I believe all windshield glass in the US is laminated. That way, if you are in an accident and your face was to hit the windshield, it would not be severly cut. The plastic film on the inside would be a barrier between you and the glass that is breaking. And to be even more specific, the laminated glass is also tempered so it will shatter in small pieces and not large shards that can cut thru the plastic lamination.

Okay--

Laminated glass consists of two layers of annealed glass bonded together by a tough, pliable and invisible layer of polyvinylbutyral (PVB). This type of glass construction offers important safety & other benefits in automotive applications:

· Objects striking the glass are much less likely to penetrate and enter the vehicle cabin. Laminated glass provides enhanced barrier qualities to outside object intrusion.

· In the event of an accident, laminated glass assists in maintaining the occupants within the vehicle's safer environment.

· In the event of glass breakage, the damage is normally confined to a localized area, thereby preserving visibility in other parts of the window.

· Should glass breakage occur, broken pieces tend to remain intact, even in the area of impact, adhered to the PVB interlayer. This quality of laminated glass protects vehicle occupants by retaining broken glass fragments.

· Made with highly weather-resistant materials, LAMISAFE brand products are virtually unaffected by harmful UV rays and severe temperature variation. They offer clear visibility even after many years of service.


Tempered glass is created by heating annealed float glass to near melting point, rapidly cooling its surface and allowing the inner core to cool naturally. The glass is cut to size prior to heating, shaping and quenching.

Tempered glass is at least five times stronger than ordinary flat glass resisting impact, shock, thermal and mechanical stress. It also can flex more without breaking. Tempered glass is well suited for automotive applications due to its unique fracture characteristic. If broken, it fragments into small and less harmful pieces providing a safer environment in case of accidents.

Looks like the windshield is laminated, the other windows are tempered. So at that point I have no clue what the identifiers might be for acoustic-dampening glass vs non.

Excellent work on the benefits of laminated glass! :)


I believe that the only way is to [1] check the DOT and M numbers on the windshield markings, and either [2a] compare them to known numbers for acoustic-dampening glass (e.g. DOT20 M3K4, which many/all of the Camry Hybrids use), or [2b] contact the manufacturer and see if they let you know. I'm probably going to be contacting some glass manufacturers to get some of that information on www.carwindshields.info, but I'm not sure if the glass manufacturers will want to share that information.

Every windshield that has the same DOT and M numbers should have the same acoustic qualities.
-Scott

I can't believe it. I found this website today, and I just replaced my TCH windshield last week for $420. After reading your post, I went out and sure enough it's a DOT376.
I guess I need to call the windshield company, and try and get it figured out.
Sounds like this may not bee too easy!!!
Thanks for all the information!!

DOT376 simply means that the windshield is made by AP technoglass Corp which is the American subsidiary of Asahi Glass Co in Japan (which is indicated by DOT20).

American-made Camry Hybrids come with the DOT376 M834 markings. This glass is presumabaly identical to that used in the Japanese-made Camrys, with the DOT20 M8K4 markings.

See this thread http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/f...houghts-14335/ for more details.

--My hybrid came home!--
Ottawa owners check in here

Randy

Our TCH windshield got a smaller than a pencil tip rock chip in the driver side support beam area about 3/4 the way up from the bottom not visible from the driver at 1557 miles. Less than a week later it spidered out spreading through more than half way across. I have $0 deductible and asked for OEM glass. Safelite was the company the renewed the glass. The total bill came to under $300 to insurance. When I called the Toyota dealership for part info, the parts manager looked it up and a new windshield was about $1200.

After rechecking my glass it was marked: Toyota, Lamisafe, 4 AP Tech, M-834 AS1, DOT-376.

Other glass on the car was marked Temperlite.

I got in my car today and I just found a crack starting from the pass side A-pillar and it is csowing going to the driver's side. I did not hit anything and park in a garage at both home and work...What is even better is the quote the So Cal Toyota dealer just gave me; $1,200! claim is being filed with insurance today. I will let you know what the glass says once they replace it.

This is bull$#!%.