I have 35% all around on our 5 Series (legal in IL on a sedan). Nothing on the windshield. I too would go 20% if I lived in the desert or FL etc.

 

5% is so illegal but nobody ain’t seein **** inside, lol I do love that about it.

 

35% is the darkest we're allowed to have on the front windows, so I was illegal before and after my retint.

But it's not really enforced here and I don't care.

 

Ain't it glorious living in a state with no car inspections? Or income tax? ;-)

 

I have all my cars at 35% just to lower sun load, I don't really care about not being able to be seen in my car and I never do the windshield or rear

 

I’m in IL also, and went 30% on both my current and previous cars, figuring it was close enough to legal that I wouldn’t get hassled. So far, it’s worked out for 12+ years.

 

Yep. Though some days I wish we did have inspections, because you have a lot of Altima driver types who run around with no bumpers and body parts dragging on the ground. What a classless bunch.

I do enjoy not paying state income taxes, and our property taxes are pretty low as well. I pay about $1600/yr in property taxes. DMV tax was about $200 for the truck and $500 for the BMW this year.

 

I tend to give myself at least 2-3 car lengths space from people like that.

 

I believe the official term for that is "big Altima energy"

 

Mine are 40 or 45, whatever makes them legal in MD (legal is 35 but you have to factor in the OEM tint.

S Classes have a bluish mirror tint to the OEM glass which makes tint look way darker:




But the LS430 still beat them in sales and in comparison tests. The LS460 is when Lexus started to fall behind, it was first powertrains although the rest of the car competed very well.

Lexus has never been a true peer, but they were more of a peer than they are now.



People pay $130k for I6 Range Rovers, I6 Mercedes S500 just to name a couple.
Back in 2007, Lexus should have offered the LS in 460, 600h hybrid and V12 trim. That would have put the Lexus brand over the top, and allow them to charge a higher price today. Even today Mercedes and BMW are making a mistake by not offering an exclusive V12 power train[/QUOTE]

Yep, mistype on my part, understeer is what I meant to write.

 

The latest crop of all-seasons, especially the CC2 tend to be pretty damn good in the snow, though. Haven't had a set yet, but the only complaint that I heard about them was a friend who demonized them after one big snow storm where a fwd citroen with 1 year old LM005s would just spin tires going backwards (his is an opel insignia 2.0t fwd). Packed wet snow is packed wet snow. I did drive the car right after and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but who knows. Then again, could be that he's driven them in the summer as well (we get 30+c regularly).

 

True, although those are actually a new class of tire called "All-weather" rather than all-season. That in fact, is what my parents have now. They downsized to one car, trading the Avalon and the Mazda3 that had replaced the dead Outback Sport. We spent a while talking about tires, and decided that in their current situation, AW tires like the CC2s or Hakkapeliittas make the most sense. They drive a lot less than they used to, and more importantly, have almost total control over when they drive. So the improved winter traction of the CC2s on their AWD SUVs is "enough" for the rare, lighter occasions where they happen to encounter snowy conditions, and enables them to run one set year-round.

But if they still drove regularly in more serious, or even average (for the Midwest), winter conditions, they'd probably still have two sets, and I'd have to do the swapping for them. My dad can't manage it anymore.

 

all this talk of 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 cylinders, turbo or not, etc., which is 'better' or 'proper', etc/, makes me chuckle.

i imagine a time soon when. 2 cylinder turbo hybrid engines come out for econobox cars.

the end is at hand for anything more than 6 cylinders except in heavy duty truck applications.

although companies like mercedes will continue to sell 8 cylinder engines in high end cars while some of their customers still want that. how long that continues will depend on when they feel peer pressure at the country club to be more green or take a test drive of an ev

 

Sadly I agree with all of this...

 

The error to not include a twelve cylinder in their LS is looked back upon in hindsight. They should have had one. Even more sad is that Lexus will go down as a brand that never ever offered a gas V8 turbo unlike MB,Audi and BMW who were clearly class above.

Glad you see that now.

Lexus is a little closer than they were in the past. Lexus now offers performance products like the F car (although they are not very competitive) but they still lack modern power trains offerings and instead they are using an engine that they have recycled from the 2007.

The 460 also outsold Mercedes S Class too.