New Sun Shade
 

Purchased a new sun shade that fits perfectly on my Fit's front windshield. Cross my fingers, hoping this one will work even better compare to the old one, which doesn't fit that well, but already helped a lot.

Also hoping my video recorder won't get damaged, I'm not sure if having a sun shade will increase the temp on the glass...

I have 4 windows roll down a bit just to let the air flow freely, window visors are installed so even sudden rain appears, it won't get into my car...

Summer is too damn hot...got to find my way to reduce the temp inside of the car...I'm planning on getting a water misting sprayer bottle.....spray it after I open the car door....

Any comments? what you guys do to reduce the temp inside of the car?

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...06d1be97fa.jpg

Old

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...2d74b9970a.jpg

New

I've got a dash cam and it hasn't been affected by the windshield shade. What brand is that? It doesn't look like it's custom cut for the Fit.

Here's my Introtech in comparison
Attachment 9653


Best way to keep the car cooler is park in the shade. I park at the far lot at work. It takes me just another few minutes to get to work but the car is in the shade most of the day. When I leave for work, the car doesn't take much time to cool down.

From a spacecraft heat transfer engineer: Your reflector is better on the outside, not the inside. Here is why. In coming solar radiation, both infrared and UV, passing through the windshield is absorbed by the dash, seats, roof liner. They become warmer and re-emit the energy (heat) as longer-wavelength infrared radiation. The windshield does do not transmit infrared radiation. When the windows are not opened, the heat cannot escape by convection, so the temperature inside the car rises. The solution is to minimize the solar radiation from getting inside the car. A mylar sheet (1/2 emergency blanket, clear taped the edges to prevent tearing, held in place by the door and wipers), placed on the outside of the windshield will reflect the radiation instead of allowing it to pass through the windshield. Therefore, the mylar sheet reduces the heating inside the car.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...6b79aeee2d.jpg

Better yet, when you cannot find an all day shade parking spot, an inexpensive generic reflective car cover, $15 eBay. Use clips around the fenders to keep the cover from blowing away. It is not pretty, but what I am looking for is an effective way of reducing the heating inside the car. Texas is hot, hot, hot, temperature wise. :)
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fit...c7613d1a49.jpg

This makes sense. I often wonder if tinted windows make the car cooler or just darker. Since the black tint absorbs the sunlight it will heat the glass which is then transferred to the cabin.

Maybe a little off topic, in 2004, I did an experiment at the local BMW dealer, not rigorous, but it shows a point the temperature inside a white and a black BMW. Most of the heat comes through the windows and some comes through the roof. Yes, in theory the white car should be slightly cooler because the white paint reflect solar radiation better than black paint. Both absorb and emit about the same amount of heat.
Here is what I did:
Houston had been relatively cool this summer, so I waited until today, Labor Day, to conduct my experiment. When I arrived at Advantage BMW in Clear Lake, the OBC of my 330i read 96 deg F. The time was 3:15 pm. I convinced a salesman to allow me to conduct my experiment. He introduced an E60 white 530i with tan leather seats, and an E60 black 545i with gray leather seat. I placed a thermometer on each driver’s seat and waited for about 15 minutes. The thermometers were not in direct sun light as you can see. After 15 minutes, with the salesman there he read the temperatures with me. he was surprised that both thermometers showed 136 deg F. From this simple experiment I concluded that this black car is not hotter than the white car when the ambient temperature was 96 deg F on a sunny Houston day. I am also convinced that the temperature inside of the car is caused mostly by infrared heating just like the inside of your oven where everything turns to the same temperature given time.

Your experiment is interesting. I've found other experiments counter to your results:
I want to say "Mythbusters" did an episode on it and also confirmed the white car was cooler.

Right off the bat, the outside temperature was 95 deg and the white car showed 115 deg. The white car should definitely be higher be than 115 deg in a 95 deg sunny day. I am sure their test is less rigorous than mine. I do not discount that the white car reflect more than the black. I have indicated that in my experiment too. But, most of the heat is coming through the windows. Did autotrader test allowed both car to be at the same angle to the sun? and did one car shaded the other after 2 hours? Did the thermometer read the same, and had the same accuracy? I checked mine and they did not indicate their two thermometers were trust worthy. We don't know that. In my test, the two BMWs were already baking in the sun for more than 2 hours. So, the assumption is that the interiors have reached steady state. Did autotrader baked the cars for longer than 2 hours, or did they pull up after it was air conditioned? I agree the white car should be cooler simply because the white reflects more radiation. How much? Depends on the absorption-emissivity ratio of the types of paint and the shiny clearcoat.

I doubt there was much shading judging from the shadows on the video.

Here's a video from Houston and a BMW dealership that did a similar test with findings that a white BMW was cooler than a dark colored one:
There are a lot of variables to consider. Even the construction of the car can make a difference. I think the point is that theoretically, the white vehicle should be cooler than a dark one if all things are equal.

I believe his findings. If you want to protect what ever color is your car from UV and IR damages, put your screen on the outside, not inside. Yes, it takes a little longer to do. :)

my fits and the wife's GK sits 24/7 outdoors and there was barely any fading after 5-6 yrs of ownership with no use of those visors.

honestly those things are such a hassle for daily use i dont use it. maybe if you have the car sitting at a parking lot the entire week might use one.

It depends on where you live. Some people like to wash their cars, and others could care less.

oh i was just stating my experience. didnt mean to offend..

its like where do u put the shade when youre ready to drive off? especially with a passenger or family onboard do you place it on ur wife's lap? or on the floor? you seriarsely going to put something you put on the floor on the inner glass and soil the glass? etc, etc. place it on the rear seat? open the trunk just to put a shade? what if its raining? toss it back from the driver seat into the trunk? etc etc.

Speaking only for myself, there is a point where the ideal...vs. the applicable convenience converge and meet.
While I think scientific argument could be made for marginal benefit of keeping a reflective material sunshade on the OUTSIDE of your windows, the idea of routinely doing that every time I park, even in public area's, seems so problematic that I would never do it.

Unrolling a sunshade and pinning it to the underside of my vehicle, as the vast majority of sunshades are designed to be used, is a little easier and something I will do.

Getting out and adapting or using some self made cover that I have to attach from the outside, with the risk of theft, and the inconvenience of having to reverse the process before driving seems way too problematic.

And I have to think the benefit between the two actions has to be minimal. As while yes the light and heat in one case is being transferred through the glass, it is then in optimistic design immediately being reflected back OUT of the glass.

In scenario 2...the light get's reflected without passing through the glass, a benefit, but IMO probably relatively minor.
And if I don't want to deal with setting up an external sunshade all the time, then don't do it...no benefit at all.

So IMO pick a parking and "sunshade" routine that you can and will be willing to repeatedly execute.

As far as quickly cooling a vehicle that has heated up...with or without sunshades? The obvious answer is rolling down windows, creating ventilation ASAP, then using air conditioning if necessary.

I've read articles, post, where people will recommend opening all the windows and then opening and closing the hatch as rapidly as possible to act as a "pump" to circulate hot air out...and cooler air in...but even if this does work? Again the effort for results, seems dubious at best.

I routinely do use a custom fit sunshade, sometimes leave the windows cracked, depending on how I feel about how long I'm leaving the vehicle and/or the potential risk for crime, and I try to create ventilation as soon as possible by rolling down the window and getting moving.

The only other "trick" I like to use, is switching to a "Summer" steering wheel cover, which in my case is a cloth material one. Being made out of a cloth material as opposed to leather or vinyl, IMO allows the material to absorb more heat without getting hot to the touch.
Even if I forget my sunshade the worst the steering wheel get's is "very, very warm" but NOT hot to the touch. Which allows me to start the vehicle and get that movement and air conditioning going ASAP.

I can't agree more with you. We share all the same opinion, except one thing.

I know that the Fit original steering wheel is a bit thin, but I'm pretty afraid that the cover might not have enough friction to the wheel, and it might slide under some circumstances? Popular solution is my area is that people use the cover that needs to be sewed, it comes with premade holes. It's supposed to be extra tight on the wheel, and the cover even goes further, all the wheel except the horn part has cover, so there's no way to slide around, because it's not simple round shape. Me too lazy to saw it, heard it takes some long time to sew it perfectly.

People might have different situations.

For me, there is barely any tree around, no parking space in shade, pure sunlight striking down, 68 Celsius/154F ground temp. I got to do anything I can to reduce the car inside temp.

My GK5 is pretty much for my own use, and occasional I will have 1 or 2 passengers. after each use, pretty much I just toss in to the back seat or back floor.:wiggle:

its all good lawjie

I did the wheelskinz and it took about an hour to sew on. Well worth it considering you're touching the wheel so much while driving. I found the stock EX wheel was slippery and thin. The extra girth of the leather wrap is just right. The perforations is a nice touch too. I've never found it getting that hot in the summer and in the winter I feel like it warms up faster.

I just fold mine and stuff it between the passenger seat and the door. No one really rides shotgun in my commuter car so it's not a big deal. If I head out to lunch with a co-worker,I just toss it in the backseat.

I've been contemplating window visors but haven't decided if I like the look and concerned that it'll make the car noisier.

Well all I can attest to at the moment, is that I own a 2016 Honda Fit EX, and the "Cloth" steering wheel cover which I'm currently using, is a commonly found "Baja Blanket" one, that is pretty hard, thick rubber lined, and stretches over the steering wheel.
It doesn't seem to slip at all.
I actually only use it in the Summer, then switch it out for one I think looks better in the Fall and Winter and Spring. I actually own 2-3 different covers and change them out when I get bored or just want a different look. All of them are just the standard rubber lined slip over type. None of them slip...at least yet.

With my previous vehicle (Toyota Prius)...it had an oblong shaped steering wheel that made it so you could not use "Wally World" commonly purchased covers. They wouldn't fit. -They would be loose or slip.
This forced me to buy a stitch on Wheelskin cover. I really liked it, even though installation took several hours and was a pain. But I liked the end product once I got it installed. But it took an entire morning and several hours.
But in this case? My recommendation is a cloth one, just to minimize the hot to the touch steering wheel.
I usually do not forget my sunshade, but if I do? The cloth cover seems a lot better at minimizing the feel of the steering wheel being too hot to touch.
That's about the only reason I'm recommending it, as I think steering wheel, look, feel, very subjective to the owner.