Does a black car make it hotter?

[midnight brother]

My grandmother wants to get her car painted soon and we went over colors and I said black. She said "No because it will make the car hotter."

I remember and searched a thread back about black coated intercoolers and this is what I got:

Quote »There are some places that can "paint" your intercooler. Its not actually paint, but it looks like it. Its some sort of coating that actaully increases the efficiency of the intercooler, plus it helps with the sleeper look.[/quote]

Quote »While Daunt is right about painting the intercooler there is still a way to black out the FMIC. Swain Tech Coatings has a matte black coating that not only makes your IC disapear, it also increases the transfer of heat away from the FMIC. Sport Compact Car Magazine has used them on a few of their project cars with good results. Check them out at http://www.swaintech.com [/quote]

Now I know both of those quotes both say coat and not paint but I was hoping it would have similar abilities of cooling or atleast not making the car hot like she thinks. Could someone who is alot smarter than me and my grandmother tell me if she is right or just believing a myth.

[midnight brother]

Thanks I was hoping you would reply because you seem to know alot. I was also hoping if you did you didnt flame me and make me feel retarded and cry Thank you sir for doing both things.

[slw240sx]

another question that could have been easily answered if any one had paid attention in 4th grade science class!!

[240SXer]

My truck was black, and it was always hot as hell when it sits for a while. My S14 is white and it's not NEARLY as hot. Plus in Car and Driver they did an AC test with a bunch of trucks, and the White Silverado HD was cooler than the rest just sitting there because it was white (they said).

[slw240sx]

yeah your right i guess he does have a few up on me. like the complete sentence thing, right ? im still working on that run on sentence problemn i have!

[pgt892]

Just have you grandmother get the color she wants and then get 5% window tint to keep the interior cool. Solves both problems!

[Coch240SX]

More important than exterior color is interior color. A dark interior in a light car will be hotter than a light interior in a dark car. I have a dark blue '88 Legend with a tan interior and it's cooler than my Hugger Orange '69 Camaro with a black interior.

[chadster]

Hey all,

After you get your car painted, use our product "5 Star shine". You'll get the same results as other high end waxes but have a much better and longer finish protection. It will save you the time of having to re-apply wax to keep your paint protected.

Click on our ad on the left side near the top of this page and get the details. Be sure to use the customer discount code "vipdiscounts".-Chadhttp://www.5starshine.com'Never wax your car again"

[bvanev]

Just to let you know...Wax doesn't protect your paint, it protects the clear coat finish.

[chadster]

You're right, but ultimately the paint is what is being protected.

[bvanev]

have you ever seen the paint of a car without the clear coat finish? It looks really dull and boring. Waxing paint wouldn't make it shine, so there wouldn't be a point in protecting the paint. The clear coat finish that is on a Maaco paint job is so pathetic, that is why they look dull. No amount of polish and wax can make a cheap paint job look good. PROTECT YOUR CLEAR COAT:)

[Rex]

I found a link that helps explain why a black car is hotter, but a black FMIC would be cooler.

http://www.iit.edu/~smile/ph9001.html

Interesting reading, looks like its 8th grade science??

The reason an black FMIC doesn't get hotter is it's not in direct sunlight, well it shouldn't be.

[gogeeta13]

black gets hotter, but black expiriences less light pressure than white. A white car has many times more light pressure, whether or not all that light pressure slows you down or anythign remains to be proven.

[MrFox]

Interesting reading, looks like its 8th grade science??

Damn... 8th grade. I didn't learn this until college heat transfer.

Its' the same reason why the coils under/behind your fridge are black. A black body radiates the most heat as long as everything it sees around it is colder, otherwise it will absorb the most heat. A black car will get the hottest in the daytime (absorbing the sun's radiation), but will get the coldest during a clear night (radiates heat into deep space).