Cars We Drive!

[aravenel]



Black interiors are awesome on really hot days when your car has been in the sun.

+1, particularly here in FL. Any dark colored interior is a deal breaker for me here. And a friend of mine who does have a black leather interior? He loves it at night, hates-to-borderline-wants-to-commit-suicide over it during the day for 8 months of the year.

Definitely. Grew up in the Carolinas, black interiors, or black cars in general, are a no-no.

 

[jet]



I live in FL and have two cars with black interior. My third car is tan interior. I even owned two Touaregs previously, one with tan, one with black interior. I'm not convinced that black interiors are a lot hotter than tans - if the car's been out in the sun, it's ******* hot no matter what color it is.

Someone ought to do an experiment to actually test this theory - I'd think it's pretty simple to set up. Identical cars except for interior, park them next to each other, put thermometers in the same place in both.

Tan (or sand or beige) is hard to keep pristine - the parts where you touch it get darker over time (that's dirt, not patina ) even if you are careful and never stain it. Even if you think yours is nice looking, have it professionally detailed and you'll be surprised at the difference

pretty much this

grey interiors are probably the most bland but my aunt's car has this and is extremely hot, also dependent on the quality of the leather...if you know where to park, the direction and have a climate comfort windscreen like i do 100 degree days ain't nothin, and i always leave a 2" gap for ventilation

 

[Piobaire]

Ventilated seats solves the hot ass problem so black interior problem solved. That option is worth its weight in gold.

 

[Superfluous]



Ventilated seats solves the hot ass problem so black interior problem solved. That option is worth its weight in gold.

You know though, I have ventilated seats and I don't really feel them.

 

[Piobaire]



You know though, I have ventilated seats and I don't really feel them.

Have you checked the controls? You might not have them on max setting. I can feel ours through jeans and it's a real butt blaster when wearing summer weight trousers.

 

[Superfluous]



That brown interior is awesome. You don't see enough brown interiors... and unfortunately, BMW's cinnamon brown is pretty bad.

 

[idfnl]



I live in FL and have two cars with black interior. My third car is tan interior. I even owned two Touaregs previously, one with tan, one with black interior. I'm not convinced that black interiors are a lot hotter than tans - if the car's been out in the sun, it's ******* hot no matter what color it is.

Someone ought to do an experiment to actually test this theory - I'd think it's pretty simple to set up. Identical cars except for interior, park them next to each other, put thermometers in the same place in both.

Tan (or sand or beige) is hard to keep pristine - the parts where you touch it get darker over time (that's dirt, not patina ) even if you are careful and never stain it. Even if you think yours is nice looking, have it professionally detailed and you'll be surprised at the difference

Black absorbs more heat than any other color. This is basic physics. Now granted any car's interior will absorb heat in a hot sun, but black will always absorb more. Touch a white car in the sun vs a black car. The white car is noticeably cooler. Interiors suffer from the greenhouse effect, they will all get hot but black will always be hotter.

I try and remember to crack the sunroof, it makes a big difference.

 

[HRoi]



Black absorbs more heat than any other color. This is basic physics. Now granted any car's interior will absorb heat in a hot sun, but black will always absorb more. Touch a white car in the sun vs a black car. The white car is noticeably cooler. Interiors suffer from the greenhouse effect, they will all get hot but black will always be hotter.

I try and remember to crack the sunroof, it makes a big difference.

Yeah, but there's an upper limit on how much the interior will absorb. Also basic physics. I don't disagree that black will be hotter, but how much hotter? Because if it's 5-7 degrees then you won't be able to tell - it will just feel hot. I did a search but no one seems to have done research worth posting here...all I found was various forum experts.

Exterior is a different story - I totally agree black will feel a lot hotter. But interior has a lot of different factors.

 

[razl]



Have you checked the controls? You might not have them on max setting. I can feel ours through jeans and it's a real butt blaster when wearing summer weight trousers.

My wife's Lincoln LS has this and even on the lowest settings it tightens up my jewels. it's doubly worse because most times when I want to use it, I'm - ahem - sweaty in my nethers, and blasting chilled air in there doesn't so much cool as makes me reach for the sky.

 

[Blackhood]

Also doesn't black absorb light, not heat? The heat is a by-product of the lack of reflective property. In direct sunlight it will get hotter than tan or silver, but if the car is parked in the shade the difference between the two would be negligible because its to do with airflow and outside temperatures?

 

[sportin_life]

Was in the market for a 435 xi but the deals on the 5 series are ridiculous right now. Ended up getting a 535 xi with m sport package for $6.5k off retail... guess they want to clear out the 2013's for the tiny refresh for 2014?

 

[idfnl]



Also doesn't black absorb light, not heat? The heat is a by-product of the lack of reflective property. In direct sunlight it will get hotter than tan or silver, but if the car is parked in the shade the difference between the two would be negligible because its to do with airflow and outside temperatures?

My mistake, yes light. In the shade you'd get the same temp.

 

[David23]

Can we talk about how perfect this is. British Racing Green with dark brown interior and contrast orange stitching.

 

[rocks]



pretty much this

grey interiors are probably the most bland but my aunt's car has this and is extremely hot, also dependent on the quality of the leather...if you know where to park, the direction and have a climate comfort windscreen like i do 100 degree days ain't nothin, and i always leave a 2" gap for ventilation

What is this? I need something because my E46 being Jet Black on black is freakin hot in the SFL weather. There's no parking garages where i work and parking in shades means parking under trees where there are always bird crap galore waiting to greet you in the evenings. In other news, my euro tray fell apart last week due to the heat here and yesterday my arm rest broke, again from the unbearable heat. SFL sucks in summertime.....

 

[HRoi]

There are some pretty good deals to be had on 2-3 year old GTR's. kind of tempted.