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I had a drive in a Mondeo the other day, but was thoroughly distracted by being able to see the filaments in the heated windscreen. The salesman says he's never come across anyone else who noticed them. Is it just me?
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I've got one in a Galaxy. I noticed it the first day I had it, never since in any conditions/light/weather.
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Yes Me, tried a focus ghia for three days that had heated screen. It was thoroughly distracting for me for the entire three days, and worse at night.
Yes Yes Its probably me and my eyesight, so go ahead and abuse me everyone like the the last time I mentioned it. Still does not change the facts about my eyes and Ford heated windscreens.
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I currently have a Fiesta hire car and this has a heated screen. A really useful addition on damp mornings, but the wires are picked out by oncoming headlamps. I have to refocus to see them during the day and they are not too distracting.
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I have to say I've never noticed them to be a problem even at night. It may be that they show up more in headlights where the inside of the windscreen's dirty. I like to clean mine as often as I can (~once a month) to stop foggying the headlights.
It's one of those things where the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
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Mike Farrow
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I usually wear glasses but not always. I drive it at night and during the day. On country roads with no lights, on main roads with white lights and yellow lights. I drive it in the wet and the dry. Sometimes I am in traffic sometimes on empty roads. Other than the first day, they've never bothered me.
And I never notice them or find them distracting.
If I do focus on the wires, which is possible, it then takes a few minutes to lose them again. I find them as distracting as any other window i.e. not at all. - you can see the glass if you look, but who bothers.
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You're all concentrating on them too much. I forget they're there unless I specifically look for them.
I know years back...S reg which was...1998, my uncle bought a new Focus and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen looking at all the swirly wires. He had a massive problem with them to the point where he had to change the car but like I said, for the most part, forget about them and you really won't see them.
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Adam
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By the way, they are great on a frosty morning!
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I just wonder if it has anything to do with me wearing vari-focal glasses....or is it that once you notice the wavy wires you become convinced you're driving a car with net curtains?
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Not to sound too much like a broken record, but I also wer vari-focals. Are yours new to you ? because that might do it. When I first had mine I walked like the pavement was curling up at me and struggled enormously with stairs.
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Echo Cheddar. Don't know what the big fuss is about. Never ever had a problem, and always enjoyed the benefits on frosty mornings. One of the more useful recent gadget additions.
Depends what you focus on. If its the inside of the windscreen, then God help the rest of us...
Splogdeface
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the pavement was curling up at me
I've had that problem from time to time, but the cause was alcohol not eyesight.
I'm wondering if the ones with problems in this area are those who are slightly short sighted. A long-sighted eye will find it harder to focus on the windscreen and will lose the filaments easily. Someone with short sight that is too mild to need correction, or whose corrected sight is similarly short, might find themselves more likely to focus on the filaments.
If Ford assumed normal vision in designing the system, then they may have concluded that it was ok.
Just a thought.
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Had a hire Focus once with the heated screen. I thought it was brilliant as it coincided with winter. Shame not all manufacturers offer them. I know more do now but still quite a minority.
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By the way, they are great on a frosty morning!
So is a garage, but people still persist on filling them with cheap junk and leaving the expensive car outside ;o)
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>>Is it just me?
Some buyers of the old Granada mentioned the same thing. But no one actually complained they were off putting whilst driving.
When you have to concentrate on the road. I think you forget the wires are there and eventually take no notice. The thing about them is wires are very close together.. Which is the bit that catches your attention. Once you get used to it you will be ok
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Steve
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Some buyers of the old Granada mentioned the same thing. But no one actually complained they were off putting whilst driving.
The wires on newer cars are finer and more frequent than the old Granada, Escort etc, so they shouldn't be as noticable.
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Mike Farrow
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SWMBO had an 02/52 plate Focus (our first Ford) and it had the quick-clear windscreen...you jsut get used to it since the benefits of having it outwiegh than not IMHO.
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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Oh no..The Ford heated screen old chesnut again..
Mines fine i can see out of it no problem.
Only thing is several elements break over period of time for no apparent reason. Only half work now.
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My dad's W plate Mondeo has them and whilst he can't see them i can and they really do bug me
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The Mk2 Mondeo screens distracted me particularly at night in the wet. It was like looking through a net curtain!
My 1995 Range Rover has a heated front screen and the wires are so fine you can't really see them.
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\"Nothing less than 8 cylinders will do\"
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I wear vari focals, am short sighted in one eye, long in other.
IF I look I can see the wires in my 2001 Fiesta. But I usually drive focussed on the road ahead:-)
Notice them when they are in use on a misted screen, or driving into low and v bright sunlight. But not intrusive.
Great for cold days, wet days and coming out at 10pm to a car covered in frost.
Would I buu a car without them? Nope!
madf
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To my knowledge I've only ever been in one car with a heated screen and thought it was a good idea and I wasn't unduly distracted at the time. As to whether the benefits of more rapid defrosting/demisting etc. outweigh the disadvantages I don't know although I can imagine there might be some distraction from headlights when driving at night etc.
Having said that I wouldn't let the absence of a heated screen put me off buying a car that in most other respects was just as good or even better.
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My last five cars have all had heated screens and I wouldn't want to be without now. Cannot recall any distraction or visual problem.
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The only time I concentrate on mine is when I'm watching the ice melt.;-)
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It's something you get used to. Having learnt first in a Corsa then in a Focus, it was obvious that there was something in the screen, and at first it bothered me. But now I own one and drive it in all conditions, it doesn't trouble me in the slightest, other people ask what it is "oh, just the heated screen" (watch your mates in winter look on in jealousy as you drive away from college/work while they're still blowing hot air and waiting for their de-icer to take effect).
One thing I will say though, is that my screen seems to scratch/chip easier than in any other car I've owned, or heard about for that matter...
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My Fiesta Ghia I've just sold had a heated screen, only got to use it once though...I only noticed when I tried to see it. I think it made a difference when, like others have said, driving into the sun. But no more than a dirty screen.
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Deviating slightly, what are the possible pitfalls of having a windscreen changed when it is not strictly necessary? Some of the heating elements in the pattern-part screen that was fitted to my Focus following stone damage failed in a very short time, and I don't know whether to request a replacement under warranty.
Obviously (as I know from previous experience) you risk damage to the surrounding paintwork due to carelessness, but which can be rectified. But what is the chance of a bonded-in replacement screen leaking water? Can the paintwork immediately adjacent to (or in) the bonded area be irrepairably damaged to the extent that premature rust might occur?
Would I be better off trying to ignore the failed elements? At the moment the quantity that have failed are more an annoyance than anything else.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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what are the possible pitfalls of having a windscreen changed when it is not strictly necessary?
None.......when carried out correctly.
(Glass-Tech)
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With this thread in mind, I paid particular attention to my screen today whilst parked up waiting for someone.
The elements are pretty much invisible unless I choose a viewing angle of about 30 degrees ('93 Scorpio).
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Can anyone explain why it seems to be only Ford that fits heated windscreens?
Presumably they are made by the same few big glass-making companies as make windscreens for other manufacturers, so why don't others fit them too?
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Ford own the patents, so you only really see them on cars made by companies owned by Ford.
However, final testing is taking place of a new generation of heated windows that don't have elements. They use the metalised layer used in solar reflective screens (pinky purple ones)
These are made with silver and barium vapour in alternate layers which produces and interference coating.
These new screend have a pattern cut in with a laser which is supposed to be invisible.
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