Reducing dashboard reflections and glare

[spotnz]

preying should help

 

[reverend]

I prey she'll touch it every single day - I think that's asking a bit much of any deity though!

Well amazingly the sun is breaking through the clouds so I'll see how this works later!

 

[Hilts]

Are you going to post some pictures of your VW CC complete with "Huggy Bear" furry dashboard cover?

It's time to cue the music...

 

[reverend]

Well it's in and it twinkles in the light like a 70s porn star's growler under bright streetlights!

I've got to wait for a sunny day now to see how it fares but it's definitely helped with the grille reflections. The reflections are definitely reduced so far so it's doing a job even though it looks like a bag of knackers.

I've not taped it down yet - it comes with a strip of velcro which holds down certain anchor points - I'll let it settle tonight and maybe get it done properly tomorrow depending on how much time we have.



Here's a sample video of me nearly rearending someone (G90, HDR off, the leaner firmware) - not sure whether they couldn't get past the car parked but they stayed parked there anyway - this is why we have these things anyway

 

[spotnz]

you may well find that velcro is NOT strong enough. As it comes unstuck in sunlight/heat. In the past I've found that super glue is the only reliable long term solution. Mind you I didn't try 3m double sided tape, or screws

either way good luck

 

[reverend]

Thanks mate, I did see that on one of the Australian reviews that someone had to use superglue to hold the velcro on the dash as otherwise it just slipped around - you guys do get much warmer temperatures there though.

I'm going to have to give the dash a good scrub down first as in the past I've used Armorall which has silicon in there and that's going to cause issues too. The Meg's stuff I have should shift it though.

To be fair it didn't move around much anyway but I don't like the bits that are lifted up - maybe they'll settle.

I'll see how the reflections are in the daytime - fingers crossed!

 

[reverend]

Actually I just did a quick side by side of an old G90 screenshot alongside tonights footage when I left the house - you can see already that reflections have reduced!

Before:

After:

 

[spotnz]

progress has been made

 

[reverend]

Here we go, a quick vid showing with and without - that grille you can see in the reflection is an absolute killer for dashcams as any noise reduction they do goes and removes things like numberplates!

Here are a couple of screenshots (seconds apart)

Without dashmat:


With dashmat:


Video clip:

Definitely an improvement there - the only other way to improve things now is to change car!

 

[Dashmellow]

Looks good! I think the real challenge will be when you are driving in bright sunshine.......if by chance you ever do get any.

I do wonder about those little synthetic fabric "sparkles" the mat seems to have. You're right, very 70s. Yet any improvement is good even if it should twinkle a bit in the sunshine.

 

[reverend]

Yeah it's already got me thinking - I might start playing with some other fabrics just as a play - definitely helps matters though so it's all steps in the right direction

I'm looking forward to getting a ripping from the lads at the garage when I next nip in!

 

[irononreverse]

I've found it Wilkinson's sell black anti reflection black out material that people use to black out the insides of their telescopes for £5 on their site. On telescope sites it's around £20!

Might be worth a look for anyone wanting to dabble.

 

[Dashmellow]

I think @ironreverse is on the right track with black-antireflection material but I wonder if the antireflection material used in telescopes may be too delicate for this purpose, not generally being made to be exposed outside of a enclosed telescope barrel. There are other materials that may be more durable and therefore more suitable. Specifically, professional photography supply houses sell a type of fabric used for eliminating reflections in the studio such as from tripods and lighting equipment when shooting shiny or reflective objects. There are also anti-reflection fabrics made for the theater. Another good anti-reflection material often used by studio photographers that can be purchased by the yard and at relatively low prices is black velvet. Some velvets can have a sheen to them but others are absolutely pitch black. Then of course, there is plain black felt. You could even use that fancy, schmantsy dash mat as a template when you cut the felt!

If all else fails I think you should consider painting the dash board flat black!

 

[spotnz]

Definitely an improvement there - the only other way to improve things now is to change car!

OR use a less reflective surface.

Such as black felt. Which will have to be custom made. This'll be easy, since you have a template.

black felt has worked well for me, BUT isn't essential on me current toymota, so I haven't bothered, yet.

 

[Dashmellow]

It's interesting, I just got my Toyota Tacoma back after two months in the shop for a major recall. In the interim, Toyota rented me three different brands of new vehicles to drive, a GMC Yukon, a Nissan Frontier and a Mazda CX-5. The Toyota, with it's textured dark charcoal gray dashboard is by far the least reflective. It was a real eye opener.

 

[spotnz]

It's interesting, I just got my Toyota Tacoma back after two months in the shop for a major recall. In the interim, Toyota rented me three different brands of new vehicles to drive, a GMC Yukon, a Nissan Frontier and a Mazda CX-5. The Toyota, with it's textured dark charcoal gray dashboard is by far the most not reflective. It was a real eye opener.

Most dashboards are convex shaped. Mine is concave, which may have something to do with it.

 

[reverend]

I had a Hyundai ix35 loaner recently and that was good for lack of reflections too - I'm not sure if it's something some manufacturers think about when they're making everything look pretty!

 

[reverend]

I'm going to pick up various fabrics and try Velcro on the dashmat - it'll be like Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colours soon enough

 

[spotnz]

I'm going to pick up various fabrics and try Velcro on the dashmat - it'll be like Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colours soon enough

Or perhaps you could borrow one from here http://www.josephthemusical.com/uktour/

 

[jokiin]

The slope of the window has a lot to do with how much reflection you'll get also