Glass: Lamisafe vs. Temperlite

Lamisafe(two sheets of glass laminated with a plastic layer between) is quieter than Temperlite. That's why the Limited has laminated glass in the front doors and the lower trims only have ordinary tempered glass. If you were to switch out to Temperlite, you'd notice a mild increase in road/wind noise.

 

Glass itself does a decent job of filtering out UV. Maybe Lamisafe has lower overall glass thickness so the glass alone filters out less than the over, but if it was enough to be an issue, I would think it would add additional filtering added to protect the plastic layer.

 

Laminated glass (for better acoustics) is turning up in more and more cars, but to keep the costs down most automakers are only doing the two front door windows.

Makes sense with so many cars only occupied by a driver.

 

Some countries(I don't know which) also require at least one major window to be ordinary tempered glass because it's virtually impossible to escape quickly from a laminated glass window. (tempered shatters into thousands of small pieces, laminated shatters but is held together by the plastic sheet in the middle)

 

If the tint extends out into the frit area, it can peel off easily later.

The work-around is to trim the tint to just within the frit band. The downside is that it can have a "halo effect" where there's a little more light getting in at the edges. Pro tint shops can do this pretty well.

I've had a few cars done this way and found it to be preferable leaving the glass un-tinted- your mileage may vary.

 

Think you got some misinformation. Lamisafe does block UV. Article below. As @Trollbait mentioned "Glass itself does a decent job of filtering out UV", that is only for UVB, glass does not filter out UVA. But the resin layer in Lamisafe will also filter out UVA. Temperlite is just tempered glass, and does not filter out UVA. Where do you see that the XLE has a Temperlite windshield? That's absurd, would be ridiculously dangerous, a rock from the road hits it and you'll have a million pieces of glass and a bad accident, instead of just a chip or crack. All windshields are going to be laminated.

AGC Automotive Window Glass Products Earn The Skin Cancer Foundation's Seal of Recommendation | Business Wire

 

I have the fixed glass roof, and has the "Lamisafe" imprint, so offers full UV protection. I had been concerned about that as well, since common to have rocks bounce and hit the top. Another chunk of the car that might need periodic replacement... But a very nice feature imho, particular for rear passengers.