These guys test the difference a sun shade makes in two nearly-identical trucks. The only obvious difference is that one has chrome trim, while it is the same color as the body on the other:
However, the trucks measured several degrees different and one guy said the margin of error was 7°F.
That sounds huge!
Maybe you could bring a dealership or car rental manager a box of donuts in exchange for taking the temperatures of a couple of vehicles, putting different shades in them, and then taking the temperature an hour later.
I keep wondering how Todd on Project Farm would test it and visualizing him putting heat lamps on a car in an insulated garage.
I ran across this on Amazon:
I need to worry about keeping my car cooler when the ambient temperature is over 110° and my car wouldn't be 40° unless it is 39° out.
Cold vehicles always feel colder than the ambient temperature, but they are still greenhouses.
Nobody is happily napping on their steering wheel, not when it is 40°, and not when it is 70°.
I am going out on a limb and suggesting this is the worst sun shade:
This guy spent $125 for a Covercraft shade and $70 for a WeatherTech one, but didn't know how to put away the WeatherTech, so he recommended spending another $55.
I honestly feel surprised he didn't fall out of his car.
Here is the clip in question. I remember we used to be able to share GIFs, but this has sound...
https://i.imgur.com/UFlxS9I.mp4 or I guess you can watch the video. The madness happens at 58 seconds:
https://youtu.be/CXKPhHkKyIk?si=M-aCuQBVjquT2gT_&t=58 Someone suggested this video was sponsored by Covercraft.
Costco sells custom-fit Coverking shades. For me, it would cost $35, and take 2-3 weeks.
Walmart sells an accordion-style one with a
thin layer of foam insulation for $7.42 and this
one the same size with two layers of bubble insulation for $10.66.
Of course, trolls grossly exaggerate everything, someone said "Just buy a $4 gas station one!"
Of course, now I want to stop at a gas station to see how much they charge for sun shades, but if I posted the results, I would get downvoted.
Dollar Tree sells them, but of course their site denies it, so I checked Family Dollar, which also denied it, but sometimes they carry name brands instead of Dollar Tree junk.
We had a number in the garage.
The best-looking ones were:
54"x23.5" thick bubble foam (two layers),
58.5"x23.75" thin reflective (foam?), and
62x29 twist silver fabric.
The twist one is the only one big enough, but I have the crazy idea that insulation works, so I put up the thick one and then the twist one.
I just ordered a WeatherTech shade, which will be easier to put up and take down.
I put the thin one in my back window, but it is so thin it is difficult to use.
I have also been wondering about side shades.
Amazon suggested some which attach with suction cups, but they had poor reviews.
I don't know if you have seen Spandex door covers, but Amazon suggested some of those, and they were also poorly-reviewed.
Walmart sells them in-store, though!
I don't know,
$10 for two sounds steep!
All of these would be useful for, for example, eating lunch in my car, too.
Anyway, I have been awake for 3 hours, and each time I try to pull up all of the stuff for my research project, I get distracted again.
Cars can reach 180° in Arizona, though, but maybe I should have waited to worry about it just another two weeks.
Today
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