|
Do "spoilers" on wiper blades really make a difference? I've not noticed my bespoilered right-hand wiper being any better than my unbespoilered left-hand wiper.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 09/06/2008 at 11:51
|
can't say I noticed any difference either, when I removed mine a few years back.
They had come with the car, but started becoming a nuisance to clean, as they seemed to attract every bug in the entire world!
Regular changes of blades, and a generous dollop of screenwash works much better, I find.
Obviously owning a car with off-the-shelf wiperblaes helps - I see some of the marques have 'exclusive to them' wipers which cost more than a tank of petrol!
|
|
Oops, I intended for the thread title to be as above.
|
Oops I intended for the thread title to be as above.
A foible in the software. For some reason when editing a post that has inverted commas in the subject header, they disappear (along with any words between them) when the post message button is pressed.
|
|
|
|
|
An unscientific view I grant you but my own experience would suggest that at higher speeds they do make a difference. I drive in continental Europe a fair bit. My car has a spoiler on the drivers side wiper blade. On one occasion the blades were nicked in an Italian motorway service area. I had no choice but to buy some cheapo non-spoilered ones from the filling station. Returning through Germany at Autobahn speeds they really didn't work very well. Bounced off the glass. Couple of days later I replaced them with the correct ones which worked perfectly.
|
I've seen these put on the rear of cars.
Methinks the owner must have failed his physics O'Level.
H
|
H,
Was it a Fiat?
|
H Was it a Fiat?
Why are you asking, scribe, was it yours? ;-D
|
"Why are you asking, scribe, was it yours? ;-D"
No chance. I've never owned a Fiat in my life. I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole. I posted a joke, if you can see into it! see the previous posts before mine.
|
|
|
|
Not necessarily daft; some rear wipers can lift if you are going quick enough, which is when you may want a wash to see.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yes, in a nutshell. My Saab 9-5 is specified with one on the drivers side. On the one occasion I fitted one without (due to not reading the small print in an ebay auction), I had to replace it more or less straight away because it failed to clear the screen at normal motorways speeds.
It may depend of course on the individual car and associated aerodynamics. As a general rule, if the manufacturer specs them, use them!
|
can't recall scribe soz but the car was 'souped up' I remember.
Loads of Halford's add-ons including those rubber strap things dangling down at the back that prevent you from getting a fatal electric shock, an aerial with a golf ball thingy at the end and a chrome exhaust tailpipe.
I think it also had one of those door protectors on the tail gate that looks like someone's hand has been trapped and chrome plastic wheel trims.
It was ace!!
|
>>an aerial with a golf ball thingy at the end
Can help to find your silver Focus in a car park ;>)
|
|
Or train your car to yelp happily and wag its tail when it sees you, like a Renault.
|
I once "lost" my car in the NEC car parks. After I had spent about an hour prowling around clicking the key fob and muttering in vain, a security guard must have decided that I looked furtive. He approached me and asked if I "needed help". You can imagine his expression when I replied along the lines of "don't s'pose you've seen any silver Mondeos today by any chance?"
My car has wipers with a spoiler BTW
;-)
|
|
Definitely made a difference on my Accord. Without, the A66 in the rain was a frightening experience at anything over 50 mph. The wiper simply didn't work.
|
Definitely made a difference on my Accord.
So why does my Focus only have a spoiler on the driver's wiper? The passenger's wiper is OK without a spoiler. The left-hand side of the car is the same shape as the right-hand, so any aerodynamic effects should be the same on both sides. Just out of curiosity I'm tempted to buy a cheap (Wilko) unbespoilered blade for the driver's side just to see whether it makes a difference or not.
Edited by L'escargot on 10/06/2008 at 08:23
|
|
|
|
|
Saw a pair of those rigid 3 vane black plastic clip on spoilers to attach to wiper arms last week. Last seen for sale in the early 1980's - shame they had put them on the wrong way round to give maximum lift!
|
I think the fitting of a driver's side spoiler is something to do with the fact that a wiper blade suffers more "lift" when parallel to the door pillar, i.e. driver's side, rather when "upright" in the middle of the screen (forgive the ignorant layman's language - can any aerodynamicists help here?)
When I replace wiper blades on my Astra, the dealer sometimes has a driver's wiper "with", and sometimes without. Sometimes the spoiler is integral, sometimes it's a clip-on version. No reason offered.
All BL cars (apart from the Mini) from the Allegro right up to the Jaguar XJ12, had wipers deliberately set up "the wrong way round" (both in LHD and RHD configurations) up to the 1980s. This was apparently to counter that very problem. The very first Marinas had RHD wipers for RHD cars but quickly changed over. The "lift" problem had mysteriously vanished by the time the Princess and TR7 came into production and never reared its head again. Mysteries of the universe...
|
|
|
|
