Acoustic Windshields?

[Dbarr]

I had never heard of acoustic windshields before the Maverick. My question is to anyone who has driven vehicles with them. Do acoustic windshields make a significant difference? Any pros (besides the obvious noise reduction advertised) or cons associated with them?

Acoustic windshields seem to be a $300-$500 aftermarket item, so I could see having one put on if it makes a big difference. Just cannot swing the extra 3k for the Lariat trim.

Yes it does make a difference. I would not upgrade my trim level to get it.

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[WesM]

I'm intrigued by this. What do you use for deadening the sound? I'm not a big DIY guy with cars. Is this something a regular joe can do? Road noise sucks when you drive highway to and from work every day. Getting the acoustic windshield, and would definitely think about adding something to lessen the nose even more.

Its not complicated... its just a pain in the a** kind of job, but worth the results in my opinion. Some folks go way overboard and cover every square inch of sheetmetal, but I have found for general driving the doors are enough to provide some nice improvements.

If you do attempt it I highly recommend a tight fitting jacket to protect your arms and some good mechanics gloves. The exposed sheetmetal can be kinda sharp...

Random video showing a guy installing it.

 

[Dbarr]

Most of these glasses will reduce the cell phone connection inside the car.

I personally don’t find that to be true. i find cell service to be the same (2 with, 1 without)

 

[Rkbrumbelow]

I do plan on putting sound deadening in the doors and hood and anywhere else that is relatively easy to access (behind the back seat maybe?). I find road noise very fatiguing and since I'm driving about 1.5 hours a day for work, I want to make this truck as quiet as I can.

Is there any known durability difference between regular tempered windshield and the acoustic windshields?

I highly doubt you have seen tempered glass in a wind shield in years

someone figured out that the inner lining for modern safety glass worked well for sound if you applied it outside the glass, effectively reversing laminated glass layers.

pvb is softer and will wear faster though. I would have to see exactly how they treated the outmost layer to be able to answer it properly but it has been used in car windshields since 1938 its tough stuff

 

[WesM]

I highly doubt you have seen tempered glass in a wind shield in years

someone figured out that the inner lining for modern safety glass worked well for sound if you applied it outside the glass, effectively reversing laminated glass layers.

pvb is softer and will wear faster though. I would have to see exactly how they treated the outmost layer to be able to answer it properly but it has been used in car windshields since 1938 its tough stuff

You are correct, I misread an article that was saying tempered glass is apparently used for side windows while the front is a laminated glass.

 

[neosolidus]

I had a 2020 Toyota Avalon Hybrid with regular windshield and it was extremely noisy. I traded it for the 2021 Lexus ES300h with the acoustic windshield. The car is pretty much the same car. But what a difference in noise reduction. I couldn't believe the first time I drove it how much it cut road noise.

The issue will be come time to repair/replace. In Florida (not sure about other states insurance policy) but repairs are free and replacements are free unless OEM is requested and then you pay the difference in cost. I left the windshield repair business back in 2015 so I'm not sure what the process is to repair. I can only imagine replacement costs will be a lot higher IF you can get them. That will be the tell all story.

By the way, most of the dealers farm their repairs and replacements out to local shops. I don't see local Ford dealers ordering or stocking them. We shall see.

Hm... just because they are based on the same platform does not mean they are anywhere near close to the same, Lexus are well known for being quiet to the point of being a boring vehicle to drive, great for taking naps though.

My bimmer had an acoustic windshield, had to replace it out of pocket last year to avoid claim penalty and went for the regular windshield and I couldn't tell the difference but I drive with mid-level music on all the time and never compared them without music

 

[Rkbrumbelow]

You are correct, I misread an article that was saying tempered glass is apparently used for side windows while the front is a laminated glass.

Its an easy mistake to make. In my first engineering apprenticeship we cut both with waterjets (well cerium oxide but we used waterjets to accelerate and control the pink cerium oxide) point is tempered glass is stressed so that it shatters into small pieces, but can do so spontaneously after cutting. Sometimes we got them backwards. The results were… messy as the glass just cut decided it wanted to shatter. Often times the only way to tell was to look at them with polarized glasses to look for the stress markers. And we were handling it all the time. You can always tell afterwards though as the pvb keeps it in one piece with cracks everywhere, the tempered glass just goes everywhere.

 

[Delzona]

Never driven with one either but looking forward to enjoying it for about 5 days before a rock/bolt/hammer/tire/person goes through it. Arizona highways....

You forgot the Coyote that's chasing a Roadrunner!!

 

[mav_can]

Hmmm, haven't noticed cell service drop while in the Lexus. But I haven't paid a lot of attention to it while driving.

I do know the Chrysler 300 had issues. They imbedded extremely small pieces of metal in the windshield glass and it played havoc on cell service and repairs.

Yes considering that I'll be using Apple Carplay exclusively and that will have to use the phone's GPS on this truck (no built-in that's accessible to ACP), I'm hopeful that I'll maintain decent reception without the acoustic glass.

Other brands like Range Rover are also known to have the issue you described, but they generally provide ACP access to the car's built in GPS (in the case of Wireless ACP, Apple requires it).

 

[SgtLip]

Yes considering that I'll be using Apple Carplay exclusively and that will have to use the phone's GPS on this truck (no built-in that's accessible to ACP), I'm hopeful that I'll maintain decent reception without the acoustic glass.

Other brands like Range Rover are also known to have the issue you described, but they generally provide ACP access to the car's built in GPS (in the case of Wireless ACP, Apple requires it).

Sorry but I don't know much about Apple CarPlay as I don't use it. YES. I have an Apple cell but I do not like how it works so I don't use it. Not really sure how having a wire from your phone to the system requires cell signal. To the best of my knowledge, there is no affect with reception with acoustic glass.

 

[mav_can]

Sorry but I don't know much about Apple CarPlay as I don't use it. YES. I have an Apple cell but I do not like how it works so I don't use it. Not really sure how having a wire from your phone to the system requires cell signal. To the best of my knowledge, there is no affect with reception with acoustic glass.

I think you'll absolutely love it if you give it a try. CarPlay is better than the vast majority of automotive infotainment systems imo, including the one with my current car and it's fairly good compared to the competition.

Anyway, the magic is that CarPlay uses your minimum $800+ iPhone's processor (and mirrors your phone screen on the 8inch touchscreen) rather than a 5 yr old automotive chip built to withstand harsh environments. So your phone will need cell signal and GPS in order to do its duties. If you put foil on your windshield you wont get any GPS signal and won't be able to use maps.

 

[SgtLip]

I think you'll absolutely love it if you give it a try. CarPlay is better than the vast majority of automotive infotainment systems imo, including the one with my current car and it's fairly good compared to the competition.

Anyway, the magic is that CarPlay uses your minimum $800+ iPhone's processor (and mirrors your phone screen on the 8inch touchscreen) rather than a 5 yr old automotive chip built to withstand harsh environments. So your phone will need cell signal and GPS in order to do its duties. If you put foil on your windshield you wont get any GPS signal and won't be able to use maps.

Since the Maverick doesn't have GPS Navigation, I may give it a go. Since I have an iPhone 12 I use the Qi Charger and don't carry wires. That's one of the things I don't like about it, having to be plugged. The other thing is while plugged in using the CarPlay, you can't see the screen and stuff that it shows. Does the camera show when backing even though on CarPlay? Will the Hybrid Performance Status show on the screen while plugged in on CarPlay?

When I tried using it in the past it was awkward to access. Turn this off, turn that on, stand on left foot and insert plug, scroll to this page...you get the point. But I'll try and see how it works.

 

[Unforgiven]

Does the camera show when backing even though on CarPlay?

yes. Yes it does. CarPlay is extremely easy to use.

 

[AznMav]

Since the Maverick doesn't have GPS Navigation, I may give it a go. Since I have an iPhone 12 I use the Qi Charger and don't carry wires. That's one of the things I don't like about it, having to be plugged. The other thing is while plugged in using the CarPlay, you can't see the screen and stuff that it shows. Does the camera show when backing even though on CarPlay? Will the Hybrid Performance Status show on the screen while plugged in on CarPlay?

When I tried using it in the past it was awkward to access. Turn this off, turn that on, stand on left foot and insert plug, scroll to this page...you get the point. But I'll try and see how it works.

You can buy wireless apple carplay dongles and keep it wireless. That's what I will be doing so I can keep access to the wireless charging pad.

 

[DesertSweat]

Never driven with one either but looking forward to enjoying it for about 5 days before a rock/bolt/hammer/tire/person goes through it. Arizona highways....

made it 7 months driving in greater Phoenix. So yeah…:

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