like silicone film on the outside of the front windshield? That would never work. This is not that.

Again, as a hydrophobic chemical, I'm sure it works fine in that capacity. Do your own research. This company is marketing this product as a nanotechnology. LOL. Ridiculous. That alone is reason to discount anything they are spouting.

Guess how much this costs? Would you pay $500 for a spray on silicone application? What about $450, a special discount just for roadster owners? If so, let me know, I'll be changing careers quickly. The human brain is an amazing thing, how we can be so analytical and objective in some aspects of life, yet rely on faith and belief in other aspects. I prefer objectivity and skepticism, especially when it comes to my hard earned income.

I'm done with this thread, and suggest we move on to real roadster issues that require all of our attention.

 

[rharrack]

I have the same problem with the model 3.... I wounded if they made a curve piece that would attach to your hood where the wipers are would something like this aerodynamically help with the rock chips?
I figure most people put a wind guard on the front of their car to help with the air flow and rock chips... I have one and it seems to help...I have not incurred a rock chip... so I’m thinking a liee

 

[Rockster]

I got a rock chip on my Model 3 windshield just weeks after I got the car. It was a bummer, especially because it’s right in the driver’s line of sight.

My S is getting a new windshield right now due to a massive hail storm. I’m thinking about something like this for both cars:

Madico | ClearPlex | Optically-Clear Windshield Protection Film

 

[jkoya]

I've inquired to a local dealer for something called Bray Ecoskin windshield protection film. They have a 2 layer and a 4 layer option. No idea if it actually works and what the cost is. Global HQ for the company is about 12 miles from me, so I think I'll give them a call.

This is actually for my 1997 Acura NSX because there are no longer any OEM windshields for sale, only knock offs from China.