Flat wiper blades

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Thu May 22, 2008 5:00 pm

Have had trouble fitting normal blades to my car....one has been taped on with insulation for a time now, so I decided to go for summit different. What you think?

Dan the 480 Man · Post by **Dan the 480 Man** » Thu May 22, 2008 5:47 pm

Well, they do look a little odd-and thats not meant to offend Rach, i've just never seen them on a car before. I think it's probably because it's not something your used to seeing. At least it's not Halfords Type S chrome wipers

I saw them flat jobbies advertised on eBay, but never saw a pic of them in situ (never read the listing mind).

How do they perform? I guess if they work well it doesn't matter what they look like!

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Thu May 22, 2008 5:58 pm

Hi Dan. They work really well, although I haven't tested them in the rain at speed. I wanted to reduce the juddering and these are supposed to be better. They are different and I'm not 100% sure how I feel about them, but I like different and they do work well and were cheaper than the normal ones so I'm happy

Dan the 480 Man · Post by **Dan the 480 Man** » Thu May 22, 2008 6:06 pm

Well, in all honesty then-i wouldn't worry. They don't look that bad. And if it stops that awfully annoying judder (Ursula used to do that too), then problem solved! Thats another 480 noise to cross of the list!

You'll have to let us know how you get on with them

esta · Post by **esta** » Thu May 22, 2008 6:46 pm

They are definately different, but i like them a lot! Very tidy looking i think!

Talking about windscreen wipers, i have just realised some nasty theiving chav has stolen my wiper spoiler! When i got the GT it had a drivers side wiper spoiler (no, not a halfrauds jobby)

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Thu May 22, 2008 6:55 pm

Damn cavs.... they'll nick anyfink. I got those wipers with the built on spoiler to help reduce judder but it didn't make any difference. I guess they are only tested to national speed limit speeds, not that I go above that at all

480 Tatey · Post by **480 Tatey** » Thu May 22, 2008 11:15 pm

A couple of my mates have those run flat wiper blades and they are good, really smooth clear wipe with little streekng they seem to get those really annoying bug splats off the screen well too.

lee · Post by **lee** » Sun May 25, 2008 2:38 pm

i have been running these on my 480 for about 18 months now. VBB also has a set then i got him

I find them better than standard in normal driving but if you drive at a certain speed they loose their grip.

Big Brother · Post by **Big Brother** » Sun May 25, 2008 2:51 pm

They are much better, don't streak the windscreen and to change them they simply snap on.

Ad

kitt · Post by **kitt** » Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:32 pm

Ive always got mine from volvo - all others i found dont work properly

- apparently the rubber has to be slightly longer so thats why they dont work proper

Kroost · Post by **Kroost** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 2:43 pm

I've bought VALEO ones, they fit perfectly and are exactly as long as the
original ones.

muddyfox470 · Post by **muddyfox470** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:51 pm

ignore me i should learn to read properly in future

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:10 pm

muddyfox470 wrote:ignore me i should learn to read properly in future

Why??

Melvin480 · Post by **Melvin480** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:13 pm

I've also got those wiper blades since last week. And I'm about to remove then again and buy some normal wiper blades.

The reason is that they aren't able to follow the rounding of the windscreen. The passenger side wiper (LHD car) will loose contact with the windscreen and the lower most right corner of the windscreen and leave a piece of 10x6cm unwiped. I can live with that. But also, when half way wiping, with the blades in the most upright position, the middle 20cm of the wiper has lost contact with the windscreen. This results in a 20x10cm unwiped area, which is later wiped by the other blade.

For some reason the blade is that stiff (and trying to increase it's curvature) that it presses itself from the windscreen for the middle 20cm. But, in the right corner it cannot bend enough to make the last 6cm touch the windscreen.

Maybe I just have bad blades, but like this I really don't recommend them to anyone. With normal blades I don't have any problems. And the hinges in the wiper arms can move freely, so the arm is pressing the wiper hard enough on to the windscreen. I must say that in the area that the flat blade wipers do work, they wipe very well.

aibast · Post by **aibast** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:23 am

I just replaced these on my 850 to classic ones, as they didn't work well. 850's glass curved so much that it didn't touch the class on some places. Also on cold weather with snow, it didn't push it of the windscreen.

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:01 pm

Melvin480 wrote:I've also got those wiper blades since last week. And I'm about to remove then again and buy some normal wiper blades.

The reason is that they aren't able to follow the rounding of the windscreen. The passenger side wiper (LHD car) will loose contact with the windscreen and the lower most right corner of the windscreen and leave a piece of 10x6cm unwiped. I can live with that. But also, when half way wiping, with the blades in the most upright position, the middle 20cm of the wiper has lost contact with the windscreen. This results in a 20x10cm unwiped area, which is later wiped by the other blade.

For some reason the blade is that stiff (and trying to increase it's curvature) that it presses itself from the windscreen for the middle 20cm. But, in the right corner it cannot bend enough to make the last 6cm touch the windscreen.

Maybe I just have bad blades, but like this I really don't recommend them to anyone. With normal blades I don't have any problems. And the hinges in the wiper arms can move freely, so the arm is pressing the wiper hard enough on to the windscreen. I must say that in the area that the flat blade wipers do work, they wipe very well.

This is odd....my blades are really floppy, which means they are always in contact with the glass. If you lift them off the windscreen the bend right down like a banana.... not stiff at all. Mine however do leave a tiny bit unwiped in the lower corner, passenger side, but so did the origs. I guess there must be many different types.

I still have mine, and will replace them with the same again.

martinholmesuk · Post by **martinholmesuk** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:46 pm

I think they look good. Did you buy them as listed for a 480? Sparco right? Wonder if they do one's for my e30.

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:42 pm

No, you just get the right size/length

martinholmesuk · Post by **martinholmesuk** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:45 pm