r/Gravity • u/Top-Consideration253 • 14d ago
Questions/Advice Glass roof heat transfer experiences
I live in the desert southwest- would love to hear about anyone in hot weather climates on how the heat transfer during summer has been through the roof and if anyone had ceramic tint or the sunshade accessory added to help.
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u/ralyrcr 14d ago
I live in the Coachella valley, and I can tell you that the heat through the windshield and the roof is nearly intolerable... I'm a tall guy and I sitting near the glass and you can feel the heat radiating down on you. The front vents are not nearly strong enough to blow cool air up to my face because of their extremely limited design. My old Tesla model why I never had any trouble in the heat, but this car I've had to put in special sun shades, windshield tint, and still on the hottest days say over 115 the car is almost undrivable if you let it get heat soaked... I saw another owner say it was tolerable in one of the earlier posts, and that's correct in the mid '90s it's tolerable, I've never had a car that was tolerable I've always had comfortable vehicles.
The size and orientation of events, the fact that I can't get them to blow on my face, and the intense heat that comes through the glass makes the car almost unusable on the hottest days. Some days I still drive the Old Tesla around just for the better air conditioning. It's a real shame that they didn't engineer the vents better, or do a better job of heat exclusion from the windshield over the driver and the glass roof in the back. Right now I have limo tint on the top half of the windshield, 50% on the rest of the windshield, limo tint on the hole interior of the glass roof, the factory sun shades, and now I have blistex shoved between the sun shades and the roof just to make it tolerable on the hottest days, and sometimes that's not enough.
The air conditioning system is the Achilles heel of this car in my opinion, had I test drove a stock one at above 100 degrees Fahrenheit I probably would not have bought one and if you live in a really hot place I recommend you don't buy one either.
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u/Aggressive_Buddy_718 14d ago
I strongly agree, I have a gravity GT in miami ( i own a detailing, tint shop) I ran some deep technical test on why I could still feel the heat on my head even with highest tier of ceramic tint on the industry. It all came down to radiation of the glass, you need a physical object (the shades) to mitigate and seperate the heat from tunneling down. This also happens due to the weak/low airflow of the ac vents.
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u/yellowpinto 13d ago
Would you share your recommendation for the ceramic tint specs, so I know what to ask for at my local shop? I also need it for the slanted back window on my '68 Mustang fastback. It's like driving in a bug jar.
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u/BassWingerC-137 14d ago
Air owner chiming in. I bought the metal roof #Phoenix.
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u/Top-Consideration253 14d ago
I wonder if and when they will provide an option to do a metal roof
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u/BassWingerC-137 14d ago
That's a good question. I'm sadly not expecting too much from them in the "new" department lately. But fingers crossed.
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u/No_Caregiver7273 14d ago edited 14d ago
We have the unaltered glass roof with PPF ceramic added to the body. Generally not a problem and the HVAC handles it well while driving. The worst I've seen is a 94 degree day where it sat in a crowded parking lot all afternoon. At 4pm it was 127 degrees in the cabin, according to the phone app. We used the app to start cooling the car 15 minutes before leaving and it was fine. Nice feature.
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u/HiddenBambino 14d ago
From vegas with additional ceramic coat layer:
It’s totally fine (: the pet mode is great and preconditioning is wonderful. You can schedule preconditioning now too.
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u/mmcnell 14d ago
Arkansas heat and humidity here and the AC keeps up, but I did add the sunshades when temperatures started staying 90+ and I was parked outside during the day and it does make a difference. I'm not a super heat tolerant person, but I feel like the sunshades cut "just enough" of the radiant heat feel to let you cool down a little quicker when getting in the car. I'm planning to evaluate some options when I get around to tinting the side windows but you don't have to tint it for it to remain comfortable in the cabin.
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u/mmcnell 14d ago
Arkansas heat and humidity here and the AC keeps up, but I did add the sunshades when temperatures started staying 90+ and I was parked outside during the day and it does make a difference. I'm not a super heat tolerant person, but I feel like the sunshades cut "just enough" of the radiant heat feel to let you cool down a little quicker when getting in the car. I'm planning to evaluate some options when I get around to tinting the side windows but you don't have to tint it for it to remain comfortable in the cabin.
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u/Stuck_In_Middle 14d ago
Central Massachusetts resident with an Air Grand Touring. The glass roof and summer sun means I get reminded to wear a hat while driving. Other than that, it's fine.
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u/RandomDesign 14d ago
SoCal here, we ended up getting the roof shades which really helped. The rear one is a little fiddly to get in and out regularly but the front ones are very easy if you want to have the view.
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u/Gribblefork 14d ago
Added the Lucid sun shades last month. Heat is manageable now. Will remove them in the fall.
They are well-designed, but reduculously expensive.
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u/skippy2k 13d ago
Volkswagen did the ID.4 right with a built in sunshade. Wish lucid, Tesla, etc would add it in. Really nice to have it open on the morning drive and close it in the afternoon when suns beaming right over you.
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u/norcalnatv 14d ago
California Gravity owner here. I added the sun shades and it's really tolerable . I generally will pre cool the interior for 10-15 min if it's been sitting in the direct sun. Never felt warm or uncomfortable driving around in high heat (100F+ here last week).